medicating my feral cat

Hi all. I recently rescued a starving feral and have quasi socialized her..to me at least. She has terrible ringworm and I have to give her medicine every day. Shes too canny to take it in her food so its a liquid down the throat. My issue is that we do so well together but pill time is horrific and will have to go one for a while. She forgives me and comes on the bed which was exciting. But im just worried that im making it more stressful. I also have 2 other cats with jealousy issues. The fighting is down but the glaring continues. Is there a way to make this less stressful for all of us...she will neednto be on meds for a few.months. any advise would be appreciated.

What does "too canny" mean? Also, I'm confused--is the medicine liquid or pill?

If it's a pill, you could give it to her in those "pill pockets" sold at Petsmart and other pet stores. They are treats with a hole you can insert the pill in. You could also purchase a "pill gun," which is what I use for my cat who needs medication twice a day for hyper thyroidism. You just open the cat's mouth and shoot the pill down their throat. You could also crush the pill and mix it with wet food and a little tuna fish (you could also put the liquid in the wet food and tuna). While your cat doesn't enjoy this, she will adjust and accept it as a part of her daily routine.

How long has your feral/stray been inside? It can take several weeks or even a few months for cats to adjust to each other. As long as they're not seriously hurting each other, I wouldn't worry about the jealousy issue. This will go away in time. I'm sure others will respond and suggest aids such as "feliway" and calming treats, which can be helpful for some cats--that's not my area of expertise, so I'll let others make those suggestions. I can suggest that if you give your other cats extra praise, attention, and play time, that hopefully they will feel reassured that you're not "replacing" them with the new one and will feel less stressed. It's been my experience that all cats learn how to live together and get along inside a house over time. They're way ahead of us humans in that regard

Welcome to the forums and thank you for rescuing this sweet soul!  Socializing a fera/semi-feral takes some time and patience.  Since she is sleeping on your bed, it does sound as though she is a stray who has some feral like tendencies. 

As far as giving medicine to the cat, please inform if it is liquid or pill.  As mentioned by Ms Aimee pill pockets work really well.  I had to give medicine to the feral I brought into the house last year for 21 days.  It was awful.  I tried many types of liquid, but he refused them all.  I couldn't handle him so pill form was next and the pill pockets worked like a charm.  If it is liquid, I found that mixing the liquid in Gerber stage 2 chicken/turkey ( no added ingredients except water) works well. 

As far as the cats getting along, there are some introduction phases that really help cats transition to each other.  Here is a link to an article http://www.thecatsite.com/a/introducing-cats-to-cats

Cats can take some time to adjust to each other.  My two boys have been together for a year now and are just now getting along.  They will never be cozy buddies, but they did learn to coexist. 

To clarify she still runs from me and has that crouched tail wrapped ears flat stance. She will not take the pill pockets, hates wet food, and had zero interrst in treats. I have tried it all. Now I have the chicken flavored liquid...which she hates. My concern is that as I keep having to catch her, and we struggle with the medication I am ruining my chances eith her. When we are done with medication...she is usually shut down..catatonic. I put her on my bed pet her until she calms and she will typically sleep with me..much to the disdain of my other 2 cats...if looks could kill..lol. she typically hides in the closet all day. It had been 7 months...if she had not been so skinny I would heve just fed her...my concern wad she would not make the winter. She was 3 lbs and is now 7

I remember trying the chicken flavored liquid too.  My cat hated it.  I tried salmon and tuna flavored too.  Nothing worked except the pill pockets.  If the pill pockets did not work, my only other option was to hire a vet tech from my vet practice to come to my house for $10 per day.  How many more days do you have?  Can you vet practice give you any help?

Months...we are in a rural area and the vet took a bit to realize it was ringworm. They thought she was stress licking. It was after my hysterical shrieking fit about incompetence that they listened to me so it is super advanced. They dont do lime sulpher dips and my inlaws have forbid it as I live with them. So she is rotating a week on and a week of on the medicine. Its slow going and makes me very sad. I am hooingsince she will stay on the bed that she forgives me eventually. I think im just stressed as I have been dealing with this for months and am kinda mentally worn out with the constant needs of all my cats. Which I love dearly. Sigh. I dont trust the vet techs.

So a quick update. I took the advice and tried the baby food mixed with the medicine and it worked beautifully. No stress no horrible capture experience. I think she sees the bed as a safe zone as she is still unapproachable anywhere else. It's like having 2 cat's. .but its good enough for me.

pinkcat said:

So a quick update. I took the advice and tried the baby food mixed with the medicine and it worked beautifully. No stress no horrible capture experience. I think she sees the bed as a safe zone as she is still unapproachable anywhere else. It's like having 2 cat's. .but its good enough for me.

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Awesome!!  My ferals will take almost anything mixed in baby food.  It is an amazing thing!!!  Hopefully this will rid her of the ringworm!

I am curious if anyone has come across anti fungal resistance. Skinny is slightly better but still scratching herself bloody. I was going to attempt washing her (in full armour) in a fatty acid shampoo in hopes of calming her horrible itching. Any thoughts???

There are different strains of ringworm (some show up under a blacklight, some do not) that require different types of medicine.  If you are not seeing improvement after months of treatment, then it might be time to talk to your vet about starting a different medication.  Are you doing any kind of topical cream like miconazole?  An antifungal shampoo could help calm the itching, but I have bathed semi-feral (and feral!) cats before, and it is no fun.    Make sure you study up by watching youtube videos and reading advice before you attempt to bathe her.  GOOD LUCK!  

Thank you for taking the initiative to help this girl.  Socializing cats can be hard and frustrating work, but it sounds like you are earning her trust and establishing safe zones in your home.

Even though you do not feed raw food, you ought to try (it is quite safe, we feed ALL raw food to 15 cats!) to use little bits of chicken breast, cubed into fingernail sizes, and if she likes it - or same size bits of beef - you can safely stick a pill inside and she will likely swallow.  I just did that with a cat who hates liquids.

A quick update. Skinny kitty did not have ringworm and the vet put her on clavamox. What a difference! She's up to 9 lbs and not nearly scratching as much. We might have to give her a new name

pinkcat said:

A quick update. Skinny kitty did not have ringworm and the vet put her on clavamox. What a difference! She's up to 9 lbs and not nearly scratching as much. We might have to give her a new name

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What good news!!!  So glad you went back to the vet and is now on the road to recovery!!!