Update on my girls/need some advice

[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.

[catmandu]

I JUST WAIT UNTIL THE CAT TO BE PILLED IS RELAXED AND PRAY FOR THE BEST, WE PRAY MILLY IS ALL RIGHT AND THAT ALL OF THE WORMS ARE GONE SOON!!!!

[carole]

Since Ash has become ill we have to pill him daily with two pills, it is not an easy task and does take two of us and a pill popper, do invest a few dollars in one , they are really helpful.

We do wrap him tightly in a towel, as he is a rather vicious kitty when challenged, even after four months of daily pilling we still get it wrong sometimes, he is very cunning and manages to hide it in his mouth, I always check his mouth afterwards though to see it has gone, and stroke his throat, to help it go down, I don't really think spraying water down there is necessary, as long as you have them on the right angle.

We found for ash we basically have to lie him down on his back,not that he likes that, but it is the only way it works, and the gravity makes it go down, hubby has to hold him rather tightly by the scruff of the neck,it may not be dignified and I am certain he finds it not too nice, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Good luck i am sure you will get the hang of it.

[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