Need Advice: What's the Best Way To Give A Cat Liquid Medicine??

A few months ago, one of our babies, Winchester, was diagnosed w/ the FIP virus. Since then, he's had a recurring cough/wheezing, which is usually cleared up w/ the aid of antibiotics. He had another attack last week, and the vet prescribed Baytril for him, which has worked in the past, but this time, had no effect. He was coughing & wheezing most of last night, so we took him into the vet this morning. The vet gave him something called Cefa-Drops, and also some cough syrup to ease the coughing & congestion. He also called in a prescription for something called Endrofurin (I think that's how it's spelled), which we have to pick up tomorrow. The vet said that the Endrofurin is something that Winchester will probably have to take for the remainder of his life, to help combat the FIP, b/c Winchester cannot fight the infection on his own any longer (that's my understanding, anyway). The vet's wife (who is also his assistant) told me that the Endrofurin has a high success rate, and that most cats do well w/ it and usually live long & happy lives. Obviously, I'm hoping & praying that Winchester will do well w/ it. Needless to say though, I'm worried & scared: he seemed to be holding his own at first, but now he seems to be going downhill.. I'm not giving up on him just yet, but I'm becoming discouraged...

For anyone who may know, I have two questions: Have any of you had any experience w/ the Cefa-Drops/Endrofurin? And if you did, what were the results?? Also, what's the best way to give a cat liquid medicine? Poor Winchester has had so much medicine given to him in the past few months that it's becoming more difficult to give him anything. It's easier to give him pills, but unfortunately the Cefa-Drops, cough syrup, & Endrofurin only come in liquid form. When we gave him his dosage tonight, we tried wrapping him up in a towel, which did seem to help somewhat, but he still spit most of the stuff out. I'm worried that he's not getting the amount that he needs b/c he spit so much out. And considering the possibility that he might need to take the Endrofurin indefininately, I need to find out how to give it to him so it benefits him.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions regarding the Endrofurin and/or how to administer it to him??

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

KittKatt

I'm so sorry about your kitty!

Usually, a compounding pharmacy can add flavor to liquid meds (we had that done for Bird for a while, but hiding a pill in a treat worked better with her). We also (in addition to the flavoring) mixed her liquid med with her favorite canned food (with gravy), and she would eat it like that and usually lick the bowl clean if we got the ratio right .

Good luck! I know it's hard (Bird is on her med for the rest of her life, too).

I'd try an eye dropper. when I first got meds for Diego it was powdered and needed to be mixed with his food, but he only eats dry, so I was also told I can mix the powder with water and give it to him in an eye dropper, he had no probs didnt put up a fight or anything, more like he enjoyed it.

But of course if its for the rest of his life, it might get a bit tiresome for you. And also different cats react differently.

I've been giving Possum liquid meds this week for the first time. It's been hell, but I think I've figured it out (for him). First of all, keep in mind that Possum is extremely skittish. My mother's girlfriend's sister has multiple cats and had some advice.

Try mixing it with some lactose free milk (contrary to popular belief, cats are naturally lactose intolerant so don't give them real milk). Or mix it with some wet food with gravy. I found out that Possum doesn't like wet food (which I sort of suspected because he only like the hard treats), but he does lick it clean of the gravy. Also, Possum refused to touch any of it if it had been refrigerated, so don't be surprised if your kitty does the same thing. I was told to manually feed the intended cat with a spoon so other cats won't get the medicine. I suppose this would work if none of your other cats is a gigantic greedy pig. Unfortunately, my other cat, Loki is a GGP! I just gave them both wet food (also so Possum wouldn't suspect anything major), and kept an eye on them so Loki wouldn't try to eat Possum's food.

Good luck!

Tricia

A couple of tips about the food with the gravy.

If you have found that your cat will lick up the gravy. Just drain the gravy onto a small saucer, mix in the medicine and put it and your kitty in a room by themselves, well you might want to stay with the kitty so that they don't think they are in trouble.

This will insure that your cat will get all the medicine because the portion is small and that no other family members will get to the medicine at the same time.

Petting your cat, if it will let you, and talking to it in positive tones will make it more special one on one time instead of a chore or a punishment to them.

This has worked for me with liquid or powdered medicines alike.

I've been giving our new kittens some liquid antibiotics (amoxi-drop) and this is how we do it...
The vet gave us a syringe (no needle on it) to measure the meds out with. Then I sit the kitten, or cat, in my lap facing away from me (secure hind quarters between your legs when you're sitting "indian style). I put the syringe point in the corner of the mouth while holding the cat's neck/head in the other hand. They will open their mouth due to the presence of the syringe in the corner of their mouth. The squirt in as far back as you can...if it's a small amount, do it all at once, if it's a larger amount 1+ CC do in doses.

If your cat is fiesty...secure in a towel (i.e. burrito-style) with just the head sticking out and do same procedure as above. You could mix it with gravy from wet food, or even the whiskas "cat milk" to make it taste better, but speed is generally the most important factor.

HTH,
Art

I mix Bijou's meds in a bit of strawberry yogurt. She won't eat it in the plain yogurt.

Thanks peeps, for your responses & advice. It is greatly appreciated!

Unfortunately, Winchester isn't much of a canned-food kitty: he mainly eats just dry food. He'll sometimes lick the gravy, but not enough to do any good. So that trick doesn't work. I've even tried chicken broth, tuna, a little milk, etc., but to no avail. He just must be one of those finicky cats who prefers just dry food...

The towel trick hasn't worked very well, either; I guess he feels too restrained that way. I've found that if I just hold him w/ his back towards me, and squirt the meds slowly into his mouth, he doesn't seem to struggle as much, and I usually get most of the stuff down him. I guess I'll just have to experiment to see what works the best. I'm not about to give up on him just b/c he hates taking his meds: maybe in time he'll just learn to tolerate it w/o much fuss..

~KK~