Dear Mary, I'm so sorry I hadn't yet replied to your e-mail asking me about this. I'm way behind with all my e-mail. Let me try and give an answer here.

I haven't had to give pills to cats I've sat for. I have had a couple of diabetic cats who needed insulin twice a day roughly 12 hours apart, but they were no trouble. I've also given cats sub-Q fluids, but these have all been cats who have been easy to handle.

I think I would want to do this on a case-by-case basis. Before I would say I'd give medications or fluids to a cat, I'd want to give it a try with the owner present or otherwise have some kind of guaranteed reassurance that this is not going to be traumatic for either the cat or me. It is very important to have specifics stated very clearly in your contract in those cases. I would look very closely into legal ramifications and liabilities.

In vets' offices they have very heavy gloves to wear and specially trained technicians, usually more than one person available at a time, to deal with cats who do not accept medication gladly.

Best wishes! Please let us know what you decide to do.