Each day has its own challenges when it comes to Andy and giving him his medicine.
Suspicious….
I try not to alarm Andy when I stalk him to catch him to give him his medicine. Many times, he loses track of events and comes up to me, begging for treats or play time: I snatch him right up!
“I see you!”
Other times, when he doesn’t come around to me, I try to catch him unawares. Unless he’s in deep sleep, he generally senses me coming and skedaddles before I can snatch him up. (He’s a western kitty. Yes, he “skedaddles”!)
Not today, though. I caught him unawares, deep sleeping on top of the blue carrier he uses for his daytime outpost. Curiously, he doesn’t struggle when I catch him, then carry him to the medicating chair cradled like a baby in the crook of my arm.
That is, until I reach for The White Towel, the Object of His Oppression. Ever try to wrap a struggling cat in a towel? Five hands isn’t always enough, though I somehow manage to do it with two.
“I won’t like it!”
Awww! Poor Andy wrapped in the towel. He becomes quiet, a little oppressed victim of The Man! Because the medication is for hypertension, I rub his ears and try to calm him.
(What stress is there in an indoor cat’s life, other than his brother and me giving him blood pressure medicine? Hunh!?)
“Why!? Why!? WHY!? I’m just a little kitty!”
Dougy watches the process. He may feel sorry for his brother, though I suspect he’s more concerned that he might be next.
“Brother, are you OK?”
I give Andy the syringe full of chicken-flavored medicine in small mouthfuls. He slowly gags it down. Then I tell him what a good kitty he is — and mostly he is — while rubbing his nose (which he likes) and scratching his ears (which he also likes).
I put him down. Well, he struggles out of the towel when I loosen my grip and he “escapes” with a bound! I give him some treats. He gets over the indignity of medicine squirted into his mouth, and things return to normal for the rest of the day.
“Did you see what the human did to me, Dougy?”
Poor kitty!
Oh, my husband is very clever…but he should finally get out of the bathroom! By the way, I can not find any screwdriver in the toolbox. Hm. This is weird.
So I have to resort to harsh methods. I will bake his favorite cake. The smell will lure him out.
I’m sure.
The favorite cake tactic. Very good! Of course, you will have to make sure he eats it standing up…!
Oh Andy. Listen to your daddy and take the meds ~~~
He’s hiding from me just now (time for his August 17th dose, you see…) but, if you are following the exchange between lemanshots and me, you can see I have lots of ideas on how best to track down and administer medicine to reluctant males of any species!
Haha xD
It’s 7:17, and Andy still hasn’t had his medication. He’s getting smarter and smarter, I fear! Let’s hope lemanshots’ husband isn’t so clever!
Oh dear :/. I wonder if you could mix liquid medicine into liquid snacks? Oliver falls for that every time.
I suspect Andy would take it every time if I have sufficient quantities of water poured off of albacore. He (and Dougy) love tuna water, which is why I had the first few refills of the medicine flavored with tuna. The last refill I got flavored with chicken. I think Andy liked the tuna better, so will have to just gag down the chicken-flavored stuff till next refill!
I’ll cross my fingers for you!
Andy’s the one that needs fingers crossed…! I get it down him one way or another. Muwahahah!
XD ! Ok good luck Andy (better give in…) 🙂
It took forever to catch him today, but I did it by luring him in with a favorite toy. He’s so predictable in some ways…!
Just watch out for his revenge. He may now try to trip you up with his toys =x (that’s what Oli does if he is not happy with the things we do lol)
Andy sulks but doesn’t strike out. That’s probably why he has high blood pressure: He keeps “it” in!
Aaaawwww :(. Well I hope it will get easier over time.
Andy and I have had impressive learning curves. At this point, I’m ahead, but not by much! (Speaking of which, I haven’t given him his medicine yet today. I will see if I hold the lead or not in the next few minutes.)
[That was easy. He was in the bathroom. I walked in, he hopped on the washing machine, and I told him, “You know what comes next, don’t you boy?” He went without a struggle, which he saved for when I started to wrap him in the towel. Wrapped, he had his medicine, from starting stalk to administering the dose, in less time that it took me to write this. I spent lots of extra time stroking his head, telling him what a good boy he way, and rubbing his ears in a way he likes till he calmed down. A good time was had by all!]
Phew. Glad to hear it was easier today 🙂
For me, anyway! Poor Andy.
True 🙁
I hope he gets to cut back or stop the medicine at the end of the refills, but I doubt that will be the case. The boys have their regular annual physical (and shot updates…!) in October.
Okay okay, so I will have to thoroughly investigate…
Oh.., I just cannot find my husband…
Hmmm…
He may be hiding in the bathroom, with the door locked. My guess is there is a spot on the knob or handle that a flat-bladed screwdriver fits, and that allows you to unlock the door from the outside. It takes a large screwdriver, but the reward’s great, and your husband will be so shocked (for a brief moment) that you can wrestle that suppository into position before he can squeal like a piggy! When you tell him it’s in, he’ll deny it (how can you manage that when he’s a big guy and you’re not, he’ll be thinking), but the deed will be done, and he’ll be better off for it!
Hmmmm- just thinking about scratching my husband’s ears when he doesn’t want to take a medicine or something…
I’ve found rubbing between his eyes works well, too! (Just a suggestion, if you want to start him purring! 😉 )
Excellent idea! I will try it! ;)))
Hey! He may even begin to look forward to “it”! I know Andy seems less reluctant to go under the towel, so to speak, even though he knows he gets a mouthful of icky medicine when he does. That’s largely because he gets praise, ear scratching, and a nose rub all the while I tell him what a good boy he is! (Don’t forget to tell your husband what a good boy he is…!)
I’ll be impressed if this works with a suppository.
*winks
– sonmicloud.
Kind of like the old marketing fraud, “bait and switch”. While you have his attention diverted to the pleasure between his eyes, aim that suppository into the eye of the storm! Ha! Ha! (Let me know if it works. LOL!)
Hahaa, I’ll be impressed too!! ;))))
Think of the boost to your self-esteem, too, to know you outwitted your husband and dosed him!
Andy, who’s still unmedicated for today, just walked by me and, in a gesture of great insolence, brushed his fluffy tail against my leg. I’ll get you Andy! Just you wait and see! I know where you spend your day, and your dare not close your eyes for one minute!
Give Andy an extra scratch from me!
Will do…as soon as I catch the little rascal to give him his Saturday dose of medicine! He’s managed to avoid me all morning so far, but I. Will. WINNNNNNN!
‘ the Object of His Oppression. ‘ – this had me laughing, but you’re right I’m sure. Those eyes are something else too.
– sonmilcoud
I guarantee he’d win over the jury if it went to trial!