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How do I get this kitten to take his medicine? Help!

post #1 of 18
12/8/10 at 9:11am
Thread Starter 
Midnight is on Clavamox. It's liquid, doesn't matter if it's pill form. Midnight fights any kind of med you try to give him. He spits it right out in our face, or he'll spit it out all over himself. I hold him, while my father holds his head and tries to squirt the med down. He spits it out, squirms and fights. I feel so bad for him, this is like torture! He's always done this with medicine. Unlike Luna who never fights us. No we can't trick Midnight into eating it in his food. We've tried that before. He knows. Any suggestions?
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post #2 of 18
12/8/10 at 9:15am
Tightly wrap his legs down with a towel. You want only his head exposed. Sit on the floor, put him in your lap facing away from you and propped up with his back against your belly. Presuming you're right handed (flip the directions if you're left) - Open his mouth with your left hand, with your right hand position the dropper as far back onto his tongue as possible - you want the medicine going down his throat and not all over his tongue, give around a 1/3rd of that dropper, pull back and let him swallow. Repeat until the medicine is gone.

If he'll take treats, offer them, but most likely he'll be mad and run off.

I have a couple who really fight, too. One of them is particularly bad about it and would find a way to give me a scratch everything time while I was wrapping her up or unwrapping her. They were on far nastier liquid meds than clavamox - the smell of the doxycycline even made me gag.
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post #3 of 18
12/8/10 at 10:01am
Clavamox comes in a pill, IMHO it is much easier to give than in liquid... you can pill him using a pill popper or hiding it inside of a treat. I like hiding it inside of Purina Whisker Lickin's better than pill pockets. I just flatten one on the palm of my hand, put the pill inside, and close the treat over it - it works every time... I always serve a couple of treats right afterwords so the kitty has a couple of plain treats in case he bites the first one with the medicine, so he doesn't get traumatized. I do this 2x a day with Gracie every day, she has never refused he meds. She grew tired of pill pocket very quickly...
For liquid meds, I use the same technique as described by strange_wings, only I use a cat bag - it makes my life 100x easier. I have a cat bag because Bugsy will take meds for life, so it is worth it. A towel works well if you are giving it occasionally.
Make sure you don't turn the kitty upside down, as he can aspirate the meds into his lungs - the correct position is he will be sitting on the floor or on your lap. Some people do it on a table, but I find I have more control sitting on the floor with the kitty facing away from me.
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post #4 of 18
12/8/10 at 11:12am
If you do resort to pills, I always put a bit of butter on it. They usually love butter, and it encourages more swallowing. They will usually wash also after that. More swallowing.

I use liquid also but I put in to the back of their mouth on the side. Usually put in half and wait a second or two for a swallow and then the rest.

Good luck.
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post #5 of 18
12/8/10 at 11:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by farleyv View Post
I use liquid also but I put in to the back of their mouth on the side.
That only works if it's not a really bitter med, though. If it's something that taste terrible they'll foam, spit, and fight more. IMO, the less that touches their tongues, for the really bad stuff, the better. It's just like when we take meds and do that to try to avoid tasting it. (especially antibiotics)
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post #6 of 18
12/8/10 at 1:48pm
Thread Starter 
I will try sitting on the floor with him, the next time he's do for the med. The problem is Midnight will not take any meds. He has fought us every single time. Even the vet tech spent a half hour when he was on a pill. This was the same vet tech that had no problem with the other pets there that day. However the pill is probably easier, at least when he spits it out, we'll be able to save it and try again.

We've tried hiding his meds in his food, he will not eat it. I don't know how he knows, we don't make it up in front of him. But he knows. We tried the pill pocket with him, that day he was with the vet tech for a half an hour. It didn't work.

Carolina what is a cat bag?

Also after we gave him the med, my father went to pick him up. Midnight bit him, really bit him. His finger bled. Midnight never bites. He only bit me once, it was the night he got neutered and I picked him up. I think I hurt him picking him up, that's why he bit. I think he's biting now because he's afraid we're going to give him his med right?
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post #7 of 18
12/8/10 at 1:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by My4LLMA View Post
Carolina what is a cat bag?

This is a cat bag

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/cliented/cat_restraint.aspx

basically, it's a bag with zippers placed at the spots where your cats legs go, and an opening for its head
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post #8 of 18
12/8/10 at 2:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rad65 View Post
This is a cat bag

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/cliented/cat_restraint.aspx

basically, it's a bag with zippers placed at the spots where your cats legs go, and an opening for its head
I've had many, of several different brands... IMHO the BEST one is this one by far: Klaw Kontrol Cat Bag... Unfortunately even the largest one was too small for Bugsy at one point, so I have one that is called the Cat Sack. Bugsy is a big kitty
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post #9 of 18
12/8/10 at 3:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
Tightly wrap his legs down with a towel. You want only his head exposed. Sit on the floor, put him in your lap facing away from you and propped up with his back against your belly. Presuming you're right handed (flip the directions if you're left) - Open his mouth with your left hand, with your right hand position the dropper as far back onto his tongue as possible - you want the medicine going down his throat and not all over his tongue, give around a 1/3rd of that dropper, pull back and let him swallow. Repeat until the medicine is gone.

That's exactly what I do when I give cats meds. You have to squirt it all the way in the back of the throat so none of it gets on their tongue. Just putting the dropper in the front of his mouth will allow him to taste the med and he WILL spit. Trust me, doing it this way is painless, quick, and easy. It will work. When you do it this way, he won't be able to spit it out, he'll just be able to swallow it. You shouldn't lose too much, and even if you do, liquid meds are dosed anticipating for a bit of loss, so it's not a big deal.

(I worked with infants in childcare for 16 years, and the technique is similar. lol)
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post #10 of 18
12/8/10 at 3:05pm
^I've never dosed babies with meds... that sounds very strange honestly, but I suppose it makes sense.

Keep an eye on that bite. Many cat bites get infected and with it being on a finger it could quickly get bad enough to cause your dad to need surgery to save the finger or even hand. My own step-sister had a tiny bite like that and narrowly missed needing surgery. If he wears any rings on that hand make him remove them and keep them off for a few days.


And few cats like medicine, they're just like children. You can't expect them to want to take it. You absolutely must make sure they're tightly wrapped and when you're done giving it, leave the fussier cats alone - you can offer treats, but no picking up as they'll think you're taking them for more medicine.
Your Midnight sounds a lot like my Tanna is with medication. I simply don't allow her opinion in the matter to count. I also found that scheduled mealtime after meds (for the ones that it's ok to do this with) helps a cat get over it more quickly.

I'm a little concerned that a vet tech is so inexperienced that they can't handle dosing a cat...
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post #11 of 18
12/8/10 at 3:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
^I've never dosed babies with meds... that sounds very strange honestly, but I suppose it makes sense.
Some babies will take meds with no problems, but most are like cats and HATE it and spit it out, so I swaddle them and do the same 'back of the mouth' thing with the dropper. Works wonders and gets it over with quickly.
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post #12 of 18
12/8/10 at 3:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kara_leigh View Post
Some babies will take meds with no problems, but most are like cats and HATE it and spit it out, so I swaddle them and do the same 'back of the mouth' thing with the dropper. Works wonders and gets it over with quickly.
At least you don't have to worry about them sticking a canine tooth in you when you open their mouths.
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post #13 of 18
12/8/10 at 3:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
At least you don't have to worry about them sticking a canine tooth in you when you open their mouths.
Very true, the most I get is crying. lol
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post #14 of 18
12/8/10 at 6:50pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
Tightly wrap his legs down with a towel. You want only his head exposed. Sit on the floor, put him in your lap facing away from you and propped up with his back against your belly. Presuming you're right handed (flip the directions if you're left) - Open his mouth with your left hand, with your right hand position the dropper as far back onto his tongue as possible - you want the medicine going down his throat and not all over his tongue, give around a 1/3rd of that dropper, pull back and let him swallow. Repeat until the medicine is gone.

If he'll take treats, offer them, but most likely he'll be mad and run off.

I have a couple who really fight, too. One of them is particularly bad about it and would find a way to give me a scratch everything time while I was wrapping her up or unwrapping her. They were on far nastier liquid meds than clavamox - the smell of the doxycycline even made me gag.
Well I did try it. Didn't work. Even with my mother also trying to hold him still. And he didn't get any of it down. So we're calling the vet tomorrow and seeing if they can give us another form. Or we'll have them give him the med. We used to have to do that with Lynxx. Only back then the place we went to was right down the street. Now it's a little further away.
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post #15 of 18
12/8/10 at 6:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rad65 View Post
This is a cat bag

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/cliented/cat_restraint.aspx

basically, it's a bag with zippers placed at the spots where your cats legs go, and an opening for its head
Thanks for the website, we'll look into it.
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post #16 of 18
12/8/10 at 6:53pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina View Post
I've had many, of several different brands... IMHO the BEST one is this one by far: Klaw Kontrol Cat Bag... Unfortunately even the largest one was too small for Bugsy at one point, so I have one that is called the Cat Sack. Bugsy is a big kitty
Thanks for the website, we'll look into this 1 to. I have a feeling Midnight's going to be huge as well, when he grows up so he probably won't fit as an adult.
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post #17 of 18
12/8/10 at 7:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by My4LLMA View Post
Thanks for the website, we'll look into this 1 to. I have a feeling Midnight's going to be huge as well, when he grows up so he probably won't fit as an adult.
Talking about 20lbs huge
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post #18 of 18
12/9/10 at 10:05am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina View Post
Talking about 20lbs huge
You don't understand. Lynxx was a big kitten, he grew quick. He got long quick. He had a tail bigger than him. He had giant paws. Midnight is 4 months old. He's very long. His tail is huge and fluffy. His paws are massive. I've never seen paws this big before. He makes Lynxx's paws look like baby paws. He's already longer than Luna who's 6 months old. He doesn't fit in cat carriers anymore. We have a dog carrier for him. This is the same kitten that fit in the palms of our hands, that was 1lb 1oz when he first came here at 3 weeks old. This is the same kitten that I was so worried had a growth problem, because from age 3 weeks - 8 weeks he didn't grow. Once he hit 8 weeks he started growing and hasn't stopped! He's going to be a whopper. I don't know if he'll be 20lbs like your Bugsy, but I'm sure he'll be like Lynxx who was always between 15lbs - 17lbs. We joke that we have a panther or some other wild animal
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