Bill the Cat: Time for the worming pill [modified]
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Since he has been dissecting birdies in his litter tray again - makes it easier to clear up the bits he doesn't eat, but shows up why heven he wouldn't eat them - it was decided that once we had got his temperature pretty much under control we should re-worm him. He has been lethargic, and off his food for a few days, so we took him to the vet who stuck a probe where the sun don't shine and pronounced him ill - 106.5oF is not good, even for a cat. Two nice big jabs later, and by the time we get him home he is a lot brighter. Another visit last night and he's down to 103.4oF (so he's only about a degree above normal now). Ok. Time to Pill The Cat. Has everyone else tried this? No? Ok, let's run through the normal sequence of events... Pill...cat. Cat...pill. Step 1: His food smells like nothing on earth should, so we can just stuff the pill in there, and he'll eat it, eh? Result: It doesn't work like that. Cat will eat disgusting looking and smelling stuff with no problems, and walk away. Leaving a polished bowl, containing only a polished pill. Step 2: We'll grind the pill up, and mix it in this time. Perfect? Result: Cat refuses to eat, except for a small patch. Did he eat any pill? Who knows, but probably not. What's that polished dust at the bottom of his bowl? Step 3: Topology. The cat is a tube with a flap at the top. You open the flap, you insert the pill, you close the flap. Simples! Result: Did you forget that the flap has teeth, and the tube has claws? I'd put some germolene on those, if I was you. Step 4: Topology with a towel. Wrap the cat in the towel, hold the towel, prise the little jaws open. Insert pill. Shut jaws, hold mouth closed, tickle throat until cat swallows. Ahh.... Result: Cat waits five minutes and then there is a damp "ptooo" noise as the cat retrieves the pill from the secret fourth-dimensional pouch in his mouth, and spits it - highly polished - on the carpet. Cat looks smug. By this stage, disease transfer seems to have taken place: the cat looks healthy, and you feel ill. The pill (though unswallowed) may be said to have worked. However, you are a responsible pet owner, so you decide to get the pill down him, once and for all... Step 5: Repeat 4, with added problems. The cat now knows what to expect, so catching him first is going to be really difficult. Wrapping him in the towel is going to involve some damage this time too - and not to him. Still you have him immobile, and settled, so: Prise the little jaws open. Insert pill. shov
I've been there. We once had a cat, only 7, who suddenly got very sick (kidney problems). We had to give him a pill, with a very similar experience to yours, except they also gave us a pill dispenser we were supposed to shove down his throat to help. Yeah, he didn't fall for that. We also had to dispense a subcutaneous drip, which involved two of us for about 15 minutes while the stuff drained into him. But the worst part was the liquid medicine. It was pink, and smelled like fish so the cat would, theoretically, like it. It looked like pepto bismol but smelled like a fishing dock. The first time we thought the cat would just drink it without too much trouble, "Hey, liquid fish!" Nope. So we had to squirt it down his throat. This had similar results as the pill, except the thrashing of the cat caused a good amount of it to get splashed on me, the carpet, my wife... so we were stained pink and smelled like dead fish. We finally got him to swallow most of the dose, only to have him bolt as soon as we were done with him, jump up on our bed, and throw up. Pink stained, fish smelling bed. The worst part was he died a couple days later, right when we thought he was getting better. The vet claimed it was a blood clot that did him in and unrelated to the kidney problems. I have a hard time believing that; two unrelated life threatening problems in the span of a few days for a 7 year old cat, who had never had health problems? Hmm. Oh well. He was an awesome cat.
And sometimes when you're on, you're really f***ing on And your friends they sing along and they love you But the lows are so extreme that the good seems f***ing cheap And it teases you for weeks in its absence Rilo Kiley - "A Better Son/Daughter"
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I've been there. We once had a cat, only 7, who suddenly got very sick (kidney problems). We had to give him a pill, with a very similar experience to yours, except they also gave us a pill dispenser we were supposed to shove down his throat to help. Yeah, he didn't fall for that. We also had to dispense a subcutaneous drip, which involved two of us for about 15 minutes while the stuff drained into him. But the worst part was the liquid medicine. It was pink, and smelled like fish so the cat would, theoretically, like it. It looked like pepto bismol but smelled like a fishing dock. The first time we thought the cat would just drink it without too much trouble, "Hey, liquid fish!" Nope. So we had to squirt it down his throat. This had similar results as the pill, except the thrashing of the cat caused a good amount of it to get splashed on me, the carpet, my wife... so we were stained pink and smelled like dead fish. We finally got him to swallow most of the dose, only to have him bolt as soon as we were done with him, jump up on our bed, and throw up. Pink stained, fish smelling bed. The worst part was he died a couple days later, right when we thought he was getting better. The vet claimed it was a blood clot that did him in and unrelated to the kidney problems. I have a hard time believing that; two unrelated life threatening problems in the span of a few days for a 7 year old cat, who had never had health problems? Hmm. Oh well. He was an awesome cat.
And sometimes when you're on, you're really f***ing on And your friends they sing along and they love you But the lows are so extreme that the good seems f***ing cheap And it teases you for weeks in its absence Rilo Kiley - "A Better Son/Daughter"
Sorry to hear that :rose: We had a sudden-death cat last year - Beldin. He had scabby paws, with brown, smelly fur between them and the vet did a biopsy which showed nothing, so he was put on high-strength steroid injections. Three days in, he threw up, gagged, panted, and died on the way to the vet. Only 9 and fit as a flea. Diagnosis: Not the injections. Honest. Yeah, right... That's why we got Bill in March - "Hole in the House" syndrome.
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."
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There is a trick to getting/forcing a pill down a cat, I learnt this when I was working on a sheep station about 30 years ago. It takes two with a cat, just like a lamb, mind you they cut the balls off the lamb. Grab the front legs between thumb and fore finger, the back legs between the next two finger, this basically immobilises (seriously 2 mm in immobilise) weapon set 1, the claws are now stuck out in front of said pussy. About the same time you need you partner in sadism to grab the back of the cats neck, you know just like picking up a kitten. This immobilises weapon no 2 those bloody sharp teeth. Now have the partner keep scruffing the neck till the jaws open, this happens naturally just before you strangle the little bastard, use the pea shooter straw (mentioned above) to shove the pill down the little buggers throat, don't be gentle, make sure it gets well past the 4th dimension pocket they all have in there. Now come the tricky bit, with a coordinated movement with your partner fling the cat at least 5 feet from you, any less and you will lose bits on the way down. Note while this is repeatable it gets more expensive in both treats and flesh each time it is repeated. You need to remember cats have along memory and a definite penchant for revenge so have some nice tasty bits available to make friends again. Good Luck
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
It sounds effective. Cruel, but effective. I think I will save that one for the last resort - he knows where I sleep... :laugh:
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."
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Sorry to hear that :rose: We had a sudden-death cat last year - Beldin. He had scabby paws, with brown, smelly fur between them and the vet did a biopsy which showed nothing, so he was put on high-strength steroid injections. Three days in, he threw up, gagged, panted, and died on the way to the vet. Only 9 and fit as a flea. Diagnosis: Not the injections. Honest. Yeah, right... That's why we got Bill in March - "Hole in the House" syndrome.
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."
Yeah, it was the worst pet loss I've ever had. This was 5 years ago now. His older "sister," a neurotic calico, is still going strong at 14. She loves me and my boys, but looks at my wife like she's going to kill her in her sleep. We got a siamese last year who is great. She brought a dead bunny to the door last night, which is ok because those things breed like... rabbits.
And sometimes when you're on, you're really f***ing on And your friends they sing along and they love you But the lows are so extreme that the good seems f***ing cheap And it teases you for weeks in its absence Rilo Kiley - "A Better Son/Daughter"
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Yeah, it was the worst pet loss I've ever had. This was 5 years ago now. His older "sister," a neurotic calico, is still going strong at 14. She loves me and my boys, but looks at my wife like she's going to kill her in her sleep. We got a siamese last year who is great. She brought a dead bunny to the door last night, which is ok because those things breed like... rabbits.
And sometimes when you're on, you're really f***ing on And your friends they sing along and they love you But the lows are so extreme that the good seems f***ing cheap And it teases you for weeks in its absence Rilo Kiley - "A Better Son/Daughter"
We had one (originally named Mademoiselle, but evolved to Madam, and eventually Fang) that was still a huntin' killin' fiend-from-hell at 20. She finally succumbed to massive cancers about six months after Chernobyl.
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."
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It sounds effective. Cruel, but effective. I think I will save that one for the last resort - he knows where I sleep... :laugh:
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."
Actually its not cruel at all and the only thing that gets damaged (on the cat) is his dignity which as we all know is a very sensitive thing. It is certainly better and easier than the towel wrapping.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
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Since he has been dissecting birdies in his litter tray again - makes it easier to clear up the bits he doesn't eat, but shows up why heven he wouldn't eat them - it was decided that once we had got his temperature pretty much under control we should re-worm him. He has been lethargic, and off his food for a few days, so we took him to the vet who stuck a probe where the sun don't shine and pronounced him ill - 106.5oF is not good, even for a cat. Two nice big jabs later, and by the time we get him home he is a lot brighter. Another visit last night and he's down to 103.4oF (so he's only about a degree above normal now). Ok. Time to Pill The Cat. Has everyone else tried this? No? Ok, let's run through the normal sequence of events... Pill...cat. Cat...pill. Step 1: His food smells like nothing on earth should, so we can just stuff the pill in there, and he'll eat it, eh? Result: It doesn't work like that. Cat will eat disgusting looking and smelling stuff with no problems, and walk away. Leaving a polished bowl, containing only a polished pill. Step 2: We'll grind the pill up, and mix it in this time. Perfect? Result: Cat refuses to eat, except for a small patch. Did he eat any pill? Who knows, but probably not. What's that polished dust at the bottom of his bowl? Step 3: Topology. The cat is a tube with a flap at the top. You open the flap, you insert the pill, you close the flap. Simples! Result: Did you forget that the flap has teeth, and the tube has claws? I'd put some germolene on those, if I was you. Step 4: Topology with a towel. Wrap the cat in the towel, hold the towel, prise the little jaws open. Insert pill. Shut jaws, hold mouth closed, tickle throat until cat swallows. Ahh.... Result: Cat waits five minutes and then there is a damp "ptooo" noise as the cat retrieves the pill from the secret fourth-dimensional pouch in his mouth, and spits it - highly polished - on the carpet. Cat looks smug. By this stage, disease transfer seems to have taken place: the cat looks healthy, and you feel ill. The pill (though unswallowed) may be said to have worked. However, you are a responsible pet owner, so you decide to get the pill down him, once and for all... Step 5: Repeat 4, with added problems. The cat now knows what to expect, so catching him first is going to be really difficult. Wrapping him in the towel is going to involve some damage this time too - and not to him. Still you have him immobile, and settled, so: Prise the little jaws open. Insert pill. shov
OriginalGriff wrote:
[edit]Centigrade replaced with Fahrenheit :O OriginalGriff[/edit]
Why the fu would you do that?
FILETIME to time_t
| FoldWithUs! | sighist | WhoIncludes - Analyzing C++ include file hierarchy -
OriginalGriff wrote:
[edit]Centigrade replaced with Fahrenheit :O OriginalGriff[/edit]
Why the fu would you do that?
FILETIME to time_t
| FoldWithUs! | sighist | WhoIncludes - Analyzing C++ include file hierarchy'Cos I f'ed up and gave Bills temperature as 106oC rather than 106oF - at which point I should have boiled a kettle on his head and made coffee, rather than taking him to the vet...
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."
-
Since he has been dissecting birdies in his litter tray again - makes it easier to clear up the bits he doesn't eat, but shows up why heven he wouldn't eat them - it was decided that once we had got his temperature pretty much under control we should re-worm him. He has been lethargic, and off his food for a few days, so we took him to the vet who stuck a probe where the sun don't shine and pronounced him ill - 106.5oF is not good, even for a cat. Two nice big jabs later, and by the time we get him home he is a lot brighter. Another visit last night and he's down to 103.4oF (so he's only about a degree above normal now). Ok. Time to Pill The Cat. Has everyone else tried this? No? Ok, let's run through the normal sequence of events... Pill...cat. Cat...pill. Step 1: His food smells like nothing on earth should, so we can just stuff the pill in there, and he'll eat it, eh? Result: It doesn't work like that. Cat will eat disgusting looking and smelling stuff with no problems, and walk away. Leaving a polished bowl, containing only a polished pill. Step 2: We'll grind the pill up, and mix it in this time. Perfect? Result: Cat refuses to eat, except for a small patch. Did he eat any pill? Who knows, but probably not. What's that polished dust at the bottom of his bowl? Step 3: Topology. The cat is a tube with a flap at the top. You open the flap, you insert the pill, you close the flap. Simples! Result: Did you forget that the flap has teeth, and the tube has claws? I'd put some germolene on those, if I was you. Step 4: Topology with a towel. Wrap the cat in the towel, hold the towel, prise the little jaws open. Insert pill. Shut jaws, hold mouth closed, tickle throat until cat swallows. Ahh.... Result: Cat waits five minutes and then there is a damp "ptooo" noise as the cat retrieves the pill from the secret fourth-dimensional pouch in his mouth, and spits it - highly polished - on the carpet. Cat looks smug. By this stage, disease transfer seems to have taken place: the cat looks healthy, and you feel ill. The pill (though unswallowed) may be said to have worked. However, you are a responsible pet owner, so you decide to get the pill down him, once and for all... Step 5: Repeat 4, with added problems. The cat now knows what to expect, so catching him first is going to be really difficult. Wrapping him in the towel is going to involve some damage this time too - and not to him. Still you have him immobile, and settled, so: Prise the little jaws open. Insert pill. shov
I am eternally grateful that my oldest cat is easy to medicate. He takes 3 or 4 pills a day, depending on the day of the week, due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Over the three years we've been treating him, I've gotten so good at it that I can get all of his pills down him in under 10 seconds. Our trick is that he gets a bit of canned food after he takes his pills. He now starts bugging us a couple of hours ahead of 'pill time', trying to get his treat early. I'm afraid our other two cats are like Bill. Giving them a pill involves substantial blood loss.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
Sorry to hear that :rose: We had a sudden-death cat last year - Beldin. He had scabby paws, with brown, smelly fur between them and the vet did a biopsy which showed nothing, so he was put on high-strength steroid injections. Three days in, he threw up, gagged, panted, and died on the way to the vet. Only 9 and fit as a flea. Diagnosis: Not the injections. Honest. Yeah, right... That's why we got Bill in March - "Hole in the House" syndrome.
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."
OriginalGriff wrote:
That's why we got Bill in March
hah - you only think it was that way around ... in Bill's mind, he got you, and you were the ones who played hard to get ;) I though under 'additional equipment required' .. a set of chain mail gloves like butchers use, would be useful thanks for the smile on a Friday am 'g'
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OriginalGriff wrote:
That's why we got Bill in March
hah - you only think it was that way around ... in Bill's mind, he got you, and you were the ones who played hard to get ;) I though under 'additional equipment required' .. a set of chain mail gloves like butchers use, would be useful thanks for the smile on a Friday am 'g'
Nah - to a cat, those are a large set of holes with some metal string round them! Kevlar reinforced motorcycle gloves, that's the ticket! :laugh:
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."
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'Cos I f'ed up and gave Bills temperature as 106oC rather than 106oF - at which point I should have boiled a kettle on his head and made coffee, rather than taking him to the vet...
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."
It sounds like he was boiling mad anyway...
Software Zen:
delete this; -
OriginalGriff wrote:
Has everyone else tried this?
Yip, easy once you know how. Grab below throat, squeeze jaws open, shove pill down. The next time it gets easier. :)
leppie wrote: Grab below throat, squeeze jaws open, shove pill down. If that doesn't work, try the other end the cat will get the message :laugh: The older I get the better I was mikeo
