Looking for tips on giving medication to kittens

This morning I had to take Leonard and Sheldon, my 10 week old kittens into the vets this morning. They had started sneezing last weekend and after a couple of days they had seemed better. Last night I got home from work to find Leonard with his left eye swollen looking on the cheek under the eye, the eye tearing and third eyelid showing. Also started hearing Sheldon sneezing again. At the vets I was given a liquid antibiotic for both, along with an oitment for Leonard's eye. The first dose of antibiotics was given at the vets office, with me holding each kitten while the vet gave them their medicine.

The eye ointment I can handle fairly as a one person job. What I am trying to figure out is how to succeed with the antibiotic. Having a second person to help, is not an option since it is only me. With my adult cats I have always placed them between my legs while kneeling on the floor. With wiggly squirmy kittens I am not sure how successful this method will be. Looking for some ways that others give their kittens medication when there is no one to help. Thanks.

I use different methods for different kittens, depending on temperament.

Probably what would work for most is this...
At meal times, I let them begin eating and a few bites or so in, I gently, but firmly grab the kitten's scruff while standing/kneeling behind kitten. Then, I gently lift kitty up (back feet stay on floor) and squirt Meds into the side of the mouth. Then, I place them back down to finish eating.

If you're giving Clavamox or Amoxacilin the taste is fairly palatable and they shouldn't have a big problem with it.

As CatPack describes, this is fairly easy to give liquid meds.

Scruffing a kitten causes them to submit, some their entire body goes limp as it mimicks momma carrying them, some semi-limp but bottom line is, you will have control over them if you grab them in a scruff, I set them on the counter or table, scruff with your left hand and pull back gently so their head is up, which makes them open their mouths (conveniently , have the med ready in your right hand and squirt into the back of one side (cheek area) as you don't want them to spit any out so further back prevents this, plus they taste it less, and that's that!

Of course you never want to shoot it down their throat, that's why towards the cheek area.

Have fun!

I too have used the kneeling method with adult kitties, mostly ones that couldn't be medicated any other way and it is highly effective.  If you have to do it with a kitten you can, it's just harder getting your legs to pin them closely enough that they can't wriggle back, and you do have to keep hold at the throat/jaw.  The biggest benefit is it is a smooth, no clutching fingers grip that leaves 2 hands free - one for the neck and jaw to open the mouth and the other for the medication.  I wouldn't start with it if you can manage without a struggle some other way though, I agree with you there.

If you can manage to medicate without a firm grip at the scruff of the neck you will have a free hand to hold the face and jaw to open the mouth and get the medication in.  If you have one kitty at a time on a good height table or worktop where you to stand up close, lean in with kitty pressing in to your body, your elbow resting on the work surface with kitty sitting with rear end held between your elbow and body.  Your forearm then holds the kitty body at the same angel of the body as kitty is sitting and your hand can hold the face and jaw. Again you avoid holding little squirmy bodies with hands and fingers than might grip too tight and be sore and frightening.  (You use flat surfaces and as large muscles as you can for holding in the same way as you do for the kneeling technique).  You can then use one hand to hold the face and prize the jaw open enough to squirt the liquid in at the side as catwoman707 described.  

Go for treats before and after if you can, esp. after,  to make it something associated with good things as well as the medicine and being held.  If you can get kitties to come up to where you want with a treat first, then medicate, then let them head off for another treat, they will tolerate it much better as you continue with the treatment.

Thanks for the tips. This evening tried by holding them by the scruff. Ended up working well, when I placed the syringe by the corner of their mouth they opened up and I was able to slowly give them their medication.

The eye ointment is a bit tricky with Leonard, but we are getting there. Everyone is feeling better this evening, playing as you would expect a kitten to. Leonard seems to be feeling comfortable, last night had been rough for him and me. His poor eye still looks bad, but the discharge has stopped and he is opening it more. Took a picture of his eye thisevening, still red and swollen but better than this morning.

Aww, poor baby! I hope the eye meds give him some relief soon!

CatPack said:

Aww, poor baby! I hope the eye meds give him some relief soon!

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Ditto.  

Meds are helping and eye is looking even better today.

It has been a week since I updated this thread. Leonard and Sheldon had both been sneezing within 6 days of their antibiotics and Leonard's eye had improved, but still was not looking good. During Wednesday and Thursday I heard Taz coughing, no sneezing but had coughed up some clear phlem and had thrown up his food twice the day before. and took him in Friday. I took a picture of Leonard's eye to show the vet. Here is what it looked like Thursday night


We got a new antibiotic to try, had been on clavomax, now on zithromax. Also my vet suggested trying L-lysine in case what we are dealing with is fhv. Got home and added lysine to the food and feed everyone. Got home last night and after one dose of lysine Leonard's eye looked almost completly normal


Today couldn't even tell that he had anything wrong with his eye. Still a bit of sneezing which is subsiding and the kittens are full of even more crazy energy

What a cute fluffy kitten Leonard is!  So glad he is getting better, he is almost unrecognizable in the recent pictures.   Had you started the new antibiotic as well as the L Lysine as it could be either that made the difference, most likely the antibiotic as the L Lysine blocks the virus rather than any effect on secondary infections.  Good that your vet is considering possible causes of the infection though!

Hope this is it and Leonard can get on with being  a happy health little kitten pest.   

MServant said:

What a cute fluffy kitten Leonard is!  So glad he is getting better, he is almost unrecognizable in the recent pictures.   Had you started the new antibiotic as well as the L Lysine as it could be either that made the difference, most likely the antibiotic as the L Lysine blocks the virus rather than any effect on secondary infections.  Good that your vet is considering possible causes of the infection though!
Hope this is it and Leonard can get on with being  a happy health little kitten pest.   

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On Friday the kittens still had their morning and evening doses of clavomax left, so on Saturday I started them on the zithromax. Definitly it seems like the lysine is what made the difference. Sneezing has just about stopped I think, worked this weekend so not sure if anyone sneezed while I was away. Have today and tomorrow off so will be able to see if anyone is sneezing still or if that has stopped completly. Only one other thing that I have been trying to find info on which I will make a new thread on. My older boy has ckd and is eating the food with lysine on it, wondering how that is for his kidneys. Haven't been able to find much with the research that I have done so far.

I'm happy giving Mouse the L Lysine within recommended doses but would be reluctant for a cat without symptoms of the virus taking it due to vet caution on the possible risks of kidney and liver damage.  Found quite a good article when I was looking at starting to give it to Mouse but can't find that one now, but this one gives some explanation.

http://www.veterinarypracticenews.c...and-cautions-for-supplements-and-the-eye.aspx

The vet support seems to come down to the evidence that it supports FHV cats by suppressing symptoms, reducing tissue damage, preserving eyes, and reducing prescription of other medications such as antibiotics justifies the potential risks.  If a cat doesn't present with the symptoms why risk it?

I give Mouse his L Lysine as a gel, on a tea spoon, on his silicone tooth brush, or a little squirt to the side of this mouth (when he's on the larger dose when the virus is active).  In addition to his not eating the little bits of wet food he gets when I added the L Lysine I figure the direct administration means he gets a more accurate dose.

There are many people on the site who happily give all their cats L Lysine and unless your cat has a sensitivity or already has liver or kidney problems there doesn't seem to be any conclusive evidence it does harm, certainly in lower doses.  If in doubt I'd talk with your vet about your other cat's general health. 

Thank you Mservant for the link some good information in there to consider. I am planning on taking a stool sample in this weekend to make sure the kittens don't have worms. They recieved one dose of dewormer at the shelter and this weekend puts them at the 4 week mark since they got it. Will see if I can talk to my vet about Riley. As much as the powder form is convienent might need to look into doing the gel to make sure who is getting it. Everyone eats from each others dishes and my adult boys will eat from the same dish with any other cat at the same time.

You can get treats too, I'm sure your vet will have ideas on what might work best for your guys.  Good luck.

I'm a little iffy on allowing the lysine to a ckd kitty.

Lysine acts as protein, which is actually bad for failing kidneys, however you really need to ask your vet about it.

I have cat who I rescued as a kitten and he has had a long battle with the herpes virus in his eye. It seems so eye drops can completely cure it, but I did get lots of practice giving him different types of eye drops and medicine. If your other methods stop working or he still needs the medicine as he gets older, this is what I did when I didn't have a second person to help me with the squirmy little kitty. I wrapped him up in a towel tight, but not in a dangerous way, so only his head was sticking out. Then I sat on the ground and placed him between my legs and did the medicine quickly. 

And Lysine has done wonders for him, it's the only thing that keeps his eye from flaring up now. I hope your kitty feels better! 

When I had to give Snickerdoodle her Clavamox ...I used the kitten burrito. If I didn't she would find a way to get her claws into my skin...I learned that the hard way.

L-lysine has been a great benefit to my kitties. My younger cat was a rescue from a shelter and came to us with an undiagnosed case of herpes which he quickly transmitted to my older cat. Herpes nearly killed my older kitty. Even with a great deal of treatment, meds and attention, it took him nearly two years to be up and around and playing a bit again after his severe bout of herpes. Both kitties now take lysine daily, and the older one occasionally needs supplemental meds, eye ointments, and other drugs and injections.

As for ways to give meds to wiggly babies of any age, I have one other suggestion to add. I am older and have aches and pains, so I put the elder kitty patient in the kitchen sink padded with towels for warmth, than wrap my left arm around kitty and firmly but gently hold open the eye or mouth, insert med, pet and praise kitty and quickly give a bit of favorite food or treat that was prepared in advance. By preparing the setup in advance, I have gotten my system down to being able to dose, ointment in ears, ointment in eyes, pill in mouth, liquid in mouth (cheek jowl) and a subcutaneous injection on the hip in just a minute or two, immediately followed by a bit of his favorite meat baby food as a treat. Then he gets to be set down at his food tray on a soft towel with more praise and pets. As a result, my kitty boy seems far less bothered by it all.

I have a Quick question to add to this thread... 
Long ago when I had my Kitty declawed (Pleas no one scold me about this, She is indoor only, I'm living in an apartment and even now she "scratches" every surface of my apartment.) I had to give her 1/8 (which was impossible to cut) of a pain pill every few hours or so if I thought she needed it.. She is a tough little kitty and I only gave her a pill twice, but it was a fight to give it to her... It ended up mostly dissolving in her mouth and and making her mouth foam... It worked though cuz she would get pretty spacey about 20 minutes later... 
But what is an easier way to give a cat a pill, incase I have to do it in the future? I tried masking it in a piece of chicken.. but she would just eat around it.
So any tips?? hopefully she will be a healthy Kitty for the rest of her life and I wont need to drug her, but you never know what comes up..

@Cynbarrie, I think like Catpack has said earlier, different methods work for different cats - and people.  

There are quite a few interesting techniques menitioned here in response to BarbH's question so if you read through from the beginning hopefully you will see one or two you think you could try.  I would always start with the least restricive approach you can:  if a cat thinks it's being restrained it will wriggle or fight back (just like a person).  On that basis just being close to your cat, stabilising their head and jaws and pressing them open to get the medication in would be point 1 after offering in food or a pill pocket (find them on Amazon and other pet suppliers on line).  The scruff technique sounds like a good one to me though I haven't used it.  Holding your cat in to the body at a good working height, or wrapped in a towel or similar, and possibly using a sink as an additional holding system as suggested by Harrysmom should all work reasonably well unless you have a very strong or large cat that resists you.  At that point the sitting method is probably the best. These techniques are all described pretty well earlier in this thread.   It really does depend on your cat and what you feel most comfortable and confident with.  If you are comfortable and confident your cat will feel calmer too. 

It might be easier to give the medication in a pill pocket, or if the tablet is suitable then crush it to a powder and give on a bite proof teaspoon positioned to the back of the tongue (avoids putting fingers in line with teeth). One of my previous cats would store tablets in her mouth or gullet for up to 20 minutes if they were coated ones and then regurgetate them in quiet corners when she thought I couldn't see her.  I cottoned on after day or two when I saw little pink pills in the corners of rooms.    All meds were liquid or crushed after that.  You might have to hold on to your cat for a little while after giving the medication to minimise the risk of spitting or sicking back up it really is worth being in a comfortable postition when you start.  Oh, and have everything you need to hand before you get hold of said cat otherwise your cat will have vanished for at least the next hour.

The frothing is alarming but as long as you can keep most of the mediction in it isn't long lived, though your cat may well start to gag and be sick as well.  It can help if you give them a little food gravy following the medicataion, or use a syringe and trickle some water in to the corner of their mouth - I prefer giving them some food gravy to lick off a spoon or finger.  Mouse gets his toothpaste because he likes it.

Hopefully you won't need to use any of this advice for a long time though!