The battle of Medicating my cats

I've searched and can't find any discussions on this topic so if it's been covered before I'm sorry but here goes.  I have 2 kittens about 5 months old now and a senior cat about 13. I'm treating all 3 of them for Giardia but the stuff must be pretty nasty because these guys all seem to know when I'm going to medicate them and the battle is on. Normally I grab my cat at the neck (none of them is declawed) and this disables them enough to stick the syringe in their mouth and shoot but they are big enough and strong enough to fight me now and although I try to take them by surprise that's not working anymore either. I've still got a day or two left to dose them so any help would be appreciated.

Can you catch them and wrap them in a towel while you put the syringe in their mouths?

I'm lucky and my cat doesn't try to hurt me when I try to force feed her something, but she does this thing where she makes a bunch of foamy saliva and just drools it all out. I'm trying to give her some probiotics (Saccharomyces boulardii) for her stomach issues and she hates the flavor. The pills are pretty large so I can't pill her, and haven't found an effective way of hiding it. I tried mixing with a little liquid and syringing it, but it just comes right back out. Next I was thinking of making a paste and sticking it on her fur to force her to groom it off....

I've had to give a lot of medicine to Jewel when she was with us.  I learned a few things that might help.

Be positive.  I know that sounds silly, but if you go in with a positive attitude, it seems to go easier.  Don't expect your kitties to fight.  Instead, tell them how good they are (even if they are fighting you), how the medicine is good for them, and that they are almost done with it.  Lots of praise goes a long way.

Put them in a purrito.  If I have to medicate a kitty by myself, I'll wrap her up in a towel, leaving her head out.  Don't wrap them up too tight, but make sure all the feet are in the towel.  

Give a tasty treat or food after the medication.  They will learn to associate the medication with something positive and yummy that way.

I hope this helps.  Medicating kitties can be rough going. 

Well, I can't promise this will work for your cats, but we finally found a trick that works for us that doesn't involve an extreme cardio workout or a blood transfusion. ;-)

We scratch and massage under their chin for a minute or so, and they instinctively relax and raise their head back into the position we want.  Then when they're blissed out, we gently pry their mouth open with one hand just enough to fit the pill, tip of a syringe, etc. into the corner of their mouth, and then sneak the meds in with the other hand.  Once the meds are down the hatch, we immediately start blowing on their nose a little, and go back to scratching and massaging up under their chin.  It's a bit trickier for me with liquid meds, since they can drool something fierce sometimes.  But it seems the sooner I can go back to scratching/massaging under their chin to get them to relax, the sooner they stop drooling.  YMMV, and all that. ;-)

Good luck with whatever method works best for you!

samus said:

Can you catch them and wrap them in a towel while you put the syringe in their mouths?

I'm lucky and my cat doesn't try to hurt me when I try to force feed her something, but she does this thing where she makes a bunch of foamy saliva and just drools it all out. I'm trying to give her some probiotics (Saccharomyces boulardii) for her stomach issues and she hates the flavor. The pills are pretty large so I can't pill her, and haven't found an effective way of hiding it. I tried mixing with a little liquid and syringing it, but it just comes right back out. Next I was thinking of making a paste and sticking it on her fur to force her to groom it off....

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Have you tried liquid snacks? There are several brands, but the shelter cats prefer the store brand from Penny-Markt. It's called Saphir and comes in a box with chicken and salmon flavors. "Trixie" has several different pastes, for example poultry, cheese, salmon, salmon and cheese, or liverwurst that work for some cats. For the S. boulardii ( not to be given for more than 1-3 days, according to the holistic vets I've talked to and the dosage instructions from the pharmaceutical companies, so be careful), the shelter uses 50 mg. Perenterol capsules (regular, not forte, and no more than 1 capsule for a large cat). Despite some of the advice given here (by non-vets, needless to say) it's for acute diarrhea only. The capsules are fairly small.

Luckily my cats are pretty easy but I can tell you my method. I kneel on the floor with my legs slightly apart in the front and together in the back (to keep them from backing up). I place the cat between my legs with their head facing forward, take one hand to open their mouth and the other to shoot the meds in. I always immediately follow up with a shot of water no matter if it's a pill or liquid to help them swallow and to get the taste out of their mouth. It may be a little trickier with a wiley little kitten though. At the vet we place them on an exam table or counter facing away from us (again so they can't back up) and open their mouth with one hand and shoot the meds in with the other. I think the floor method is a little easier though.

Thank you everyone for the input. As I said, I've had cats all my life and God has blessed in that they have all been healthy and I didn't really have to give meds.  I also had an African Grey and he was a real pistol when I had to towel him but that's a different story. However with my past experience you'd think I would have thought of the toweling. These two characters came to me with Giardia and we're having a heck of a time getting rid of it. In the mean time they are on antibiotics and it must be some real nasty stuff because they really hate it. I have usually just caught them while they were asleep and in seconds it was all over. Now though they're leery so sleep with one eye open. LOL