[plgerrard]

Step One: Let someone else do it.
Step Two: Repeat Step One

Just need a place to vent about my kids.

I have five cats - my kids. Started with 2, then adopted one from a rescue agency, then had 2 kittens show up on my doorstep. Some call me the cat whisperer - others the crazy cat lady. I love them all, and wouldn’t give them up for anything – except to let someone else force meds down their throats.

Our troubles started 2 weeks ago, when we had to rush my precious Tigre to the animal ER in the middle of the night because he was having difficulty breathing. The ER was a horrible experience. They kept trying to negotiate for my cat’s life like they were negotiating for a used car. I finally told them to just get him comfortable and we would take him to our own vet the next day. No, it was the same day – by that time it was 4 am and our vet opened in 3 hours.

Our vet found a tumor in his lung. He is 16 years old, and has had more difficulty the last 2 years, but his tests always showed him to be healthy ‘for a cat his age’. Not being ready to give him up, we are giving him meds 3 times daily to keep the fluids off his lungs and keep him comfortable. And, he is comfortable. If he weren’t, I wouldn’t put him through that. When he is no longer comfortable, I will let him go. But, I really need this time to say goodbye.

Then last week Cagney & Lacey, the 2 little girls, started sneezing and coughing. Back to the vet. They have colds. I have always had healthy cats – never even knew cats could get colds. We have to force a dropper full of meds down each of their throats twice a day and they are younger, stronger and have sharper claws that Tigre. Forget wrapping them in a towel – they manage to squirm right out of that.

You would think things couldn’t get worse. Wrong. Over the weekend one of Cagney’s eyes turned red and constantly watering. It just made me hurt to look at her, and I knew she was absolutely miserable, but didn’t want to take her back to the ER after the bad experience there.

So, back to the vet again today. My husband just walked through the door with her. She has an eye infection. We now have to apply ointment 3 times daily. She is going to love that! I wonder if my hands and arms will ever heal.

The vet said this is probably a complication of the cold, but we will have to watch our other cats close, as it will be more contagious. I just bet this all started with that awful animal ER.

Oh Well, at least Scooter and Ollie are healthy. Yes I am knocking on wood.

Thanks for letting me vent. I feel better now.

[Kitty]

A
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poor little kitties.
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My two cats are such opposites. Tigger will take any medicine without a fight. Gracie, on the other hand, will rip you to shreds. She's also the biggest of the two and has powerful, kangaroo like back legs.
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As fat as she is she can really move if she wants to!

Good luck with your cats. I wish there was an easier way to give them meds.

[mrsD]

You have my greatest sympathy....

I have been there... not fun.

My son has been there with his rescue who cost him fortune so far!

Talk about high cost! My son took his rescue to an emergency vet who kept her for 2 days on IVs....said she had a liver infection???? Cost him $800.... we had to give him the money to bail her out. (she had had many vet visits with kidney problems, ultrasound...etc. And this emergency vet said her kidneys were fine?????) She is on a special kidney diet and only has one kidney that is not working well...but the ER vet seemed to be clueless!

IMO it is becoming like what we see with humans.... space age
techno stuff and less intuitive skill...the end result is ...less care for more money.

Our 24 yr old, was supposed to have gone to cat heaven 6 yrs ago according to the vet...supposedly has cardiomyopathy???? Granted she is no longer "frisky" but she is alive, responsive, comes with me to bed every night climbs up her little cat stairs to get to the bed, and purrs up a storm. She looks good too. Shiney coat. But her eyes, seem to be failing. I expect her to be blind soon.

I hope your kitties get better. The one with the tumor? Well, once he starts losing weight fast, it would be best to put him to sleep. We had a wonderful ginger cat who had thyroid cancer that spread to her lungs. 6mos and she was bleeding rectally and couldn't walk one morning. So I took her in (sobbing all the way).

[plgerrard]

Thank you both. Cagney surprised me. She let me put the ointment in her eye without a fuss. Why would a dropper in the mouth bother her, but something in her eye not? Her eye is already looking better this morning, and I know she is feeling better because she followed me down the hall with her morning 'trill'. She tries to purr and talk at the same time and it comes out in the cutest trill. She hasn't done that in several days, so must be getting better.

mrsD, would you believe the ER we took Tigre to wanted to charge us $720 for 7 hours. That's what I meant by negotiating for his life. When we walked through the door, I had to sign an agreement that the visit was a minimum of $82. I signed. We were the only ones there, but it took the vet about an hour to come out and tell us that Tigre was comfortable, but she recommended.....

Then about 10 minutes later the receptionist came out with a quote - $720 to keep and treat him until 7:00 in the morning when they closed. (And, we had to be back to get him before 7:00 am, or they would just leave him there alone until they reopened at 7:00 pm.)

When I said we couldn't afford $720 and asked they just get him comfortable, I was required to sign that I was "refusing" treatment, with all of the warnings that it could result in his death. About every 30 minutes the receptionist came back with another "offer" a little bit lower. I kept requesting they just get him comfortable, and had to keep signing that I "refused" treatment. We never saw the vet again - just the receptionist with the endless "offers". If I had faith in them, I probably would have found a way to pay. But their tactics made me loose faith quickly.

I finally got angry, and insisted they stop the "offers" and just make him comfortable so we would take him home. That cost us $210. We had him at our vet's office the next morning when they opened at 7:00. They took xrays, treated him, and kept him overnight. All for $148. Do I sound angry over the ER vet. I am.

Whew, I feel better now. Thanks again.

[dahlek]

I used to have a horse [kept elsewhere] and a cat at home... The good thing about this practice was that they had vets on call 24/7. The bad thing was it was a 30 minute drive to get there [not fun w/an already unhappy cat!]. But, my cats always seemed to need care late Sat or Sun nites.
Far better and cheaper tho than the metro type PET-ER's! Go in w/the clear intention that if not totally life threatening just stabilize till I can see MY vet. But don't tell them that rite off. Then compare the $$$'s. One cat of mine had lost a fight outdoors [he was getting older and no longer king of the block] Took him to the Pet ER and they wanted 5 times what a normal vet'd charge to do the cleaning stitching anti-b thing w/pills to go than the vet did. I said stabilize and I'll see my vet in the AM. Did and saved bunches $$'s
Call your vet's office when needed...bet that vet is in a group that has other vets on call on each nite. So, likely you'll get better and cheaper care. Vets always leave emergency #'s on their nite phone machines. USE that and call!
It is good and honest to give a creature care, but not at the expense of needing to take out another mortgage on your house!
As for giving cat meds down the throat? Got an eyedropper? OK wrap cat in a damp thick towell, leaving head out. Pry open mouth, spritz, then clamp mouth shut really fast. IF you get it rite at the gullet? It'll go straight down.
Then give cat a treat and let go! Cat sulks a bit? Then comes back. The damp towell somehow is harder for them to wriggle out of, never understood why? But why question what works? Less fights less stress for all. - j

[plgerrard]

Hey dahlek, the damp towel worked
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. My hands and arms might survive the next 4 days of meds. Thanks.

But the 24/7 for our vet is a no go. I actually called their number first, and was given a recording directing us to the animal ER. Our vet is a small practice, and with only 2 people, they don't do the on-call thing. I did talk with her about our experience, and she was going to look into it. She also gave us the address and phone of another animal ER that is about 25 miles further, so if we need one again that is where we will go. Fortunately in my 30+ years of owning cats, this the first time it was necessary.

There are probably other vets in the area that have an on-call service, but my cats are comfortable there, and everyone in the office dotes on them. So, I'll just keep my fingers crossed that we have no more emergencies.

Thanks again for the advice about the damp towel. That is one to remember.

[dahlek]

It was very useful when cat got a huge abcess rite at the base of his tail!
Had to open the hole and push anti-b glop [for want of a better word?] into the hole and push out the bad stuff and fill it in with the glop. There had been about 125cc's of bad stuff in the hole and putting good stuff in that amount [I think it was about 1/4 cup?] of the good stuff into the hole really needed a damp towell! AND no wounds on my part!
As for vets? My vet leaves his phone # requesting a message, he is the only vet in his practice but he does keep a 'sharing' relationship w/other vets for those Late Nite fun times.... A sort of tit-for-tat relation thing. But then I'm in a huge metro area, are you?
I would have to say that if your vet doesn't give you reasonable alternatives?
IF you like him/her, consider hard if not? Start asking ?????'s of anyone having a pet that you encounter!
BTW? Some folks can and DO willingly pay fortunes for their pets... Went to a 'specialist center' once for a diagnosis and there were dogs there waiting for dialysis and chemo! Some of us simply can't go to that extent, you know?
Good luck in the future!
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.
's - j

[plgerrard]

Thanks dahlek
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I am happy to report that the girls and I survived the final round of meds relatively unscathed. I have to tell you, though, it didn't take them long to figure out what it meant when I started to dampen the towell. Since it's impossible for me to pull them out from under the beds, I finally had to start closing them up in the bathroom before I got the towell wet.

Cagney's eye healed, and she is my wide-eyed girl again. She has the most unusual eyes. They are almost perfectly round, rather than the almond shape of most cats. So, she always has this look of astonishment and wonder.

And, fortunately, the cold didn't spread to the other 2 cats. Ollie is a very large Maine Coon. I didn't relish the idea of trying to give him meds - even wrapped in a damp towell.

[mrsD]

This is a trick that may help. I have used it on two cats over the years.

It helps if the medicine is either a small tablet or capsule.

Most drugs are bitter tasting. One thing that blocks this is fat.

My first attempt with this trick was years ago in a semi feral cat who needed Keflex. She loved tuna in oil as a treat so I mixed the drug in a small amount of tuna with the oil, and gave her the undrugged little bit first.... yum...and this coats the tongue some, then she took the drugged portion easily gobbling it up and then I gave her a chaser in her dish. Worked like a charm.

The second time, was with Oreo who happens to love whipped cream. This is a treat she gets fairly often when she is good.
She was attacked by a mystery animal upNorth about 4 yrs ago and her tail was hurt, with 2 bites/ swellings on it. We were alone, but I had some Clavamox left over from Tippy, so I ground one up and mixed it in the whipped cream....put it in the center of a mound of whipped cream, and she at the whole thing! no problemo. She was in heaven with twice a day whipped cream too! LOL (we had had a cat 30 yrs ago who got bitten on the tail and developed an abscess there...so I was familiar with the treatment. I also called pet meds 1-800 for a refill, and when hubby came to get us, he brought it). When I took her to the vet 10 days later when we returned her bites were gone, but her tail was iffy still. The vet thought that she climbed a tree and whatever yanked her from behind. The nerve plexus did heal after 3 mons., and so we avoided the potential tail-ectomy which he said would have to be done..if it did not get better.

We live on an island, and usually don't have predators. We think after talking to the locals that is was a Fisher... these were brought to our area by the DNR to combat the red squirrels and the Fishers then became a nuisance instead. So one probably swam over. Fishers are called pole cats, because they look like a cat with a fluffy tail. We have never had a cat injured before or since then.

But the trick of using a fatty food to conceal a small dose of drug is a viable choice as long as the drug is okay to take with food (some aren't).

[plgerrard]

Whipping Cream - what a great idea. I bet my cats would love that. Hubby's going grocery shopping today. I think I'll have him pick some up as a special treat. That might eve be the way to give my Tigre his liquid meds.

It's funny how they all seem to have different tastes for their special treat. I have one that loves the cheese from a can, but won't touch hard cheese. Another that loves swiss cheese, but no other cheeses. One that loves yogurt. And two that just like the experience of sharing with Mom. They will eat fruit if I'm eating it and share with them.

Thanks for the advice. I'll let you know how Tigre takes his meds with the whipped cream.