The past two weeks have seen both Ava and Kato on medication. Kato needed some antibiotics to help him get over a secondary infection accompanying the cat flu virus Ava gave him. Then Ava got an upset tummy, and needed a different type of antibiotic.
So, Kato's medicine was a paste. I like pastes. I simply cuddle Kato using my body to hold him - like I do in the nail trimming pictures in the grooming posts. Then I put a hand over this head from behind, so my fingers come down near his nose, mouth and chin (careful not to get a finger in his eye!). Then one finger lifts his lip at the side of his mouth. You will notice that the teeth on the side have a convenient gap. My other hand comes in with the paste on my index finger, and I swipe it into the tooth gap. The more I can get squished in the gap, rather than smeared along the gumline, or the lip, the better success I have with him NOT flicking it off with a vigorous head shake. And that's that. Naturally I talk sweetly to him the whole time too with lots of praise.
Ava on the otherhand had a liquid. Which I had to syringe up in the correct amount, and squirt into her mouth. Sort of. Ava and I have not got a very good partnership happening. She squirms and wriggles. I try to hold her steady, with the same positioning as I used with Kato, and lift that lip so I can get the nozzle of the syringe into the tooth-gap.
The tricky part is not squirting all the liquid at once to drown her, while trying to get enough in that she can't froth it all out. The liquid is sticky... I need a towel on my lap first, and tissues to hand to mop her little chin. Her eyes are big and pathetic as she tries to froth it out of her mouth, but look at me in interest as I smack my lips together to try and communicate she needs to lap and swallow! And she wriggles, shakes her head (bad, as drops fly and this stuff isn't supposed to go in eyes), and lifts her paw to take the syringe away from her mouth. Wow she is cute and clever!
We are still going with Ava's meds. I hope enough is going into her. Kato is getting somewhat of a dose too - he cleans her!
Which inspired a pretty good idea. Cats learn from each other and are fantastic observers. So, the second time for Ava's meds, I got Kato to show her how easy having medicine was (he cooperated, which was nice!). She sat and watched. Then I reached for Ava. While it went pretty much as above, she was a lot calmer than our first shot. And a stress-less experience is always something I want. So, while we don't have a really effective partnership that delivers all the medicine into her (yet), we do have a really good trustingrelationship, that has lots of communication and patience!
So, Kato's medicine was a paste. I like pastes. I simply cuddle Kato using my body to hold him - like I do in the nail trimming pictures in the grooming posts. Then I put a hand over this head from behind, so my fingers come down near his nose, mouth and chin (careful not to get a finger in his eye!). Then one finger lifts his lip at the side of his mouth. You will notice that the teeth on the side have a convenient gap. My other hand comes in with the paste on my index finger, and I swipe it into the tooth gap. The more I can get squished in the gap, rather than smeared along the gumline, or the lip, the better success I have with him NOT flicking it off with a vigorous head shake. And that's that. Naturally I talk sweetly to him the whole time too with lots of praise.
Ava on the otherhand had a liquid. Which I had to syringe up in the correct amount, and squirt into her mouth. Sort of. Ava and I have not got a very good partnership happening. She squirms and wriggles. I try to hold her steady, with the same positioning as I used with Kato, and lift that lip so I can get the nozzle of the syringe into the tooth-gap.
The tricky part is not squirting all the liquid at once to drown her, while trying to get enough in that she can't froth it all out. The liquid is sticky... I need a towel on my lap first, and tissues to hand to mop her little chin. Her eyes are big and pathetic as she tries to froth it out of her mouth, but look at me in interest as I smack my lips together to try and communicate she needs to lap and swallow! And she wriggles, shakes her head (bad, as drops fly and this stuff isn't supposed to go in eyes), and lifts her paw to take the syringe away from her mouth. Wow she is cute and clever!
We are still going with Ava's meds. I hope enough is going into her. Kato is getting somewhat of a dose too - he cleans her!
Which inspired a pretty good idea. Cats learn from each other and are fantastic observers. So, the second time for Ava's meds, I got Kato to show her how easy having medicine was (he cooperated, which was nice!). She sat and watched. Then I reached for Ava. While it went pretty much as above, she was a lot calmer than our first shot. And a stress-less experience is always something I want. So, while we don't have a really effective partnership that delivers all the medicine into her (yet), we do have a really good trustingrelationship, that has lots of communication and patience!