Average Jane vs. Velcro

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Ever since my calico cat, Velcro, had her breast cancer surgery, I’ve been giving her a daily antibiotic pill. The first pills we had for her were small and not too difficult to get her to swallow. Unfortunately, they also made her lethargic and twitchy, so the vet switched her to a much larger tablet that’s about the size of a flattened pea.

Today was the eighth pill of ten and, frankly, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get the last two down her gullet. Every day, the pill-administering ordeal gets worse and worse. This is measured by the number of times I have to retrieve the pill from the floor, catch the cat, and feel the pain of teeth and claws digging into tender portions of my anatomy.

By the time I got her to swallow today’s pill, Velcro was thrashing around and actually foaming at the mouth. The pill had been spit out so many times that it was half dissolved. Heck, I can’t even be completely sure that she really swallowed it, given that it probably was in no condition to make a sound even if it had hit the floor.

Somehow I drew the short straw to take her to the vet tomorrow morning for the removal of her belly staples. Amazingly enough, she’s pretty much left them alone enough to let the incision heal.

As un-fun as that whole episode might be, I’m planning on creating my own silver lining by taking the second-to-last pill with me for the vet to administer. Heck, as long as Velcro is all pissed off anyway, what’s one more poke of the hornets’ nest?

Comments

9 responses to “Average Jane vs. Velcro”

March 9, 2007

cagey

Ack. i hate giving our cats pills – particularly Harry. The only method I have that works fairly okay is wrapping the cat up in a towel quickly, then shoving a pill in their mouth, then clamping it shut until they swallow. Painful.

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March 9, 2007

Rozanne

Mickey Fin
Buy some of those furball-control cat treats with the gooey centers. Cut one in half, stick the pill in the goo of one half and stick the halves back together and give the cat the doctored treat. This worked like a charm with my cat.

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March 10, 2007

Keith

Oh Jane, I can’t help but laugh. Your stories of life with a strong willed pussy cat remind me of my own from some years ago.

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March 10, 2007

dawn

i don’t understand why they don’t make all cat medicine available in liquid form. it is so much easier to shove a plastic syringe in a cat’s mouth and squirt than it is to force a pill down her little throat. maybe there’s a good reason for pills vs. liquid, otherwise, that’s just ridiculous.

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March 11, 2007

Joy

There’s got to be a better way. I can picture your struggling with Velcro…poor baby….and poor you. What a cute pic of her.

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March 11, 2007

Pharmgirl

Yeah, Dawn…that’s what I thought too. I got liquid meds for my kitty and it turns out that he was able to spew it forth like the Exorcist…no matter how far back I went. I was tired of being sprayed with sticky medicine every day (and of course kitty was not getting any better) so I grudgingly switched back to pills…after I had INSISTED the vet give me liquid first. Mmmmmm…crow.

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March 11, 2007

chedwick

My cat fights until exhausted spattering liquid, then finally accepts the liquid, then spits it out. Every day it was a worse and worse scene no matter what we did. I noticed the vet did not get much more liquid in that I did tho. at least he was honest & realistic. my old vet acted like it was the easiest thing in the world to give cats medicines!

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March 12, 2007

Jane

The vet gave her pill #9 and had just as much trouble getting her to take it (*after* she had patiently allowed the removal of her sutures) as I had. Yesterday I sneaked up on her with pill #10 and got it down her in one try. Go figure.

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March 13, 2007

Blondie

King used to foam at the mouth when I would give him his prednisone for his IBS. I was so glad we decided to take him off it because if I had to do that forever, I was going to have to let him “explore” the streets of Chicago.

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