So... how can a sick kitteh be a good thing?

[tiredmommy]

My little buddy Oscar had a vet appointment today. He's 14 and needed shots and the vet talked me into blood work since he had lost some weight (we had switched him to an indoor kitty food a few years ago and the start of the weight loss coincided with that). Well... he has hyperthyroidism. High normal is 4.7 and he is a 7. Vet says he's in pretty good shape otherwise (needs a dental cleaning) and he should respond well with medication.

We all know how fun it is giving a kitteh a pill everyday, right? And, being a maintenance medication, he'll be on it for the rest of his life. And he doesn't have RX coverage so my co-worker suggested I use this special county program that discounts for residents and pets (20-60% off retail).

So that got me thinking, mother in law declined her Medicare Part D coverage during the last open enrollment so, as a cancer patient, she has no RX coverage (not sure if I had posted that or not). So I signed her up as well.

I'm the favorite in-law today.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Gotta love those helpful furballs!

 

[SearchingForRainbows]

Just goes to show there is a purpose for everything! Your mother in law is lucky to have you in the family!

As far as Oscar, I wish I had some good advice about how to give him his daily pills. Honestly, even with the most gentle kitty I ever had, I'm not sure if I could get her to take a daily pill. Cats are so smart! After several days, she would be impossible to find at pill time. A cat that doesn't want to be found, can't be found!

If you find a good way to get Oscar to take his pills, please let us know. Even though I don't have a cat at the moment, I know lots of people who do. SFR

 

[tiredmommy]

SFR~ Straddle the kitty's back grab the upper jaw with left hand, shove pill way back in with right. Shower with lots of love and treats after the pill is successfully ingested.

 

[AnnieO]

Mom & Dad's Gator kitteh had diabetes. Faced with a shot every day, or a peaceful putting him to sleep... And he was pretty sick by then... They let him go.

And even at the end, last year, AngelKitten was more than capable of spitting out her pills. Projectile spitting.

 

[tiredmommy]

Having had a difficult child infant with reflux that required me to give a dropperful of nasty tasting medications daily... let's just say that I'm pretty good at getting the medications down. Resistance is futile.

 

[CrazyinVA]

My vet gave me a "pill shooter" for my cat. It's basically a giant syringe so you can "shoot" the pill in the back of their throat. It looks like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Jorgensen-Pet-Piller/dp/B0002ZAG84

He still fought it sometimes, but it was much easier than trying to give a pill by hand and *most* of the time he swallowed it. You might ask your vet for one.

I also had a diabetic cat (yes I've had difficult child pets as well as kids). I had to give her an insulin shot every day for over 2 years, and had to board her at the vet when I traveled so they could give her a shot. She did very well with it until she got sicker and it didn't help much any more.

 

[donna723]

I won't be much help at all - dogs are a lot different than cats as far as taking pills. My Ragan has to take thyroid supplements and I give them to her in ......... (wait for it!) ........... canned CAT FOOD! I give her her pills while I'm fixing breakfast for the outside kitties and I just put them in a little spoonful of fishy-smelling canned cat food and she gobbles them right up! What your cat takes may be different because Ragan's thyroid function is too low, but her pills are pretty reasonable. She takes one a day and I pay $15 for a 30-day supply.

 

[Hound dog]

Let's just say if Bruce ever has to take a pill and I can't sneak it somehow into something he'll eat....................the boy is in big trouble. No way am I fighting a fully clawed cat to get a pill down his throat.

Good to know such programs are even available for pets, I'd never have even considered looking.

Even better that they're available for people and your mother in law can use it! Awesome!

 

[SearchingForRainbows]

SFR~ Straddle the kitty's back grab the upper jaw with left hand, shove pill way back in with right. Shower with lots of love and treats after the pill is successfully ingested.

Thanks!

 

[SearchingForRainbows]

I won't be much help at all - dogs are a lot different than cats as far as taking pills. My Ragan has to take thyroid supplements and I give them to her in ......... (wait for it!) ........... canned CAT FOOD! I give her her pills while I'm fixing breakfast for the outside kitties and I just put them in a little spoonful of fishy-smelling canned cat food and she gobbles them right up! What your cat takes may be different because Ragan's thyroid function is too low, but her pills are pretty reasonable. She takes one a day and I pay $15 for a 30-day supply.

When we had our house and my favorite sanity saver shared it with two cats, we used to have to keep the cats' food in the downstairs bathroom. We had to use a baby gate to block the doorway. My dog loves cat food too! However, my dog loves dry cat food, sort of hard to figure out. (We bought my dog Taste of the Wild salmon dog food and she wouldn't eat it unless absolutely starving.) No matter how much I loved my cats, the smell of canned cat food makes me vomit, just can't handle it...

 

[donna723]

I think all dogs like cat food. It must taste a lot better to them than dog food. I have to keep all the pet food in the utility room in big sealed plastic containers. And all the cats love the fish flavor canned foods. I feed every cat that shows up on my front porch at 9:00 am. Some mornings there's quite a mob scene out there. I take a big bowl of dry food, add some warm water, and mix in two cans of the smelly fishy stuff and they love it! I don't even have to hide Ragan's pills in the cat food. I just stick them on top of the spoonful of catfood and she scarfs them right up. With her, it's partly that she likes it and partly that catfood is "forbidden" and partly that none of the other dogs get catfood! Just her because she's "special"!

HOWEVER ... none of my dogs will eat any of the fish varieties of dog kibble. I tried so many dog foods before settling on the TOTW because it's very hard to find something they all can eat. Ragan has multiple allergies and skin problems and Trace has a very sensitive stomach ... he's a barfer. I once bought a small sample size bag of the Wellness fish based food to try them on, an expensive very high quality food. They each one in turn walked up to the bowl and gave it a little sniff, turned around and looked at me quizically, took another sniff ... and then gave me the dirtiest, most hateful look that a dog can possibly get on their face ... like "WTH is this you give me?" Then they stalked off and refused to eat even one bite! Lucky I had just bought the smallest bag they had and not the 30-pounder!

 

[InsaneCdn]

At the vet, our dog turned his nose up at dog treats - but would do all sorts of stuff for the cat treats.
The vet said... not unusual. Cat food - and cat treats - are mostly protein. Dog food is mixed... but dogs like their "steak" more than their "potatoes". Thus... doggies will snitch kitties' food...

 

[Rabbit]

I love cats! I will add Oscar and your mother in law to our prayer list. I have used the pill shooter with success and a product called pill pockets. http://greenies.com/en_US/Products/FelinePillPockets.aspx?CID=paidsearch
Hugs Rabbit

 

[Lothlorien]

I don't envy you for having to give a cat a pill everyday. Ugh.

That's great that you were able to get the discount for your mother in law too.