@ChuckleDoodle, I may have posted this before, or even got the idea from a poster on CC, but here’s the technique that worked like a charm when my cat would carefully spit out the pill and eat the pill pocket and nothing else could get a pill into him: Smash the pill into a powder (use the back of a spoon or a pill crusher you can buy at the drugstore). Mix the powder into softened butter (or margarine). Spread some of the butter around the sides of cat’s mouth (what would be its lips if cats had lips). The cat will instinctively lick off the butter to clean its mouth. Repeat until all the butter is used up. I’ve seen it suggested that some sugar be mixed into the butter to make it more appealing, but I don’t think cats particularly like sweet flavors, so I never bothered. Let me know if this works as well for you as it did for us!
@bookmom7 I’m so sorry. I don’t think it matters if your kitty is 19 or 9, it’s a huge loss and you miss them. We still have Oreo’s brother, Smudge, although Smudge has the same thing as Oreo - likely intestinal lymphoma - which isn’t terribly treatable. He’s still very “Smudge” - feisty, involved, talkative - which I appreciate every day. I wish our kitties could be with us so much longer.
Thank you for the ideas on what to do about giving pills to cats. Misty had a followup today with the endocrinologist. She is doing much better and while not back to ‘normal’ her blood work is in the normal range. She will be finished with one antibiotic on Thursday and the steroid by next week. The doctor gave us the liquid format of the capsule antibiotic and she did okay this evening when I had to give it to her. I’ll know more tomorrow because she always does the new format once, it is the follow-on formats that she won’t do. Pill pockets- once, cheese- once, roast beef- once, etc. She wouldn’t even touch the GNC pill pocket things. Stubborn kitty! The doctor said if the liquid only works for one dose, she can submit her prescription to a compounding pharmacy. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this won’'t be needed.
My children are my life. And of course, my DH and my family and friends. But tonight my 13 year old kitty was snuggling, and I thought how much I love her. And I know there are many people in the world who would question investing so much of yourself into a cat. It’s just a cat.
And yet,I can’t imagine life without a pet. I love dogs, too. They bring so much into our lives.
Bookmom, so sorry to hear of your loss. My ragdoll is 18 months old, and so has no known health issues, but I dread the day that he becomes seriously ill, or worse.
Which brings me to a wee bit of news. I finally found out last week the reason why I’ve been suffering from mysterious rashes for the past year and a half: I’m allergic to Taemin! Ugh…! The allergist said, “You wouldn’t be willing to part with your cat, right?” I looked at him as if he’d grown two heads. So he laughed and said, “Well then, let’s go to plan B. Allergy shots, also known as Immunotherapy.” I’ve been getting allergy tested for the past 9 days, and let me tell you, I’m happy to be done with it. I also have a severe allergy to dust mites (and cockroaches—glad we haven’t been seeing any of those!). Some food allergies too. I’ve lived almost 60 yrs without knowing about any of these allergies. I’ll begin receiving the shots next week. It’ll take between 3 to 5 years for them to take full effect. I’ll just be happy to have the rashes disappear, or appear less frequently. Until then, I’ll have to refrain myself from cuddling my lap kitty for longer than a minute or so at a time, and keep him out of my bedroom. =((
Does anyone know if there are vets that specialize in breeds? We have a Maine coon who has had a chronic upper respiratory infection. He’s not even 2 yet. When we spoke to the breeder he mentioned Maine coons need higher doses of meds. My regular vet is out on maternity leave but I’m starting to think the breeder is correct. Any vets office will say yes we see Maine coons, but I want to find a vet who actually knows the breeds special needs.
I’ve never heard of vets that specializes in single breeds, eyemamom, but I’m sure they exist somewhere. We used to have a local veterinary practice that specialized in cats in general, but it didn’t last more than a couple of years before closing. I’m sorry to hear about your Maine Coon. I saw one at a cat show a couple of years ago that was easily the most beautiful cat I’ve ever laid eyes on. A stunning coat, emerald green eyes, and ear tufts that had to be at least two inches tall. And of course, he was huge! I’m somewhat partial to large breeds. I wish you luck in finding a vet able to adequately address your big boy’s needs. My Ragdoll is one of only two in our vet’s practice, but she seems to know her stuff.
Well Chester is beautiful if I do say so myself… He’s a brown torbie with a big white bib. He’s so incredibly sweet and loving. He also is chronically stuffy and sneezes 20 times at a clip. Poor guy.
That’s one of my greatest fears! My husband is going through immunotherapy now because of bee sting allergies and it seems to be working. Not fun going through it but hopefully worth it.
I wonder if you can find a vet who has pets of that specific breed. They would know more breed specifics, for sure. Sometimes calling the clinic can answer that question. “Well, we don’t specialize in GSD or large dogs, but let me tell you - our doctor Melissa is a huge fan of GSDs and has two of her own!” Doctor Melissa was incredibly knowledgeable, indeed.
I’m sorry to hear of your loss @bookmom7. We lost our 19 year old cat 2 years ago and I still miss her. I miss her in her own right and also as part of an era. She was my eldest daughter’s kitten and now that girl is grown and living far away and her kitten is gone.
We have since adopted new cats though and they are loving, wonderful cats. Well…except when one of them decides to start chewing loudly on plastic at 5 am and the other one hops up on my torso to let me know it’s time to get up.
daughter’s boyfriend broke up with her by telephone. I drove up and took her to a pet store that had 3 young cats from local shelter for adoption. we pretended to be potential adopters just to spend a while with the cats. time well spent and nice to see my baby girl smile and laugh a little. amazing how therapeutic a warm fuzzy critter can be. wish she could have a cat in her dorm, a long nap petting a cat is in order. she’s coming home Friday night for 2 nights to see her girlfriends (& cats).
Rumrunner, awwww… Sorry your D had a terrible breakup. The pet stores do not mind well behaved adults giving the adoptable kitties some much needed love and attention. We volunteered at a cat shelter doing just that most of the time in addition to cleaning the catboxes.
I’ve had plenty of dogs and plenty of cats. Our pet family grew when friends’ dogs and cats had litters and kids begged. I think the Persians were the wisest but the Abyssinians and the Russian Blues were the most intelligent and entertaining. But so were our tabby cats that we got from the local pound/shelter. I’ll admit that I’m still a dog person at heart though because that is what my family had when I was growing up. They all add to the quality of our lives.
@rumrunner, that was a very sweet thing to do for your daughter! You and she can also feel good knowing that socializing those cats made those cats happy too and made them even more adoptable.
He’s a brown torbie with a big white bib. He’s so incredibly sweet and loving. He also is chronically stuffy and sneezes 20 times at a clip. Poor guy.