Remember this Andy from yesterday? Defiant? Confident? Full of cattitude? Well, what follows is, um, pathetic, heart-wrenching, tragic, maybe semi-legal in Catatonia, where all cats come from: Medicine Time!
Good grief! Such drama! What could be the cause of such terror?
Well…a wet paper towel that I’ll use to wipe dribbled medicine from Andy’s mouth and face and the syringe with the dose of blood pressure medicine. Pretty scary, I’ll say!
There is some resistance before I get Andy wrapped up in a towel. (Notice all the kitty hair on the rug? My vacuum cleaner – yes, the fabled Dyson for pets, though I’m not getting paid to mention it – is starting to give up the ghost trying to keep up with shedding season.)
I need three hands to give the medicine and take a photo, so this is what I see moments before I stick the syringe into Andy’s mouth and squirt the medicine – as much as I can – into the kitty. There’s a trick to it, but the kitty burrito approach immobilizes the kitty boy’s “Holy Terror from the Deepest Regions of Hell” claws.
I managed to get virtually the whole dose down Andy today. Some days, as much as a third of it dribbles down the side of his face when his “Kitty Lips Sealed Tighter than a Deep Sea Submersible at the Bottom of the Marianas Trench” resist the medicine.
“We gotta do it, Andy! We gotta do it!”
Aww, that IS heart wrenching. Smart move with the towel, though. And yes, we have the same Dyson Animal…I was thinking just last night that I don’t know what I would do without it.
When its working properly, the Dyson is perfect for pet hair. The old one rolled the hair into windrows and failed to deal with picking it up. As it is, I can fill the canister in a six foot square space with my two, so empty it and empty it and…
I’m having some problems with mine clogging up and over heating. Could it be five pounds of kitty boy hair per six square feet???
Yes, the towel is swaddling in the purest sense. It calms him (or restrains?) long enough to give him his medicine. I also make sure he gets some lovin’ before and after, rubbing between his eyes (which both kitty boys love, love, love!) and on his head. If I can get him to purr and close his eyes, I know I’ve succeeded.
Poor Andy. He probably wonders why you never torture Dougy
Yeah, and I hope I never have two cats needing twice-daily doses of medicine!
Poor Andy, putting up a heroic struggle!
He seems to realize it will be a regular part of his day now, and puts up the big protest after there is no doubt he’s in my arms for medicine, not loving! (Of course, I give him lots of that before and after the medicine because I have empathy for him, being some one who has to take a lot of pills every day, too.)
Believe me, I feel for both of you!
Ha! Me, too!
Ours are pretty good about liquids, solid pills are another matter. Both are subject to coming back up the pipe at times. 🙂
So far, I’ve only had to deal with liquids. I suspect pills would be an ordeal with either toothed critter!
I think Andy was pretty good. The burrito does make life easier for us humans. Kali go so many meds but she was a little angel about taking them. Don’t think we’ll see that kind of helpfulness again.
Jean
Awww. Poor Kali. Still feel bad about that. Yeah, Andy is getting used to the ordeal, I guess, because he waits till I get to the towel-wrapping part now before he puts up significant resistance. Of course, I prep him for the dose by petting and talking soothingly in low tones to him before wrapping him. He likes that! (The petting, soothing talk – not the towel!)
He handles the burrito business pretty well once I get his front paws wrapped! Poor Kali went through some tough times and I felt bad reading about what your poor kitty was dealing with. RIP sweet Kali!
I give you master credits for delivering medicine and getting action shots almost simultaneously! I can barely manage the burritoing.
I can take photos of Andy as long as he is on his back because he relaxes for a time. Once he realizes the dose is about to be given, he tenses up and the fight is on!
Poor Andy 😿
I have the same problem with Emmy drooling when I give her meds.
I always keep a wet towel or washcloth handy to clean Andy up afterwards. Initially I didn’t, and the medicine dried in his fur, making a hard mess! Best wishes working out how to overcome Emmy’s resistance. It can be done. I think. Maybe. Well, probably never, but best wishes anyway.
Pope offers this up to kitty boy and kitty girl servants:
Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never is, but always to be blessed:
The soul, uneasy and confined from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.
Ha!
Love the Marianus Trench example! Poor kitty. 😳😻
He definitely keeps his mouth tight!
I have a lot of trouble giving liquids so I’ve switched to pills as often as I can. I’ve gotten quite good at pilling. My old cat Jake would foam out any liquids I put in his mouth. Poor little guy. Does he have to get this for the rest of his life?
Yes, I understand it probably is for the duration. If I let the medicine warm up (it’s refrigerated because of the chicken flavoring), he swallows it. There’s a trick to shooting just enough he can swallow but not so much it dribbles out the side of his mouth. It takes a little practice, but I think we are getting to a point where I squirt it in fast enough Andy’s ordeal is over fairly soon, but not so fast it flows out of his mouth.
Oh snorts! Oh yes us anipals know the death trap of the mouth when it comes to medicines. That stuff tastes nasty. Can you imagine ‘us’ trying to give it to humans? That would be hilarious. Poor guy. I hope he feels better. XOXO – Bacon
Andy does act better when on medicine. He seems to feel a lot better than before I took him to his veterinarian. Other than the daily medicine doses, he lives a normal life, does those kitty crazy runs through the house with Dougy, and sleeps most of the day and night, just like cats do!
That is totally awesome! Mom was telling us and daddy about Dougy this past weekend and was hoping he was feeling better. Mom was worried about him. XOXO – Bacon
Dougy is fine, but Andy is the kitty with the high blood pressure. At any rate, Andy is coming along fine! The medicine seems to have had a positive effect on him. He has another appointment for next October.
We definitely will keep our paws crossed for Andy sweet friend. XOXO – Bacon
Much appreciated! I’ve noticed he is much calmer and more like his old self these days, so I think the medicine is doing its job.
Hallelujah! We are so glad! XOXO – Bacon
I imagined the muzak of the shower scene of alfred hitchcats oeuvre… wwwow scarrrrry ….
Ha! Yeah, something like that! Stab! Stab! Stab! First stabs – syringe into Andy’s mouth; final stabs – Andy’s claws as he catapults (of course!) off my arm!
absolutely difficult – giving medication to cats. Dogs are so much easier
Once I learned the kitty burrito trick, the process has been less traumatic – for me, at least!