pill-giving progress

[ginnyinWI]

I've been giving my cat a half a pill for hyper-thyroid for a month now. Putting it in her wet food worked for a while, but it gets messy if she won't eat the food and I have to dig it back out and give it to her directly anyway.

So now I'm giving them directly, and I started giving kitty treats along with it, and now she's so busy thinking about the treat that she doesn't mind the pill-giving so much. I've paired something really good with the sort-of bad thing, and it seems to have taken the fear away.

This morning I gave her the pill, and she immediately started sniffing on the floor for the kitty treats. She's got the connection so it's going to be easier from now on, I'm thinking. And easier on my poor scratched hands.

[flamin lib]

1. I grind pills into a fine powder, mix them with petroleum jelly and

apply it to a front paw. Cat cleans paw, takes pill and it also helps with hairballs.

[Stinky The Clown]

2. My pill giving method is pretty much a straight ahead process.

I open the mouth, place the pill in the throat, close the mouth, block nose and mouth for a moment until a sense a swallow, and its done.

That's for dogs. I never did a cat. With the dogs, I desensitized them to the process (not the pill) by repeatedly putting a tiny treat in the throat and making them swallow. No drama, just do it. Now its no big deal. They accept the process.

A vet told me to hold the mouth shut (make sure their lips are closed) and blow very gently into the nose. Somehow this induces a swallow.

I should think the notion of repeated desensitizing the animal to the process would work on cats as well as dogs. Sounds like you have a chronic condition and the need for a daily pill. It also sounds as if your cat is getting used to the process. You're probably good to go.

Our GSD needs a pill frequently (not daily, just as needed). If I tell her to come get a pill, she just follows me willingly, watches me open the bottle, get the pill, and move toward her face with it. No drama. She allows me to open her mouth and its done.

The other dogs see this and the rare occasions when they need to get pills are pretty easy, too.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

5. Curious,

What does your GSD need pills for? I have to give my GSD prednisone (steroid) to combat a mysterious allergic reaction she has that causes a skin rash.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. Hah . . . . same breed, same malady

Ours scratches a lot. A few years ago she scratched a hot spot so badly that she scratched off a layer of skin. She was bald there well into the summer. She's taken a few courses of prednisone over the intervening years, but we're not comfortable with that unless she gets really bad. The vet (a fellow GSD owner who is cautious, but not afraid of the steroids for this sort of thing) suggested we try over the counter antihistamines. She gave us a list to try, which was pretty much everything on the market! We have found that changing them every few days has a better affect than just sticking to one. Again, out vet approved this.

So we use a generic from CVS, a generic from Rite Aid, and some brand name Zyrtec. The dog gets a great deal of relief from them, although, for the past two weeks or so I have been dosing her twice a day. Usually it is a one pill a few times a week.

The vet said if we don't exceed a human adult dosage (the dog is 100 lbs!) there are no worrisome long term or immediate side affects.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

8. Thanks for the reply!

I have been so frustrated looking up info on the net over the last 1+ years, and scraping up money to take her to vet, tinker with her diet and generally feeling like a bad parent when she gets red and itchy and starts chewing her fur, and scratching. Its good to know someone else who has the same problem. I didn't think anti-histamines worked very well on dogs. I will look into this further. Thanks again.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. Get some hot spot spray, too

I have two kinds. Different formulations, but bother benign, over the counter from the pet store. Don't just spray her fur. Part it and try to get down to her skin to spray it on. In our case, we could see her get pretty immediate relief. Plus the cool spray had to be feeling really good to her.

As to the bigger issue, GSDs are prone to allergies that manifest in skin issues and scratching. So do some other breeds, for that matter. Finding the actual allergy is no easier in dogs than in humans, and is actually more expensive. Could be thousands for a complete set of tests. Our vet said to just treat it symptomatically and forget the testing. She could do some of her own testing on her dog and even she has chosen not to. She is freer giving her dog steroids than she advises her patients, but I don't know why that is.

In any case the antihistamines have worked for us. You may have to try a few of them before you find one or two that work for you.

Good luck! And hug your beastie!

[PotatoChip]

12. Same issue for my dearly departed GSD dog.

We tried everything too including a diet of vet recommended Eukanuba, and very little dog or 'human food' treats. And I mean very little. Btw, I think the diet part of the solution is overrated because my sister was much more strict w/her GS yet her dog seemed to have flare ups just as bad as my Jimmy. Her dog was not allowed even dog treats or wet dog food. Just his dry. Yet she battled the problem just as much as we did.

The only thing that really seemed to help was the Prednisone. Problem w/prednisone is that even though it helped w/flare ups, it really is a kind of hard-core medicine in that it is difficult on the dog's entire system. Many side effects. So we did our best to use as small of a dose as possible. I found over time that even just 5mg split in half (2.5mg) given every other day was usually enough to do the trick- Well, until the next flare up. And this was a 120lb dog when he was at his healthiest. My vet had encouraged me to do this-- try to find the smallest dose possible that would still help.

I wish I had known about the anti-histamine idea that Stinky mentioned though... I would have definately tried that before resorting to prednisone had I known. Jimmy lived to be 12 but I sometimes wonder if even the very small doses of prednisone contributed to his kidney failure.

One other thing (and this is purely speculative on my part, but) I found that these flare ups seemed to happen most often if Jimmy got wet for whatever reason (like a bath, going for a swim, or just being out in the rain for a short time to 'go potty') So I always made a point to dry him off the best that I could. It's hard to do though w/GSDs because of their thick coat- really get them dry I mean. However, this is the kind of thing that won't hurt to try, and may help.

But good luck to both you. It's a very frustrating problem.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

14. thanks for the info

Ava has been taking the prednisone off and on for about a year and 1/2 (She just turned to 4, but only started showing allergic signs after we moved from the country to suburbia - go figure!). Our vet has also recommended giving her the lowest dose that gets the job done, but over the last month or 2, her flare ups have been bad, and 2 pills/day is just barely keeping it at bay. So I think I'm going to bundle up this evening and walk down to the pharmacy to see whats the cheapest generic anti-histamine I can find for. Also, I have the same theory about her getting wet too, although she doesn't get nearly as wet, as often, as my previous GSD's did.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. You done good.

I have taken the long way to the same thing. The long way had lots of bumps and scratches---I had to actually sit on the cat and fight the whole time. I also decided that treats with the meds was a good idea, and over time, it is working well. The only problem I had was when I had to give amoxicillin twice a day with the regular meds---the tolerance level for easy medicating seems to be just the one. Glad that is over!

Hope you kitty does well and the thyroid gets within normal range.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

4. I've gotten pretty adept at giving my dog her daily pills

the same way (I ram the pills down her throat though), but she doesn't care because she's looking forward to the treat that follows.

I really wonder why though, that vets don't prescribe liquid medications that can be shot into the mouth with a syringe. I know that they exist. I bet it's all about saving $, inventory shelf life, and mark-up.

[ginnyinWI]

6. There is a liquid available,

and also a topical ointment that gets rubbed inside the ear and absorbed through the skin. Both are more expensive, so pills are the first thing to try. I have to cut them in half, so they are actually pretty small and easy to swallow. Even a cat can swallow something as small as the size of half a low-dose aspirin.

I suppose an even easier way would be to get the soft kind of treats and put the half pill directly inside.

[TorchTheWitch]

10. success!

Sounds like it's working out really well... yeah!

[eridani]

11. Lots of helpful tips here. Now, is everyone ready for the standard pill joke?

1) Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.

2) Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.

3) Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away.

4) Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right fore-finger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.

5) Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.

6) Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat's throat vigorously.

7) Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and vases from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.

8) Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.

9) Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink glass of water to take taste away. Apply band-aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.

10) Retrieve cat from neighbor's shed. Get another pill. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.

11) Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus jab. Throw Tee-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.

12) Ring fire brigade to retrieve cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil-wrap.

13) Tie cat's front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table, find heavy duty pruning gloves from shed. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of fillet steak. Hold head vertically and pour 2 pints of water down throat to wash pill down.

14) Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room, sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new table.

15) Arrange for RSPCA to collect cat and ring local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters.

HOW TO GIVE A DOG A PILL:

1) Wrap it in bacon.

[PotatoChip]

13. HaHa- cute!

I think every cat owner can really identify with this, eridani! I know I can.

As to the OP; it sounds as if you are well on your way to finding a solution to the pill giving. There certainly are some very good tips here. Hopefully over time, you will find something that works well for you w/out having to resort to the expensive route you mentioned in another post. I'm sure your persistance will pay off eventually.

Good luck!

[TorchTheWitch]

15. BWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHAAAAAAAAA!!!

Holy flippin' cow, I think I nearly peed myself laughing at this. I should embroider it on a pillow it's such a classsic. Like Monty Pyton, it gets even funnier the more times you read it.

Dogs are so easy to give pills to - open face, drop down throat. I couldn't even imagine trying to give a cat a pill... I wouldn't even know where to start.

[ginnyinWI]

16. yup, well at least my hands don't bleed anymore...

funny how she can swallow a crunchy kitty treat WHOLE, and thinks a teeny little white pill half is just too awful. But now we have a good association between the two.

I've read that joke before, but it's still funny every time! Another fun activity is brushing a cat's teeth.