With great care!
Many owners dread having to give their cat medication. Cats often fight us - so make sure you don't become a casualty! To make the job a little easier, try these tips.
- Get a helper - this is a two-person job. One person needs to keep the cat still with a firm grip and another person has to administer the tablet or pill.
- If the cat scratches, wrap them firmly in a towel to hold their limbs steady.
- Once the cat is held securely, the person giving the tablets needs to grip the cat's head firmly and pull the top lip back to open the mouth.
- Use a pill popper gadget to insert the tablet into the cat's mouth then withdraw the device when deposited.
- Softly hold the cat's lips together and tickle their throat until the pill is swallowed. (You know this has happened once the cat licks its lips.)
- Repeat this process for subsequent pills and tablets.
- Check the area to make sure your cat has not thrown up the pill later, which they can do.
Alternatives
- Mash the pill into a paste with your cat's favourite food, to see if they eat it. (They might not!)
- Ask your vet if the medicine could be administered as an injection instead of multiple pills over the course of a week. For example, some antibiotics can be injected so that they last a week, rather than a pill every day.
These top tips will hopefully make caring for your sick cat a little easier.