Medicating Cats

                Hallelujah!  There is finally a medicine that cats like!  In fact, Jersey enjoys her arthritis meds so well that when I call, she comes hobbling and sucks the syrup out of the syringe before I can even shoot it in her mouth. 

An unrestrained cat blissfully takes her medicine

                What an improvement over the days of pilling the cats. When Monty was in the final stages of cancer, he may have been too weak to sit up, but it still took three large people to get a tiny pill into his 13 lb. body…and then several hours later we would catch him spitting it out.  Really, Monty?  Hiding a bitter pill under your tongue for hours was better than just swallowing it? 

                Whether it's a control issue or just the indignity of being pilled, a determined cat is capable of clamping its mouth shut tighter than a bear trap.  Of course, before you can pill him, you have to find him.  Cats have a medication radar that alerts them to hide indefinitely and avoid humans at all costs.

                I loved how, when we had a dog, all we had to do was wrap the pill in a little lunch meat and toss it in the air--deed done.  With cats, you can hide their pill in a can of cat food (the good stuff they are always begging for) and when the can is empty the pill will lie on the licked-clean bottom.  Crush the pill and stir it into the food and a tiny pile of powder will lie on the licked-clean bottom.

                Needless to say, I enjoy medicating Jersey now that reinforcements and bandages are no longer needed.