Jesse, what the vet taught me for one-person cat medicating was to put the cat on a table or counter facing away from you and to use your upper body and arms to gently pin him down. I then reach under his jaw and press at the corners with thumb and forefinger to open the mouth and hold it open. I then use the other hand to administer the pill. It's traumatic, but I can't get pills or a syringe into him any other way. With a few very odd exceptions (arugula, gorgonzola, parmesan, olive oil, spanakopita), he won't eat anything other than dry kibble.
Right now, I'm having to give Jeeves liquid meds. Poor guy is chronically constipated, probably due to his refusal to eat anything but the dry kibble.
I had a dog that could eat around pills in any disguise and could hold a pill in her mouth for 10 minutes and spit it out just when I finally thought I'd successfully gotten a pill down her.
The late great departed Toshiro could actually spit a pill across the room. I suspect he could also have tied knots in cherry stems if he'd wanted to.
My method for one=handed pilling:
- grab kitty, bring close to body
- wrap arm around kitty
- put one hand under chin (if you have a bigger hand, you do this from behind the cat's head) and put index finger in one corner of kitty jaw/mouth and thumb in the other
- quickly squeeze until cat opens mouth, throw in pill, then take mouth-opening hand nd hold kitty head up and mouth closed, while stroking throat until swallowing occurs
- let go of cat, so it can run away and alternately lick self and give me dirty looks
Once you figure out the right place to squeeze the jaw while holding cat still, the rest is gravy.
I do what scrappy does, except i wrap the cat in a towel like a burrito.
I can also pretty much guarantee that your cat will hate you after this procedure
I spent most of today walking back and forth between my office and a work event. In heels and a pencil skirt. And it was 90.
All of that is more or less what I was doing, but he can clench his jaw like a mofo. And when I finally got the pill in there, and tried the throat thing, he still tongued it and spit it back out! And then came to me for comfort, because he is Mister Loverman.
I have to pill my cat twice a day (I feed him immediately afterwards. This makes him much more receptive) basically using Scappy's method.
A friend of mine is trying to find a musical for her students (HS) to do next year. Female-heavy is preferred, cast of no more than 30, nothing horribly complicated (no Sondheim, for example). They did Bye, Bye, Birdie this year. Ideas?
...can you license Sister Act?
