More Advice Needed

All my boys (4) are now inside cats and I have made a commitment to keep them all inside and healthy. As I have reported recently on this site one of the cat's bit me. I spent three days in the hospital. I don't blame him he is just a scared kitty. Here is my new problem. The cat in Question - Bat-T has hook worms and round worms, at this point in time the other cats are testing negative for these worms. I want to treat Bat-T but I can't get him to take the medication. He knows the food has medicene in it and won't touch it.

How do I get this cat to take his medication, especially since there are 3 other cats in the home. I have to move in about 2 months and need to take all the cats with me to their new home. I know this will be traumatic for them but the new home will be much bigger and safer for them.

I try to get Bat-T to come out from under the bed and play and eat treats. He generally only comes out at night.

My main problem is the Vet won't give me any medication without seeing the cat, and the SPCA who originally diagnosed him with worms would only give him two doses and no more. He has since wasted those. I also have no idea how to get the cat to the VET or to the new home. My wife is advocating for just letting him go out back into the wild in March when we move. (march here is already warm in South Carolina) Can anyone help me???? a lot of feral caty sites tell how important it is to treat sick cats but do not give many tips for getting them from place to place when they bit really badly!

Please Help.

I will give my thoughts and hope someone will share what has worked for them. I know that to move or get to the vet you will have to either use a trap or if the cat will eat food from a carrier you close the door when they go in to eat. Just close the door to the room the cat is in after you get all the others out. If you own a trap, I would leave it in the room all the time tied open so as not to be set and leave treats and toys in there. This will make it easier when you need to move. Do the same with a carrier.

We are fortunate to have a vet that understands how difficult it is to get a cat like this in and will work with us on certain problems.

Have you tried the Greenies brand pill pockets. Most cats love the taste. You would have to close the door to the room without the other cats and before you feed the meal, put the pill pocket with medicine in the middle close to the cat. Walk away and lie down on the floor and wait to make sure the treat is eaten. This will be a good habit to get into so there is a routine. Cats love, love routine. Especially one like this.

http://www.greenies.com/en_US/Produc...llPockets.aspx

As for getting more worm medicine, look for county feed stores. They will keep things like worm and flea meds. Look for an animal health supply store. I get many helpful items from one without a vet order on the simple common things like worm med.

I hope someone has more thoughts on this. Good luck. It will get better with time.

I'm not sure if you can, but I believe (please don't quote!) that Revolution flea and heartworm med for cats ALSO takes care of these worms??

I know it doesn't do Tapeworm, but I though hook/pin were covered....

If you can, use a visiting vet who will give a sedative you can get into cat ahead of time. I have used a pain killing med Bupranol (spp/?) this is liquid and tasteless, all the cat has to do is get on his/her gums... it absorbs that way ...

Any its morphine like and puts them into happy / relaxed state, where you can catch MUCH easier - then you could have home vet visit and help you
pill (or give shot) Ivermectin can be used in injection form, but again you
the vet to do this...

So you can either the sedative in the food OR the Bupranol to help relax then catch and have home vet visit you and try to pill.... OR trap while relaxed and then take to vet for Ivermectin shot or pilling.


Hope this helps!

My vet told me Revolution as a preventative for those worms, not a cure.

Could you get the shelter to contact your own vet to confirm the presence of worms in your cat and explain that you didn't get the medication into the cat and need more? Would your vet then give you a prescription without seeing the cat?

I am very nervous about giving over-the-counter worm or flea medications. They often are not the same as what you get from a vet and some flea medications have actually caused death in young kittens.

It really is best to work with a vet on any health issue.

I second the pill pocket idea. The pill pockets worked great for us when we had to give our kitties Drontil.

Originally Posted by opilot

If you can, use a visiting vet who will give a sedative you can get into cat ahead of time. I have used a pain killing med Bupranol (spp/?) this is liquid and tasteless, all the cat has to do is get on his/her gums... it absorbs that way ...

Any its morphine like and puts them into happy / relaxed state, where you can catch MUCH easier

So you can either the sedative in the food OR the Bupranol to help relax then catch and have home vet visit you and try to pill.... OR trap while relaxed and then take to vet for Ivermectin shot or pilling.

Click to expand...

This can backfire on you with a feral or semi-feral cat. It's never worked for me. If you don't give them a strong enough dose, it can stress them out due to the fact that they don't feel normal and work harder to stay away from you (sick cats hide). And if you give them a strong enough dose, the best you can expect is for them to run more slowly away from you. Now once at the vet, a sedative can be good. I have to do that with my Eightball.

I'd try the pill pockets, or ask for medicine that doesn't taste so bad. You might try mixing the meds into something like tuna juice. I like the idea about contacting the shelter where you got them and explaining that your cat wasted the meds and you need more.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I am very nervous about giving over-the-counter worm or flea medications. They often are not the same as what you get from a vet and some flea medications have actually caused death in young kittens.

It really is best to work with a vet on any health issue.

Click to expand...

I also would never purchase or use 'over the counter' worm medicine, flea treatment, or other medicine.

There are local feed stores and animal health supply stores that carry the SAME flea and worm medicine sold at vet offices. Many of these items do NOT require a vet prescription. Not even at vets office.

In talking to your regular vet, if he normally prescribes a product and you can get this same product elsewhere and cheaper it is helpful.

Most vets ask that you come back in to get routine flea/worm products so they can charge for an office visit and products. Especially if you were just at the vets and the animal has no new health issues, buying these same products at another place is very helpful.

I do not order these products online for I am not sure of the source or quality. Locally the same drug sales representative that goes to the vet office also goes to the local feed/health supply stores so all the products are delivered from the same drug company as the vet office.

Bupranol and sedative are just an idea. It depends on the feralness. In my general experience Frodo was ONLY trappable with a net AFTER we had
tranqulized and confined to one room. It had to be done because he'd been hit by my car! It made him easier to catch and he was in alot less pain due to the pain killers which made him easier to handle at the vets...

My semi wild Yum Yum needs to have knots cut out of fur (she's a munchin legged full furred Coon body!!) and I've yet to do it, due entirely to difficulty
in trapping for the vet. I will probably use the sedative and trap approach later this year....(when I get through finishing the hard woood flooring project, the new pressure regulator and installing the new dishwasher, whew!!).

You don't have much of a choice if you want to get help pilling her/him.
The Ivermectin shot works very well according to my vet (used with the ferals) but needs follow up - so you'd have to go 2x or get a pill in them -
either way, back to vets where the poor lil one is prob. terrified to death.

You can choose to ignore the worms - with the indoor / outdoor cats I've had over the 20 years plus I've owned cats - most probably DID have worms, just not huge levels of them that I ever saw. Of course, when I saw a tape worm segment I treated - etc but otherwise I did not.

Unless the cat is strictly indoor only they will reaquire worms - so the preventatives are useful there, but a worming once a year is not a bad idea.

Even indoor cats get worms BTW if nothing else from the stray flea or 2 that makes it indoors on your clothing etc.

I guess it boils down to the severity of the problem, the condition of the cat, its willingness to TAKE medicine etc. For ferals - I can't medicate - I use the Ivermectin when they are out cold during spay/neuter with a preventative follow up applied, and then cross my fingers and hope we took care of the worst problems.

Indoor only cats - same thing - except - back to vets for Ivermectin and worming pills if I can handle. If I can't I try to trick into eating the pills
really stinky mackrel and sardine juice worked best BTW.

As I reported early 2 of Bat-T's siblings are going to the vet on Friday and I am hoping that I can plead with the vet for extra medication. I am also planning to bring Bat-T's discharge papers diagnosing him with the warms.....in hopes that will help.

On saturday I am going to try the feed store idea. I am also going to visit relatives in Tennesse this month so I will make a trip to a feed store there.....I am assuming their laws maybe a little bit more lax than here.

I went to MY doctor today for the follow up exam after being in the hospital for the bite, and he wanted me to put the cat down......not outside but actually kill him. He says the cat is dangerous. I said MAN is much more dangerous and this cat doesn't deserve to die because of mistakes I MADE.

I am also going away for three weeks for training for my job.......my wife will be left home to care for the cats and I am leaving her strict directions for her to follow. Because every day Bat-T comes out a little bit more. Last night He came out all the way to eat treats with the other cats. I WOULD NEVER try to feed him from my hand like the others but if I throw it to him he will take it only a foot away from me.

I don't want to take a step back and have the cat forget his routine. Hopefully my wife will take over. I have made a commitment to caring for ALL of these cats and I am not going to throw it all away.

Thank you everyone for the advice. I will let you know how it goes after fridat.

Good for you for making the commitment to care for these cats. It sounds like he bit you because he was scared. I am glad you are not taking the advice of the doctor. He will probably need time to come around and as he sees the other cats getting more comfortable, he will too. Good luck!

Well we got Ball-z and Grey-B to the vet today, and the vet gave them a full clean bill of health. She also gave us a couple of tablets for worm medication for Bat-T. (we brought in his discharge paperwork from the SPCA) and she gave us enough to get rid of the worms and then Advantage Mulit to continue to keep the cats free of worms. We tried to give Bat-T his medication today in a pill pocket and he wouldn't even take normal treats and we didn't even try the pill pocket or pill. We shall see what he does over the weekend.

Revolution:
* Kills adult fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) and prevents flea eggs from hatching.
* Prevents heartworm disease caused by Dirofilaria immitis.
* Treats and controls ear mites (Otodectes cynotis).
* Treats and controls roundworms (Toxocara cati) and hookworms (Ancylostoma tubaeforme).

You MUST see a vet first though, as if the kitty has heartworm it will do more harm than good...

I see some people are reading my story and just wanted to give an update. Bat-T (aka that cat that bit me) took all his medication with help from Pill Pockets and the day after he started acting nicer and more friendly. Each day after that he improves a little more. I am now thinking that is mean demeanor was because of the Round and Hook Worms that he was diagnosed with. I am very thankful to my vet for taking a chance on a poor stray I couldn't even get to her office. Bat-T is eating with his litter mates and playing throughout the day, his time hiding is very limited now! I am very excited.

Thats great news!

Yay