Belinda, Thanks for your reply. You are the only one who did. I sincerely appreciate it.
I realize that some cats are more difficult to pill that others. Thank God I have conditioned my kids to take their meds. Granted some do resist, but they have learned that if they do not take their meds, they did not get their wet cat food. Once they realize that, they eventually warm up to the idea. They REALLY want their wet cat food; therefore, the sacrifice is worth the reward. And that is EXACTLY they way I play it off. I "reward" them with their wet cat food for "taking" their meds. I call it praise, they call it "treats"! However, you cannot just spontaneously start pilling a cat, especially if it is an older generic cat who has never been pilled before. You need to slowing introduce the producer to them, otherwise you will risk stressing out the cat and possibly scarring them for life. If pilling the cat becomes a frightening experience for them, they will definitely remember that and the you will most likely never be able to pill them again. I introduced my pilling method to the kids when they were very young; therefore, they have grown up with the idea of being pilled. However, for those who were permanently adopted into our multi-cat household in their later years had to slow warm up to the understanding of being pilled. For these cats, effective pilling was not an immediate over-night success. It took time and loving patience. Cats can be trained, thus the idea of the litter box, therefore, they can be trained to accept pilled medication without fear, stress or discomfort just as long as the pet-guardian realized to take the efforts in stride. Do everything on the cats terms. Never force them. If they refuse their medication, withhold the treat. Do not starve the cat as punishment for not taking their medicating. Instead, withhold their FAVORITE food item. Offer THAT when introducing the pill. They will being to socialize that particular "treat" with medication and will quickly realize that it is ONLY offered when medication is administered. Cats are extremely quick-minded and fast learners. Eventually they will put two and two together. After the treat method has been completely successful, the pet-guardian can do the bait and switch method with the "treat". Gradually ween the cat from its favorite treat to their favorite flavor of wet cat food. Eventually, the pet-guardian will be administering the proper medication during actual meal-time instead of during treat-time. However, if the bait and switch method never successfully works out, and with some cats it won't as most generic cats hate food and/or environmental change, just simply bite the bullet and stick with the treat/med method. Use what works best for your cat. Remember you want the cat to LIKE being pilled; therefore, if the cat is happy with the "reward" he/she will be happy to be pilled. Belinda, regarding Fred with his potassium supplements and phosphorus binders in his food for his high phosphorus, would that not cause him to be prone to developing Struvite crystals (magnesium, ammonium, phosphate)? I did not know this about cranberries. What is D-Mannose? I have also read that a dietary supplement called D,L-methionine may be used to alter urinary pH. And a dietary supplement called Cosequin® (containing glucosamine) is advocated by some practitioners to reduce pain and inflammation in the bladders of cats with FLUTD. http://drbarchas.com/flutd Do you know anything about this? --- On Sun, 8/9/09, Belinda Sauro <ma...@bemikitties.com> wrote: Lora, I don't have an positives left, Bailey was my last and I lost him in 2006. I do however have a furkid with HCM and one with CRF & a heart murmur. I do know that taurine and CoQ-10 are good for the heart and lysine is good over all for the immune system. My cats aren't great about getting pills, so I only give them what they absolutely need. Joey get benazapril and amlodipine for his HCM. Fred gets the same for his high blood pressure and heart murmur, plus he gets potassium supplements and phosphorus binders in his food for his high phosphorus. All 5 of mine, get a vit b shots once a week too. I can get away with giving them that because that is an injection, not a pill. The only thing I probably wouldn't use is the cranberry. According to the CRF site that I read for answers when Fred is am having problems. This is not a vets site only a person who has been for many years collecting info and who has many years of experience with CRF. Not only her experiences but a CRF group with over 1200 members and another CRF group she is a member of with over 11,000 members, I am a member of both groups. This site is an accumulation of all those years and members experiences. This is a quote from that site about cranberry: *_Cranberry_* You should avoid giving cranberry or food containing cranberry to CRF cats - it is too acidic for CRF cats, who tend towards acidosis anyway. Cranberries *also contain benzoic acid, which cats lack the pathways to metabolise*.. The active ingredient in cranberries is Mannose, so you could consider giving D-Mannose to a cat who is prone to urinary tract infections http://www.felinecrf.org/treatments.htm#UTIs. The Boston Globe <http://www.boston.com/ae/food/articles/2005/04/21/growers_pet_project/> reports on the recent trend of adding cranberries to cat food, and has a comment from a vet at Tuft's University School of Veterinary Medicine that there is no evidence that cranberries have the same benefits for cats as they appear to have for humans. A market analysis of the US pet food industry to determine new opportunities for the cranberry industry <http://www.umassd.edu/cbr/studies/cranbpetfood.pdf> (2005) from the Center for Business Research may help explain why cranberries are suddenly a popular choice as a cat food ingredient. You can find it on this page: http://www.felinecrf.org/holistic_treatments.htm#cranberry Here is a link to the Boston Globe article: http://www.boston.com/ae/food/articles/2005/04/21/growers_pet_project/ Sounds like you have things very well under control for your furkids! --- Belinda happiness is being owned by cats ... http://bemikitties.com http://BelindaSauro.com _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
