Yes, you are right. They all have a special treat. We use this treat thing to keep competition down amongst the females! (who tend to be hissy at times).

Sheba gets shrimp! She will also eat raw chicken.

Tippy gets turkey or chicken left overs, and some lunch meats she likes too, and tuna or salmon of course, and the skin off chicken or turkey is her fave, but I don't always have that left over.

Oreo is dairy all the way. Cheese, ice cream, milk (when she was a kitten) and the whipped cream now is the fave. We suspect she was given this by the children in the home she lived when little. She was desperate for my milk left overs from cereal, and she actually put her paw on a piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream one Thankgiving and pulled it over to herself--- just like in a cartoon! So I ended up using this as her treat. We have never before given cats dairy either!
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Each day they get a little bit of their fave. And it has worked wonders for us in many ways!

Treats must always follow! Slathering pills in a bit of margerine before you try and pry the mouth open and push the pills down helps too.... just slides OK IF you get it down to trigger the swallow reflex.
Small curd cottage cheese some cats tolerate even if they aren't dairy tolerant...what a treat! And you can slip some stuff into it if they are gulpers. But the liquid in the dropper? Towell and pry and squirt. Of course, treat afterwards and praise! Followed by a couple of treats later so you don't become 'EVIL MEDICINE PERSON'! One cat I'd had LOVED jalapeno jack cheese - go figger!

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's to all - j

Well, the whipped cream was a bust. Fortunately we're down to only giving meds to Tigre, the older cat with the lung tumor, who is gentle and takes his meds well. I had hoped he would like the whipped cream and I could use that for his meds, but he had no interest.

The little girls on the other hand thought they had died and gone to kitty heaven. And, they are so clever. They figured out right away that it was kept in the fridge, so everytime one of us opened the fridge last night, they were right there at our feet.

We don't give Tigre milk any more, since he seems to have become lactose intolerant in the last several years. But a couple of weeks ago my husband discovered something called Cat-Sip. It is 1% Lowfat Lactose Free milk with Taurine. Tigre loves it, and it agrees with his stomach. That has become his special treat. That and yogurt.

Refrig noise EQUALS FOOOD! These guys are not stupid!
Some cats, like people, do become lactose intolerant... Strange but true and dealing with it? Requires new thinking? What about Soy milk? Didn't have to try it myself, but just throwing it out in the ring to let others more smart than I put their knowledge into to the pot.
Treats, or Bribery, can get you lots of places when used judiciously!

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's and Hope they all are happier creatures now.... - j

Cats can get the upper respiratory infection so easily and it spreads quickly. It comes on in times of stress, even though they are partially protected if they have their basic vaccines. If pilling is hard, ask the vet for an injection of Convina, its an off label use but can be effective for URI and is a one time antibiotic that stays in the system for 2 weeks. The typical antibiotic is 2 doses a day for a week and can come in liquid.

I have also tried steaming, have the cat hang out in the bathroom while you are in the shower and the warm moist air loosens up the congestion. Then if you quickly warm some wet food you can keep them eating and hydrated.

Just a couple of thoughts for if your kitties get sick again.
Hope that your kitties are doing well, nice to see other cat people out there, I would have many more if I had the space!

Thanks JoAnneBC:

I think cat people are a pretty special bunch.

I see you are a new member, so let me take this opportunity to welcome you to NT - the members here are also a pretty special bunch. Glad you are one of them.