Help! - Aggressive Kitty in Pain Needs Medicine

nycmama

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Hi everyone! I'm hoping someone can provide some advice on how to give medication to a generally sweet kitty who's aggressive because he's in pain. Some quick background: 

I adopted a kitty off of Animal Control's kill list a few months ago, after he was brought in as a starving stray. They estimated his age at 10 years but it's hard to tell--I suspect he's more like 6 or 7. He was really underweight (he was 7 lbs and has the frame to be a healthy 15). He's been struggling with ringworm localized on his head for the past few months, but it appears that it's clearing up and I/the vet haven't seen any new patches. He also started out very weak (pretty much sleeping and eating the whole time) but now is up and running around a lot.

Starting about a month ago, when I went away on vacation for a week, the kitty's started overgrooming, and has pulled out a lot of hair on his shoulders and stomach, licking and scratching enough that he's almost drawn blood. I've been to the vet a number of times with him and we've talked about the various things it could be, one of which is just anxiety. We're hoping the overgrooming will resolve itself in the next few months, but in the short term I'm having a terrible time giving him the vet's prescribed medication.

I'm currently supposed to spray the sores on his stomach and legs with a liquid spray once a day, and apply lyme sulfur dip to the specific areas he's scratching at once a day, as well as a full body bath once a week. My problem is that, while my kitty is normally very sweet, he's currently in some real pain in these areas and gets immediately very aggressive when I try to gently turn him to expose his stomach to either spray him or apply the dip.

I've looked around on the internet a bunch, and see a lot of postings about how cats can become aggressive when they're in pain. That's clearly the case here, but I could really use some practical advice on how to handle him when he turns aggressive. He's got to get this medicine, but he starts swatting/scratching/biting me/running away when I try to touch him. Once he's started growling, any more attempts to hold or touch him make him start screaming at the top of his lungs like he's being tortured.

I'm also wondering, if the underlying cause of his overgrooming is indeed anxiety, aren't I making it worse by raising his anxiety level to basically 98 out of 100 twice a day?

The most difficult part of this whole ordeal is seeing my sweet cat so unhappy and in pain, and I really want to help him feel better. Any advice appreciated! I could really use it.

Thanks!
 

talkingpeanut

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Can you try wrapping him in a blanket like a burrito and exposing only the areas you need access to? Some cats will relax when they're wrapped and then you won't have the fight/flight reaction.

Good luck to both of you! It's great that you took in an older cat and can give him a better life.
 

stephanietx

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First of all, I'd recommend a calming agent such as feliway to help him de-stress.  You plug them in and they emit a pheromone which calms the kitty.  Are the sores infected? 
 
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nycmama

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Thanks to both of you! The sores aren't infected yet, as far as I can tell, but the goal is to keep them clean so they don't get that way. The kitty has also not been excited about being wrapped up, but I'll give it another go this evening and see what happens.

I hadn't heard of feliway before, but I'll pick some up. It's well worth a try.

! I'm trying to be patient, but it's so frustrating to see the kitty so unhappy. Thanks very much for the suggestions.
 
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