How to Give Your Cat its Medicine

Before attempting to give any prescribed medication to your pet, ask your veterinarian to demonstrate the recommended dosing technique.

General Points
1. If restraint is necessary, wrap a blanket or towel around the animal.

2. All cats should be handled carefully to avoid pulling or twisting of limbs. This can be especially painful for an older pet.

3. Be gentle. Excessive force or rough treatment should be avoided.

4. Be patient and confident. An animal does not understand that medication is designed to help eliminate suffering. However, an animal will sense if you are unsure of yourself, and my act accordingly.

Medication by Mouth (Oral Medication)

1. Liquids and drops - avoid the use of glass utensils which may break and cause injury. You can wrap your cat with a towel or blanket and hold gently but firmly between your arm and body. Hold the cat's head and with your free hand use a dropper to put medication into the side of the cat's mouth. Continue to hold the head to prevent the cat from shaking the liquid out of its mouth.
Never force a cat to swallow rapidly, this can force matter into the lungs and cause pneumonia.

2. Pills, tablets and capsules - Wrap the cat (if necessary) with a towel or blanket and press its body gently downward with your forearm onto a flat surface (e.g., a tabletop). Using this same hand, gasp the cat's whole head under your palm and press your thumb against one corner of its mouth; your fingers against the other. Gently pull the cat's head backwards until its nose is pointing upward.
With the medication between the thumb and forefinger of your free hand, use your middle finger to push the cat's lower jaw downward. When the mouth is open, drop the medication on the back of the cat's tongue. Quickly close the mouth and hold it closed until the cat has had time to swallow. You may massage the cat's throat, which encourages it to swallow.
Never give your cat Aspirin or Tylenol, except on veterinarian's order. Aspirin may cause stomach damage and Tylenol may cause liver damage. Both medications can be fatal to cats.

Medication in the Ear

Wrap the cat (if necessary) with a towel or blanket and press its body gently downward with your forearm onto a flat surface. Using this same hand, grasp the cat's head and hold it firmly. Place the proper amount of medication only as deeply into ear canal as you can see. After medication has been placed in the cat's ear, it will welcome the gentle massage needed
to move the preparation into the lower ear canal.

Medication in the eye

General Points
1. When placing any medication in the cat's eye, the pet owner must expect an instantaneous blink-jerk reaction from the pet.

2. The cat owner should try to avoid holding a dropper, spout or other applicator directly above or in front of the pupil of the cat's eye. This is extremely frightening and will cause needless struggling.

3. Never allow any dropper, spout or other applicator to touch the eyeball. It may injury the animal's eye.

Drops - Wrap the cat (if necessary) with a towel or blanket and press its body gently downward with your forearm onto a flat surface. Using this same hand, grasp its head, and with your thumb and forefinger gently hold its eyelids open.
Stabilize your free hand against your restraining hand, and drop the medication onto the eyeball.

Ointments

Follow the appropriate general method noted above for holding your pet. Generally, ointments are placed in the outside corner of the eye. After the ointment has been placed in the eye, continue to hold the cat briefly to allow the ointment to begin to melt.

 

Nail Trimming

Cats usually have five toes and nails (including a dewclaw) on each forefoot and four toes and nails on each hind foot. The dewclaw is the toe on the inside of each front leg just above the paw.

Extra toes (a condition known as polydactyl) are sometimes present, however, and cats may have six or more toes on each front foot and five or more on each hind foot. The nails are enclosed in sheathes and are retractile, meaning that a cat can push them out or draw them back into their coverings at will.

It is important to accustom your cat to having its paws handled and nails trimmed at an early age. When regular nail cutting begins during kittenhood and the process is conducted with a soothing voice and gentle handling, a cat should peacefully accept having its claws trimmed. But if you cut the nails sparingly, you'll find your cat may resist the process and a battle will take place each time nail trimming is necessary.

 

How to Cut the Nails

Place your cat in a comfortable position on a sturdy table or in your lap. Take hold of a front paw with your hand. Always begin by cutting the nails on the forepaws. The sharp edges of freshly cut nails can lacerate your skin easily.
Press on the top and bottom of one toe with your thumb and index finger to force the nail out of its sheathe. It's not necessary to pinch hard, just the slightest pressure will pop the nail outward.
Inside the transparent, downward curving nail you will notice a pinkish area, called the "quick," which contains the nerves and blood supply. Clip the nail tip back with the trimmer, but do not cut into the quick. Take your time and look at the nail closely to determine exactly where to cut. Accidentally nicking the quick will cause the nail to bleed. If this happens, dip a Q Tip into a quick stop powder (available from pet stores) and press firmly against the nail tip for a few seconds to stop the bleeding.

If your cat is very fussy, have another family member steady it with one hand while the other hand grips the skin at the back of the neck in restraint.