How to Give a Cat Medicine (Even Difficult Cats)

When your little feline family member gets sick, it’s essential to get them the medication they need to heal properly, but this can be a difficult task. Here is how to give a cat medicine, even if they are being difficult.

There are some interesting stats and facts about cats you may not know. For example, domesticated cats first came to America in the 1600s when they were put on ships traveling from Europe. The idea was to have the cats kill the rodents on the boat. Today, cats are family members to nearly 43 million people.

Cat owners spend a lot of money on their pets. Just last year, the total Americans spent on food, supplies, veterinarian care, and grooming totaled 99 billion dollars.

Unfortunately, cats get sick. Just like humans and other pets, they are susceptible to viruses, infections, and diseases. You must know when it’s time to seek help for your sick cat and how to give a cat medicine if needed.

When to Visit a Vet

Some cats show obvious symptoms to signal they need to visit a vet. Examples include signs of distress, which can be any abnormal behavior, like:

• Vomiting
• Difficulty breathing
• Excessive sneezing
• Overwhelming fatigue

Additional signs of distress include dragging the back legs, unusual lumps or growths, discharge from the eyes or nose, and changes in the way they use the litter box. If your cat has been in a fight or accident and has obvious signs of injury, take them to the vet for evaluation.

Your veterinarian will likely prescribe medication to treat your cat’s ailments. Make sure your vet explains how to give a cat medicine so that they can get the proper care they need.

How to Give Medicine to a Cat: 3 Tips

As you may already know, not all cats like taking medication. Some even hate it and make it difficult to administer. Here are some tips on how to give a problematic cat oral medicine.

• When possible, get help. While one person holds the cat’s mouth open, the other person places the medicine towards the back of the cat’s throat. Then release the cat’s mouth and let it swallow the medicine. Follow it up with a treat of something delicious. Putting the medicine at the back of the throat bypasses taste buds, so if the medicine is bitter, the cat won’t know it and spit it out. Use this tip for any medication, including pills or liquids.
• Hide the medicine in a treat. This tip may work for some cats and not others. Cats chew their foods, unlike dogs, who sometimes gulp down treats. If you hide a pill in a treat and your cat bites into it, they may not eat it.
• Mix the medicine with canned cat food. This can also be risky if the drug changes the flavor of the canned food. You may want to try a small sample mixture first to avoid wasting a dose.

Each condition may require a different medication. It’s essential to understand how to give a cat medicine, and how that process will change depending on the type of medication.

Types of Cat Medications

Antibiotics are a commonly prescribed medication for cat health problems like urinary tract infections and diseases. If you see your cat straining to pee or licking themselves a lot, it could mean they have kidney stones or blockages. Antibiotics treat bacterial infections.

Anti-inflammatory medicines are prescribed for conditions like arthritis that is affecting your cat. Steroids are often the anti-inflammatories chosen by vets.

Flea and tick medicines, pain relievers, joint support, dewormer, and allergies are a few more reasons a cat may need prescribed medicine.

Filling the Prescription

There are no pet pharmacies that prescribe only pet medications. You must find a pharmacist in your area that can fill both human and pet prescriptions. Because medicine for your cat is often the same for humans, only modified in dose, many local pharmacists will be able to assist you.

The problem with regular prescriptions is that they are created to meet the needs of the masses. They are mass-manufactured in specific doses, forms and with specific active and inactive ingredients. Your cat may not be like all other cats. They may have an allergy to an inactive ingredient.

Your cat may be too small for the minimum dose or too big for the maximum dose, making it hard to properly medicate and preventing them from receiving the full effects of the medicine.

To ensure your pet is getting the medicine’s benefits, look into a veterinary compounding pharmacy.

What Is Compounded Cat Medicine?

Compounding pet medication is a process used by pharmacists to make medicine from scratch based on your cat’s personal needs and preferences. Your pharmacist will use your cat’s medical records and feedback from you to create the correct dose in the most favorable form, so it becomes easier and safer to administer.

If your cat loves beef flavoring, your pharmacist can make the medicine taste like beef. Similarly, if it is easier for you to give your cat liquid medication, they can create medication that uses a dosing syringe. If your cat has allergies to specific binding agents, your pharmacist can find ones more suitable.

Compounding can personalize the medicine even further using custom, adjustable strength, and sugar-free for pets with blood sugar issues like diabetes.

Fortunately for your cat, many types of compounded cat medications meet all your cat’s unique needs.

Types of Compounded Cat Medications

Compounded cat medicines come in various formats, including:

• Topical gels and creams
• Pills
• Tablets
• Capsules
• Liquid
• Injectables
• Chewable pet treats
• Transdermal patches

Compounded medicines for pets are not the only benefit of using a compounding vet pharmacy.

Benefits of Compounding Vet Pharmacy

Working with a compounding pharmacy gives you more medication options, including access to commercial medicines no longer available at big chain pharmacies. Compounding can often cost less and protect against allergic reactions.

Finally, you get to know your pet’s pharmacist, who is eager to build a relationship with pet owners and answer questions about prescriptions. Compounding pharmacists are accessible and welcome meeting the cat for which they are creating medicine.

In a time where we seem disconnected from others, whether due to a pandemic or just being busy with life, it’s nice to work with a pharmacist who takes time to get to know you and your cat.