OK, here goes. You need to have the pills in your hand. Approach him from behind, kneel behind him, and reach around his chest, and pull him back under your crotch. Keep your feet close together, so that his body can't go backwards because your feet are behind him, and he can't go up because your crotch is above his back/haunches (you are basically sitting on the cat now). Slide your hand up from his chest, to around his head, hold his head in your hand, with your hand over the top of his head. You should be able to securely grasp his head like this, using his cheek bones and upper jaw as grips. Take the hand with the pills in it, and hold the pills in between your second, third fingers and your thumb. Use your index finger to pry his mouth open wide, and as soon as he opens his mouth, quickly drop the pill way back into the very back of his mouth. Quickly garb his head and hold his mouth closed for a few seconds. If you got it in the very back of his mouth, he will be forced to swallow it, as it will be too far back on his tongue to push out of his mouth (you can always poke it down deeper a bit with your finger if you miss the first try). You may have to do this one pill at a time, with a little break in between. Bigger pills go down easier if you coat them with a tiny bit of butter immediately before giving them (some pills that are not coated or capsules might begin to dissolve if you get them wet or buttery, so be careful to test it first on one little side). I use this same method for giving liquids in a dropper (and force-feeding), except I just pry the dropper into the side of the mouth and push the liquid in, allowing them to lap it a little. This type of restraint also works if you need to put drops or ointment in the eyes or ears.
Jenn http://ucat.us http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html Adopt a cat from UCAT rescue: http://ucat.us/adopt.html Adopt a FIV+ cat: http://ucat.us/AWrescue/FIV/ Adopt a FELV+ cat: http://ucat.us/FELVadopt.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I collect KMR kitten formula labels for Bazil, a 3 yr old special needs cat who must live on a liquid diet for the rest of his life. Bazil's caretaker collects labels and sends them to KMR, where they add up until she earns a free can of formula! PLEASE save your KMR kitten formula labels for Bazil! If you use KMR, even just one can, please email me for the NEW address to send them to! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Does your cat have chronic diarrhea that does not respond to treatment, or has your cat been loosely diagnosed as IBD? Have you tested for Tritrichomonosis? The test is new, the new drug makes it curable. Ask me today how you can test for Trich! -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.13.8/183 - Release Date: 11/25/2005
