Oral Medication

Anybody have any advice? I adopted Fred about 3 weeks ago, he's a 6 year old domestic short hair. I took him to the vet for a check up and they noticed a bald spot on his back near his tail and I told them he itches a lot. They prescibed him Atopica. Everyday it gets worse giving it to him. And Fred's overweight (20 pounds when I got him!) so he's also on a diet, so I dont want to tease him with treats just to take the Atopica. The vet recommended wrapping him in a towel and giving it to him, but he just shakes his head the whole time and I feel bad stressing him out. Any advice so help this easier?

When we had to give our cat meds, (I know this sounds really cruel) but one person or one hand would hold the loose skin on the back of the neck gently and the other would take the syringe filled with the liquid meds and squeeze it into the cats mouth
sorry, but if your cats that overweight, no more treats for a while!

I would say when health is the issue, you don't have to feel bad: no choice in fact. When it's a pill, I simply force it into my cat's mouth and hold his head for a few seconds, gently rubbing his throat, so that he swallows. One of my cats even take pills willingly like some dry food !  With liquids, the syringe is the right solution I guess.

My cat used to be 22lbs (!) with bad allergies, so I know how you feel. There wasn't any pill that I could give him, but I still have a situation where treats applied. He needed to be weighed frequently to make sure he wasn't losing too fast, and of course a cat never wants to sit where you want them to. So in order to get him to lay quietly on the scale without moving I gave him a treat; I see nothing wrong with it at all. They even make treats called pill pockets that are meant just for giving pills. :nod:

At least part of his itching probably has to do with his weight. I would get him professionally bathed to make sure he's clean, and then every week brush him really well. He's not going to be able to groom well, so his skin will get itchy and then you end up with bald spots in the areas he Can reach. Try to get him onto a wet food as well, it'll help him lose faster.

Do you have any recommendations for shampoo? And the vet also recommended wet food. So i'm slowly transitioning him over to that. The humane society had dry food, so I got dry food as well. He seems to be doing well with the diet too, the first few days he would eat all of this food in the morning, but now when I come home from school there's some still in the bowl   I guess i'll just have to keep holding him down to give it to him. And he definitely has stopped itching near his tail so I know it's working.

I had to buy empty capsules to give Lucas his liquid medication because he hates liquid meds.  It has worked great.  He takes pills and capsules very easily, don't even have to restrain him.

FLAFred said:

Do you have any recommendations for shampoo? And the vet also recommended wet food. So i'm slowly transitioning him over to that. The humane society had dry food, so I got dry food as well. He seems to be doing well with the diet too, the first few days he would eat all of this food in the morning, but now when I come home from school there's some still in the bowl 

 I guess i'll just have to keep holding him down to give it to him. And he definitely has stopped itching near his tail so I know it's working.

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My cat Angel is an itchy boy as well. I've been using the Oatmeal & Aloe Shampoo & Conditioner combo pk. from 1-800 Pet Meds. It seems to work pretty good.

I also use pill pockets as not to add more stress when pilling. If it's a larger pill I just use a pill cutter, & tear off just enough pill pocket to cover it. Also another tip, the pill pockets for cats,

doesn't have an allergy formula, but they do in the dogs, so I just buy that one. I also buy the bag for capsules instead of for tablets because they are bigger, so you get more, & it last longer!