Remember me, the cat owner/idiot? (I know I promised, but....)

Get Band-Aids.

Oh, poor babies! (you and Milo). I….. wish I could come do it for you. We used to have to do that for one of our cats every morning. She made angry sounds. Ignore the angry sounds. Make sure to do a lot of snuggling in the meantime. Give him brushies and love. He’ll be pretty pissy, but will eventually relax.

And don’t worry about breaking your promise. I like updates. Quite a bit.

Gail- you are not cat owner/idiot! You are a very caring owner! Delirium said it all- give Milo some loving and she’ll be just fine and forget about the whole situation.

Oh….. Gail, I do feel for you! My boyfriends cat fell from a palm after losing a battle with squirrel and hit our block wall! After major surgery to try and save leg 8 pins 2 rods later they send her home with me without your wonderful instruction. Count yourself lucky!!!! What took them all of 30 seconds to admin chloe’s med. Took me 30minutes on a good day. For a cat with 3 good legs but heavily sudated? Let’s just say, you better get 2 boxes of Band-Aids!

I always sat behind my cat, did what you described and snuck it in the corner and pushed it along the back and side of his mouth by his molars. A lot of the time in his attempt to push it out with his tongue he pulled it in and just ate it.

If you coat a pill in peanut butter and then stick it into its mouth in the direction of throat, some cats will swallow the whole thing more or less voluntarily.

Once you get the pill in place, keep his head up and stroke his throat a few times with just a little pressure. It will make him swallow so he won’t spit it out and you have to start over.

I second the throat stroking. Make sure not to let him open his mouth inbetween. Just open-insert-close (and hold shut) then stroke stroke stroke.

And also
After you’ve subdued Milo several times and nothing bad actually happened (to him)
in the process, he’ll get it that this is GOING TO HAPPEN, that you are alpha, and
that he might as well enjoy it. The peanut butter is a good idea. Something sticky and
delicious.

Hold him in your arms and open his mouth with your left hand, drop the pill in with your right hand, hold his mouth shut and stroke (as mentioned above). One little bit of advise, they catch on pretty quick and can pretend to swallow only to spit it out when you let them go. So check his chops before you let him down. A little treat afterwards and lots of cuddling and cooing over him is always good!

It’s not very fun but it’ll make him feel better. Hope you and he get on ok with it. Get well soon Milo!!!

One more thing… If he tries to scratch you when you are medicating him, you could roll him up in a towel with only his head sticking out. We used to do that when I worked for a vet, and it helped us avoid some nasty wounds.

I’ve used the towel technique too. Also, peanut butter. Even if they don’t swallow it whole, the sticky peanut butter forces them to work on it to get of out of their mouth.

Thanks, all. I discovered, after some messy trial-and-error this AM, that the Vet had forgotten to tell me to score the pills. Pill diameter was larger than plunger diameter.

Several phone calls to Vet and then some sprinting exercise for us both (that’s me and MIlo, not Vet). Finally managed it. Tomorrow AM a friend will help; even at the Vet’s, it took three hands. And this cat does not like cuddling and cooing and stroking after I have heaped yet another indigny upon him.

My friend says that the trick is to sit on Milo. Never in my wildest dreams did I have a fantasy of passing my golden years in this fashion. An interesting new challenge, however, including the minute examination of what’s in the litter box.

Your moral support is supplying me with the backbone that I need. G

My cat is the same way after I trim his nails. I usually just let him go sulk for a few minutes, and get over it. Then after a few minutes he loves me again.

@gailcalled, did they change his anibiotic? Is this still for the diarrhea issue? Did they put him on metronidazole (Flagyl)? If it is Flagyl, that drug tstes BAD – it’s extremely bitter.

Ok, if you’re using a pill gun, the secret is to place the pill so far back (over the back of his tongue) that you fell like your going to choke him (you’re not). If I have a fractious cat, I’ll blow in his face and when he hisses, in it goes. Continue to hold his head (in the baseball hold), with chin pointed to he ceiling, for a few moments – some cats are Houdinis when it comes to cheeking and spitting out pills.

Now, there is an alternative. It’s not cheap, but you could leave Milo at the vet clinic as a “medical boarding”. They will be responsible for pilling him, cleaning up his diarrhea, monitoring his progress, and so on. Believe me, they will be motivated to help him recover as quickly as possible.

O, frabjous day. Milo is peeing again. And no diarrhea this AM. MY IQ has dropped 40 points, however. Liquid is still Clavamox and pills are Baytril (22.7 mg.) Diagnosis is “unknown cause.” Blood work and urinalysis were unremarkable.

And I don’t mind the litter box. He was able to use it even at his most comatose.
I simply want him to get well. He seems to be eating and drinking today and wants to go outside…which is a “no-no” until Monday. He smells the fledglings in their nest.

@Syz; it is reassuring to know that I am not going to choke him. And I could spend the week-end in Paris for less than the cost of boarding.

So, if I use a wrestling hold w. legs, my two hands and then blow, I might outwit this 11 lb. schemer. (I did enjoy having him back on my chest last night in bed, I must admit.)

Remember when I used to be interesting? :-)

And for those still fascinated by this thread; M had a normal BM.

hooray for baby Milo! :D

Yay! Good job Mama Gail!!

@ Gail CONGRATS on your success!!! and best wishes on continued success! May you enjoy many naps with your kitty!

@gail Congrats on your success! May you enjoy many naps with your kitty.

Good Going Gail. You are becoming a true master, and Milo is a
lucky guy.

@Gail, You go girl! And Milo, you just keep going!
I sure wish Fluther was around when Chloe took her great fall. What GREAT SUPPORT GROUP IT HAS!

@all; I spoke too soon. Yesterday, my cleaning couple and I surrounded Milo in order to change the odds of getting the pill down him. He was out of my bedroom so fast that all we saw was a blur. After a thorough search of entire house, we declared him MIA.

I went to my Dr.‘s appintment an hour away and then met my family for lunch. When I got home, several hours later, Himself was sitting regally on top of my piano.

So now, if I am fast enough, I can swaddle him in a towel and practice a sort-of facial Heimlich manoevre in order to drop pill in back of throat.

But as I’ve said, he’s nice to sleep with: no snoring, tossing or morning breath.

@Gail, you say, he’s nice to sleep with? I say he’s purrrfect to sleep with… Can’t get much better than that!

Today I had the help of a strong teen-ager. I scored the pill into fifths. So M spit them out 5 times, but managed to eat all the surrounding wet cat food. I am squeezing, I am blowing, I am stroking, I am holding jaws shut, I am swaddling, I am murmuring – I am awaiting my supply of Valium.

Otherwise, he is purrfect.

Adendum; I now know where the expression “to get your claws into someone” came from. I am sure that M really did confuse my neck with a scratching post. When I was applying antibiotic ointment this afternoon to the two puncture wounds, I found an embedded tick attached to top of left boob. No good deed goes unpunished.

And speaking of antibiotics, I draped Milo in his Burka this morning and hurled the pill down throat. It stayed. Happily, he had vomited on my Oriental rug before I administered meds.

It’s a good thing he is so gorgeous and I am so easy.

Edit; addendum

this is the best thread I have ever read. @Gail- ahhh! This is making me nervous for when I get my cats (in at least five years)

@Ezra; you could come up and visit us – 1 hr from Annendale-on-Hudson. I will be a pro soon, if I don’t exsanguinate first.

perhaps in the fall!