Tapeworms??

[Catlady711]

DrsFosterSmith.com has Tradewinds Wormer with praziquantel for tapeworms. A bottle of 3 tablets costs $11.99. Use 1 tablet for each 7 lbs of cat. 2 bottles and shipping is $31.97. One more bottle will bring the total to $44.88. Then all you have to do is get the pills in the cats

I gave them to my cat and never had to repeat it. Now he gets Revolution every month.

Revolution is also a great product, I didn't mention it b/c at our hosp. it's more expensive than the Frontline Plus and doesn't seem to control the flea population as well either, however it does have medicine in it for roundworms so owners don't have to worry about those or earmites, (especially in outdoor cats) but doesn't take care of tapeworms.

As for mail order meds (I'll try to refrain myself). *rant* Our hosp. makes great efforts to keep prices reasonable and affordable for all our clients. We periodically even check with mail order places like PETscamMEDS, and coughDR. Foster, and EVERY time we've either TIED with them in price or BEAT their prices, plus WE don't charge shipping AND our products are not expired or manufactured in strange countries that don't require the same safety requirements as the US does PLUS they come with the manufacturers guarantee which requires buying from a licensed vet! *end of rant*

If someone has a vet that has prices that seem too high, it sometimes pays to call around, not all vets charge the same prices for the exact same services. In our area something as routine as a cat neuter (same services at each hosp.) ranges from $350 to $45 (guess which one we are, always the lowest in our area!).

[mruffruff]

I posted the prices so everyone could see that the prices at the vet's office weren't out of line. Since I have 12 cats and rescue ocassionally, it was worth it to have some on hand for emergencies.

Revolution doesn't take care of tapeworms but helps prevent the fleas that cause tapeworms.

[DianeSnizzy]

Here's a good question... how in the world do you get the cat to take the pills?!??!?

Right now, my cat has to take steroid pills for her allergies (she lost A LOT of hair from the flea allergy) and I have no clue how to give it to her. I asked the vet if I could cut it up or crush it up and put it in soft cat food and she said no. The only other thing I can think of is to hold the cats mouth wide open and just toss it down. The only prob with that is, what if she chokes on it or spits it back out???

HELP!

[Catlady711]

mruffruff - I see your point. However for my area, and the hospital I work at, both price comparisons were high.

DianeSnizzy - Getting a cat to take a pill can be easy or difficult depending on the cat. I can't be sure what I do with mine will work for all cats, or all people for that matter but here's what I do. Ya gotta get a visual picture of how dingy I look doing this ROFL

Have the pill in your fingers before you even start. I get on the floor on my knees with my ankles crossed and my rear touching my heels. This odd position allows me to keep the cat between my knees so it can't back up, go right or go left, and limits the cat's ability to escape, since my cat's don't often give me a second chance. lol

Once I have the cat cornered there (not necessarily squeezing if it's not fighting me), then I place my hand over the cats head with my thumb and middle fingers at the corners of the cats mouth, this also effectively keeps the head from thrashing. Push in until the cat opens it's mouth.

Once open slightly I use my middle finger of the other hand to gently lower the jaw enough I can slip in the pill that is held between my thumb and index finger of the same hand I opened the jaw with. Gently poke the pill back quite far into the cats mouth but quickly. (my cats usually try to gag and spit rather than close the mouth on me).

Once the pill is in, slide the hand that was holding the head around and underneath to then hold the mouth closed, and head in an upright position. Using your other hand gently rub the cats throat to encourage swallowing. Once you either see the cat swallow or it's been long enough to think it may have swallowed, then release head. DON'T LET THE CAT GO YET! You don't want to have to go catch her again, or have her spit the pill out where you can't see her.

Watch cat closely to see if it seems like she's chewing or trying to spit the pill out. Try again if she spits it out. This does take some practice and a little flexibility on your part to use this method, having longer legs also helps with this method. If after a couple times you still can't get it down her, let her go and give her a break, then lots of attention before you try again, otherwise your kitty might just become a tiger.

I've used this method on very fussy/aggressive cats in our hospital with good success. I've even gotten so I can pill cats better than the boss!! Dogs are another story though!!! LOL

Good Luck

[critters]

I asked the vet if I could cut it up or crush it up and put it in soft cat food and she said no.

I ALWAYS crush or liquify pills and put them in food, unless they're timed release (which we've never used). In fact, I did it with Clavamox a little while ago, and it usually works great (everybody but Jojo will take them, anyway). I'd ask for a reason why they can't be given that way.

[Lizzie]

I think most of the time vets are concerned that the cat guardian won't make sure their cat eats every bit of the food the pill has been mixed into. It should be crushed into a fine powder (I use two teaspoons) and then mixed in with the food so that it's well distributed. Even using the most favorite food of each cat, I've only had about 25% success with putting medication in food. And, of course, some pills are very bitter and so harder to mask in food.

[DianeSnizzy]

That was my thought --- to crush it up and mix it with a small pouch of wet cat food. If I feed the cat in a closed room (or her carrier), I can be assured that SHE ate all the food (as opposed to the others) and the pill that was mixed in it.

I'm going to call the vet today and find out a reason why it can't be crushed.

[Lizzie]

If the cat eats only part of the food and flatly refuses to eat it all, you won't know how much medication it took. That's the risk. I try it once and if the cat does not eat every last crumb, I give up on using that method.