Caring for a pet is not only limited to feeding, hygiene activities and games lessons. It also includes health care to four-legged pet. Cat owners are often forced to give fluffy antihelminthic drugs, vitamins in pill form as well as medications prescribed by a veterinarian.
Unfortunately, most cats are trying to wriggle out from taking bitter pills: begin clawing and kicking hind legs, and sent into the mouth of the pill, immediately trying to spit it out. In this regard, it is important to master the basic techniques, allowing to give the cat pills without any trouble.
This greatly simplifies the treatment process and maintain the good health of the animal. How to give a cat a worm pill, so as not to cause discomfort for themselves or their ward?
What symptoms indicate that a cat is shown anthelmintic therapy
- The fundamental sign, testifying to the defeat of the animal parasites – the larvae in the feces or vomit. Noticing the first symptoms of worm infestation, should immediately start the process of deworming.
- To confirm the presence of worms in cats, you should carefully observe her behavior and General condition. If she became suspicious enough to eat and drink, or conversely, requires more food and not moving away from the bowl of water is probably the body of the animal is infested with worms.
- Kittens are not easy to identify the worms. It is possible to carry out palpation of the abdomen of the baby. Inflation and hardness of the abdomen indirectly indicate the presence of parasites. You should take the kitten to the veterinary clinic, where he will pick up a tablet from worms, considering body weight and age.
- Not every cat feels unwell, as a carrier of worms. However, the change in behavior should alert the owner. If the cat has become timid, avoids daylight, it’s possible he has worms.
- Obvious signs of worms in the body cats: diarrhea and severe vomiting with admixture of worms, fever, cough, severe apathy.
Rules of treatment with tablets from worms
- Anthelmintic drugs cat needs to get on an empty stomach.
- The second time the medicine is given not earlier than ten days.
- Every three months mandatory conduct preventive antihelminthic activities.
- Before giving a cat a tablet from worms, you need to be sure that your animal is suffering from fleas. Only getting rid of blood-sucking insects, you can begin to expel the worms.
- Some veterinarians recommend before anthelmintic therapy to make your pet an injection of immunomodulatory agents.
- Four hours later after taking the pills, give the animal some of sorbent, whether activated charcoal or POLYSORB.
How to give a pill to the cat
Many tablets, with rare exception, bitter, but if capsule or tablet cannot be replaced by injection, the owner remains nothing how to adapt to the model of behavior of their pet and take advantage of the most appropriate method through which tablet will be in the stomach of cats. To the delight of pet owners, there are many clever and effective techniques.
To disguise the food
First you need to make sure it does not disappear, the therapeutic effect of taking the pill, if you use this method.
Usually such information is contained in the instructions to the drug:
- Pre-ground tablet.
- A small amount of crushed medication mixed with a favorite food of the pet.
- Watch below the entire portion was swallowed without residues. If the food is eaten completely, it is possible the lack of proper treatment.
- Divided into several parts, the tablet can be hidden in the sausage or minced meat. Large pieces of animal will try to chew and certain types of medication require a more slow release, so they don’t break up.
With a piece of butter
All attempts to spit it out, greased the tablet will be in vain. Dairy product due to the oily consistency will promote the tablets in the throat:
- If the pill is small, then its dipped in butter.
- The tablet is placed closer to the base of the tongue.
- Great tablet pre-split in half.
By stimulating the swallowing reflex
Stimulating the root of a cat’s tongue can cause a swallowing reflex. Holding the mouth of the cat with one hand, put the pill, trying to shove it as deep as possible, but not pushing, otherwise there will be belching or vomiting. After pill where necessary, shutting mouth of the animal, and for some time hold of the jaw. As a rule, this manipulation is sufficient that the cat swallowed the pill.
Take the cat by the scruff
If you grab the cat by the scruff and lift above the ground, it will automatically drop the lower jaw. Importantly, capture by hand as much skin as possible. Do not be afraid to inflict pain pet, as this procedure is absolutely painless. Also not to injure the cat in the psychological sense, in contrast to the same force of the unclamping of the jaw, which is so often advise inexperienced professionals. Slightly tilt back the head of a cat, then on the tongue throw a pill. The farther she’ll go, the higher the chances that the animal will not be able to spit it out. After close the jaws and lift the head, caress pet’s neck, helping him to swallow the medicine.
With Piller
Piller is a medical device that looks like an ordinary syringe. It facilitates the process of entering a medicinal product to an animal.
- The tablet is fixed with a rubber tip.
- Open the jaws of the cat and try to push the tip with the drug closer to the base of the tongue.
- Sharply press on the piston of the device and push the pill in the mouth of the cat.
- Get a Piller.
- Close the jaws of the animal.
- Produce the stimulation of the swallowing reflex by stroking the throat.
With the syringe
If the cat refuses or is unable for some reason to swallow the tablet whole, there is an option to use a syringe (without a needle). Stir the crushed tablet in a small amount of water and with a syringe inject into the jaws of the cat. In this case the cat must be in a sitting position, and the muzzle cocked to the ceiling. The syringe pushes into the gap between the back teeth and poured the medicinal substance. The animal swallowed the medicine, his face bullied up and gently Pat on the neck. One should not give more than 1 ml of medication.
With sheets
If all the above tricks did not succeed, and the cat flatly refuses to swallow a tablet from worms, go to drastic measures – immobilize the animal with sheets or towels. This measure has worked well when dealing with skittish cats who need to get a shot. Carefully record the front and back paws to the cat it was not possible to escape, and then open her mouth and put into the language of the tablet. It is likely that you will need an assistant, especially if the animal is large and aggressive.
Changing cats will need at least a square meter of fabric. This can be as a regular towel and bed sheet.
Cat wrapped in a towel so that the front feet tightly against the body, and the rear was not sticking out from under the fabric. In order to avoid injury to the animal, you need to be very careful winding the body of the pet. Be sure to leave a small space around the neck of the cat, so she could easily swallow it.
If the cat is struggling to get out of a kind of incarceration, the procedure is best postponed until better times, otherwise the attempt will fail.
So, the animal is seated to the man’s back, and the owner of one arm does not allow the pet to escape, the second hand remains free.
An important remark. People don’t push the cat with his body and kneels, creating additional fixation.
Moving to the most crucial moment. Taking a free hand and a pill and the other holding the head of a cat, stick your thumb in his mouth. Most importantly, do not overdo it down the pill in the cat’s mouth. Also, do not too wide open cat’s mouth.
Act quickly, as your pet will hardly like to be immobilized. In attempts to escape he will actively turn his head.
As soon as the mouth is opened, placing the upper part of the head back and throw the pill on the Central part of the base of the tongue. It is strictly forbidden to shove the pill into the throat with your finger. If the tablet will be close to the tip of the tongue, the taste buds will certainly determine unpleasant taste, and the cat wants to spit out the bitter medicine.
In the end, quickly close its mouth and hold her hand, head down, otherwise it will be difficult to swallow.
A little blowing into the nostrils of a cat, it is possible to stimulate swallowing.
Precautions
- The owner of a cat must know the truth: the procedure of deworming is only when you are sure that the animal is absolutely great. Before you stuff the pet with pills, you need to measure his temperature using a rectal thermometer. If the animal has a fever, it should show the vet. Specialist or diagnose the pathology, or rule out. Otherwise, the use of tablets from worms can only harm the health of the animal.
- Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical market is full of low quality Anthelmintics drugs. If you stumble across a dishonest manufacturer, and the animal poisoned pills, which manifested itself in the form of vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, loss of appetite, you should take your pet to the veterinarian to have lavage of the gastrointestinal tract and brought toxic compounds that are formed during the decomposition of parasites.
- One of the main conditions, which enables treatment of a helminth infection tablets, is the date of the last appointment. If you don’t remember when was the last time your pet received medication, it is better not to hurry with the treatment, since the overdose of the body of potent substance is fraught with complications. Also, consider the weight, age and health status of cats. Pregnant and nursing cats get the pills only after inspection of the veterinarian.
- If you bought a quality product, as a rule, side effects bypass the pet side. Worms completely destroyed the first time, so the second drug required in rare cases.
- Tablets having a delayed action, keep intact, without breaking apart. There are a number of capsules with a delayed effect (the active ingredient slowly dissolves in the intestine, gradually entering the blood), and if you violate their integrity, they will cease to be useful. In this issue you need to follow the recommendations of a veterinarian.
- If you teach your pet to swallow pills from the age of the kitten, in the future this will be less of a problem, the cat will not be so afraid of capsules or drops, and effortlessly swallows the right pill.