Update on my girls/need some advice

[emily_the_spoiled]

The Pill Pockets are wonderful inventions (I have one cat who gets a pill every day). If that doesn't work, I have put the cat in a sweatshirt sleeve with their head out the cuff (the rest of the body is then trapped). That allows me to open their mouth and shoot the pill in.

To clip their claws I hold them between my legs and basically "sit" on them to hold them in place. Clip their front claws and then have some treats ready...(I don't normally clip the back unless necessary)

[moosmom]

Great advice everyone!! Another hint: when rubbing the cat's throat, blow in the cat's nose. It triggers their swallowing reflex.

When I realized that Izzy and Millie are both Meezers, I thought AHA!!!! Both girls are beautiful!!! My daughter's cat sounds like I'm skinning her alive when I clip her nails. It was such a hassle. We finally decided that it's worth $10 and the ride around the corner to the nearest vet and have HIM do it. I feel your pain, believe me!!!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Since I don't have any one to help me, I've been using the klaw control bag from Drs. Fosters & Smith so that my cats can't run away when I trim their nails. It can also be used when you medicate them too. With Sky, Storm, and Starr I also have to use a home made cat muzzle because they'll bite me if I don't.

I use the chicken flavored pill pockets which I cut up into 4 pieces and I roll them up into little balls. I then use one little ball and wrap the pill in it. Storm, Sky, and Sunny think that they're getting daily treats and look forward to getting their herbal pills each day. With Starr I'm able to crush his pred up into some baby food and he never knows it's in there. I've also used the pill syringe before but it's still a pain in the butt to use. Good luck.

[Taz_Zoee]

I had to pill Taz by myself. I got the pill shooter from the vet. I got on the floor and wedged him between my legs (or just to the side of me). Open his mouth and shoot the pill as far back as possible. Close his mouth, rub his throat and his nose lightly so he'll lick it then he has to swallow.
It was a bit of a pain and I only failed twice. Once he spit the pill back out and it became too slimy to use. Another he actually bit the pill in half.

As others said - each cat and person is different. So you've got multiple suggestions you can try until you find the right one for you and the girls.

[Emeraldgreen]

I use Pill Pockets whenever I can. And if the pill is bitter, which I think Drontal might be, I cut the pill up into quarters and then put a quarter into each pill pocket so it's harder for them to notice it.

I'm going to check out the Klaw Control Bag that Krazyaboutkatz mentioned. Sounds interesting!

[emily_the_spoiled]

The one other thing with Drontal is that you will have to re-pill any cat that was positively diagnosed with worms in three weeks. Sometimes you have to do it a third time after that. (I just went through this with my newest kitten Joseph).

[Vermontcat]

Thanks for all the great suggestions everyone. You have a lot of good ideas and I am very impressed with those of you who can pill a cat by yourself without having someone else help.

I did try to trim Izzy's nails when she was all cozy on my lap a while ago. I clipped one back claw and she tried to nip me. So that is one claw done for today and that may be all she lets me do. I wanted to trim her back claws because last night when we tried to pill her, when she jumped out of my husband's grasp she launched off with her back feet and nailed him in the stomach as well as scratched his neck a bit with the front claws. She is a real twisty contortionist when she wants to get away and she is fast.

We will try again tonight to pill her, luckily it is only the one dose the vet said they needed. Milly got hers done so we don't need to torture her tonight, just Izzy.
Emily the Spoiled, that is interesting about the Drontal needing more than one dose because when I looked up the treatment for worms online it said 2-3 treatments but when I picked up the pills at the vets office I double checked that it was one pill one time and that is what she said.

If we can't get Izzy to take the pill tonight, I will look into getting pill pockets or a pill shooter. I see that they are both available at Petco which isn't too far from me. Will they usually be available at a vet's office? It is much more convenient to stop by the vet's office in town instead of driving a long way to get them.

Moosmom, this time I will have to try blowing on Izzy's nose, I knew to rub the throat and hold the mouth shut but I didn't read about that until after I tried to pill her.

Sas, I know you were able to trim a few claws on one of my cat's when you came to meet them in September. I can't remember which one let you do it, but I do remember to try and do it when they are sleepy and relaxed.
Thanks for all the help, I will let you know how it goes later.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Here's the link to the klaw control bag that I bought from Drs. Foster & Smith: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...fm?pcatid=3159. I actually ended up buying all 3 sizes but now the small one is too small for any of my cats. Pearl is my light weight cat at about 8lbs or so and she fits in the large bag without any problems. All of the rest of my cats need the extra large bag. I don't know why they don't make a medium sized one.

I also bought an extra large bag from a vet's office but I rarely use it because it doesn't have zippers on the bottom of it like the klaw control bag does. If I use it then I can't trim their back paw nails. It does seem more durable than the klaw control bag and I think that they do make them with zippers in the bottom but for some reason I they didn't order one for me. It's called a cat sack and here's a link to it:http://www.fourflags.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.3950/.f. As you can see they do come in 3 different styles and I have what's called the original style.

I also made a homemade cat muzzle out of a plastic cup and string. The string is getting a bit stretched out so I really need to replace it with elastic so that it'll stay on their heads better. I got the idea from this website: http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/ClientED/cat_restraint.aspx. Just scroll down to the bottom and it tells you how to make one. Here's my original thread about it too: http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthre...ght=cat+muzzle.

[Medusa]

I thought about buying one of these; the only furkid that I really have trouble with is Yodie. None of them like having their claws clipped but I manage; however, Yodie bites as well as swats at me. I'd have to muzzle her, too. I think that putting both contraptions on her would be too traumatic, so I may just do a few claws at a time. For people w/"normal" cats, I think this bag is a great idea. LOL