Cats

[River Don]

Hello there,

Our family have always been dog owners, recently though we have inherited two cats (other side of the family) I say recently, I mean three years ago. In that time I have discovered cats are more dog like than I realised, even though unlike dogs they usually tend to do as they please.

My problem is one cat has started losing weight and has become a bit subdued. I suspect he needs worming. However, getting a tablet inside a cat is not easy. With a dog hide a tablet in a piece of cheese and it's gone with one Woolfe. A cat faffs about, nibbles the cheese and leaves the tablet. Strong arming a cat into taking a tablet is not easy. Wriggling, claws, fear, complete defiance.

Any advice is welcome. Thank you.

[roversontheup]

I used to try crushing the tablet very finely and putting it in something really tasty. Otherwise hold your cat under your arm. Put the tablet into its mouth, as far back as can and clamp your hand around its mouth. At same time try rubbing its throat to make it swallow.  I must warn you though just when you think it’s has to have gone they spit it out

[BillyStubbsTears]

We use this with our two. A drop in the skin between the shoulders.

https://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/dronspot-medium-cat-spot-on-worming-solution?gclid=Cj0KCQjw08aYBhDlARIsAA_gb0efcc-CDS0pP7VFkTeTfzQ7g7irSpcuieMQwFPa2e8mWkcOUKvNqIEaArP2EALw_wcB

Mind, the f**kers even get arsey at us doing that.

[roversontheup]

Oh yes I’d forgotten all about that. I used to have to hold my cat and then open the pipette. If I opened it first and she got a smell of it she was off!

[Panda]

I worked for RSPCA for over 15 years so i feel your pain! 

Crush the tablet up into fine powder and give in tuna or something really smelly that they like but only a small bit of food. Not a bowl full. A lot of cats can even suss this out so last resort, force open the cats mouth with thumb at one side and finger at the other and drop it in. Close mouth and rub chin a bit before it takes off your face with it's claws and hopefully it doesn't drop out.

Sometimes, especially with dogs, if you close their mouths with your hands and blow hard on their noses it makes them swallow automatically and job done.

You can also get a plastic device that you hold like a pair of scissors and place the tablet in place at the end. Open the cats mouth, shove in the end of the scissor thingies and push the handle and it pushes the tablet into the cats mouth with a tiny bit of force.

Don't do a Kurt Zouma though and lace the bejesus out of it if it doesn't play ball. 

[Bentley Bullet]

It's not just cats that don't like swallowing tablets, our Labrador was a bugger. She was that bad we once wrapped the tiniest tablet imaginable into a block, about 2" square, of her favourite cheese. She wolfed the cheese down in seconds and then spat the bloody tablet out onto the floor. 

[River Don]

It's not just cats that don't like swallowing tablets, our Labrador was a bugger. She was that bad we once wrapped the tiniest tablet imaginable into a block, about 2" square, of her favourite cheese. She wolfed the cheese down in seconds and then spat the bloody tablet out onto the floor. 

It's this kind of behaviour that convinces me larger mammals are a lot closer in temperament and feeling to humans than many people care to admit.

[tommy toes]

You can get a medicine that you mix with their food. It's tasteless and odourless. Our cat doesn't mind it at all.
Get it from that big pet shop at the Wheatly Hall Centre.

[Panda]

River Don, i seem to remember reading one of your posts a while back about maybe needing to rehome some cats. If i've got the wrong person then forgive me. Have you had any joy in finding them somewhere to go?

I also have something in the back of my mind that you live in the York area. Again, forgive me if i'm wrong but i know York RSPCA a little having been there a few times through work and they may be able to help. Also there is actually a Cats Protection centre in York which i believe is in the Haxby area so they could help too maybe?

There also used to be a Selby animal rescue but not sure if it still exists. Normally the RSPCA and Cats Protection will only take in animals from people who live in their catchment area so i doubt other RSPCA centres like Bawtry or Leeds would take them.

Be good to know if you manage to get them into a shelter or found homes for them anyway. 

[River Don]

Panda,

Don't worry we are completely commited to these two little buggers.

I'm a natural worrier, I see what's coming. If we are in trouble looking after our cats, then thousands of others will be too.

[Glyn_Wigley]

To stop a cat wriggling, wrap it in a towel with just it's head showing. Then put a bit of butter on the end of your finger, stick the tablet to the butter and put it in the cats mouth until it swallows the tablet.

[Panda]

Good tip that from Glyn. Forgot about that. Yes, wrap them in a towel. We also used to do that with swans / geese and hold their necks when giving them antibiotic injections if we didn't have swan bags handy. It is a quick and easy tip to do.

[mugnapper]

We use this with our two. A drop in the skin between the shoulders.

https://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/dronspot-medium-cat-spot-on-worming-solution?gclid=Cj0KCQjw08aYBhDlARIsAA_gb0efcc-CDS0pP7VFkTeTfzQ7g7irSpcuieMQwFPa2e8mWkcOUKvNqIEaArP2EALw_wcB

Mind, the f**kers even get arsey at us doing that.

My pair of t**ts run for the hills if they so much as hear my wife take the foil off the plastic outer to get to the pipette inside, never mind the sound of the top of the pipette being snapped.

I have to hold them tightly, one at a time while Mrs Mug tries to find some bare skin on their fat, furry necks.

As soon as they feel the liquid on their fat necks, the claws come out, I’m shredded, and they shoot off out and are 3 fields away in seconds.

There is a tv ad for Frontline where the cat just sits there whilst it’s owner gently applies the dose and remains sitting there after it’s been done. I’m thinking about going to Trading Standards.

[River Don]

Mug, I swear our two know what the packaging of Frontline Plus looks like.

[IDM]

if you have to, take them to the vet and pay for them to do it..

[ravenrover]

.How to Give a Cat a Pill:
What you need is a simple step-by-step process to give a cat a pill. You're come to the right place. Following are the instructions you need to safely and effectively give your cat a pill. It can be fun, a bonding experience for you both. Maybe. Perhaps.

1. Grasp your cat firmly in your arms. Cradle its head on your elbow, just as if you were giving a baby a bottle. Coo confidently, "That's a nice kitty." Drop the pill in its mouth.

2.  Retrieve your cat from under the bed. Get a new pill from the bottle. (resist the impulse to get new cat.)

.3.  Follow the same procedure as in Step 1, but hold your cat's front paws down with your left hand and their back paws down with the elbow of your right arm. Poke the pill into its mouth with your right forefinger.
 

4. Retrieve your cat from under the bed. Get a new pill from the bottle. (resist the impulse to get new cat.)

5. Again proceed as in Step 1, except when you have your kitty cat firmly cradled in the bottle-feeding position, sit on the edge of the chair, fold your torso over your cat, bring your right hand over your left elbow, open your cat's mouth by lifting the upper jaw & pop the pill in - quickly! Since your head is down by your knees, you won't be able to see what you are doing. That's just as well.
6. Leave your cat hanging on the drapes. Leave the pill in your hair.

7. If you are a woman, have a good cry. If you are a man, have a good cry.

8. Now pull yourself together. Who's the boss here anyway? Retrieve your cat & the pill. Assuming position 1 again, say sternly, "Who's the boss here anyway?" Open your cat's mouth, take the pill & ....Oooops!

9. This isn't working, is it? Collapse & think. Aha! Those flashing claws are causing the chaos.

cute adorable kitten

10. Crawl slowly to the linen closet. Drag back a large beach towel. Spread the towel on the floor.

11. Retrieve your cat from the kitchen counter and the pill from the potted plant.

12. Spread your cat on the towel near one end with its head over the long edge.

13. Flatten your cat's front and back legs over its stomach. (resist the impulse to flatten your cat.)

14. Roll your cat in the towel. Work fast; time and tabbies wait for no man - or woman!

15. Resume position 1. Rotate your left hand to your cat's head. Press its mouth at the jaw hinges like opening the petals of a snapdragon.

16. Drop the pill into cat's mouth and poke gently. Voila! It's done!

17. Vacuum up the loose fur (cat's). Apply bandages to the wounds (yours).

18. Take two aspirins and lie  down

[Filo]

Horrible creature, can’t stand them

[Panda]

if you have to, take them to the vet and pay for them to do it..

Only cost about a hundred quid too. Bargain. 

[i_ateallthepies]

Horrible creature, can’t stand them

I don't dislike cats, only people who try to tell me that cats are affectionate.  THEY'RE NOT! they are entitled, mercenary little b******s that take everything and give nothing in return.

[mugnapper]

Horrible creature, can’t stand them

I don't dislike cats, only people who try to tell me that cats are affectionate.  THEY'RE NOT! they are entitled, mercenary little b******s that take everything and give nothing in return.

So you're saying ALL cats are Tories??

[Panda]

Horrible creature, can’t stand them

I don't dislike cats, only people who try to tell me that cats are affectionate.  THEY'RE NOT! they are entitled, mercenary little b******s that take everything and give nothing in return.

In my experience of working with and owing lots of cats, the above view is by and large accurate but there are some cats who are really affectionate and are as devoted to their owners as dogs are. They are in a minority though.

Kind of why i like cats. They want contact when they want it, they look at you with disgust and contempt if you've given them something they don't like and like spending lots of time away from the company of other cats and also people. What's not to like?

[i_ateallthepies]

Horrible creature, can’t stand them

I don't dislike cats, only people who try to tell me that cats are affectionate.  THEY'RE NOT! they are entitled, mercenary little b******s that take everything and give nothing in return.

So you're saying ALL cats are Tories??

Actually, that equivalence hadn't ever occurred to me but now you mention it...

[mugnapper]

Horrible creature, can’t stand them

I don't dislike cats, only people who try to tell me that cats are affectionate.  THEY'RE NOT! they are entitled, mercenary little b******s that take everything and give nothing in return.

In my experience of working with and owing lots of cats, the above view is by and large accurate but there are some cats who are really affectionate and are as devoted to their owners as dogs are. They are in a minority though.

Kind of why i like cats. They want contact when they want it, they look at you with disgust and contempt if you've given them something they don't like and like spending lots of time away from the company of other cats and also people. What's not to like?

That sums the furry sh1ts up nicely Panda.

Want unconditional love from a pet ? Get a dog
Want total indifference with occasional love at a time that suits the pet, not you?
Get a cat.

[belton rover]

Has he had a CAT scan?

[tommy toes]

I love my cat to bits.
He's indifferent to me, unless I'm feeding him or prepared to have a fight with him.
He always wins and I end up scratched to f**k and bleeding.

[normal rules]

I’ve nothing against cats.
Except the feckers that roam around at night time, walking all over your freshly washed car. Or shitting all over your garden.
Or fighting with each. Or making that god awful noise that sounds like a baby crying. At 2 am.

[Panda]

I read in one of our local papers that a woman was appealing for help as she had lost her cat.......on a camping trip! Who takes their cat camping!?

I've taken a hamster (with cage  ) on holiday to Devon before in a caravan but never known anyone take a cat with them.

On another cat theme, i remember a lady who used to walk her cat up and down on a lead on the road on St Giles Gate in Scawsby in the late 90's early 2000s which i thought was bloody odd but now becoming more commonplace it seems.

[normal rules]

Some years ago, in the early noughties, a small village in Lincolnshire “lost” about 50 of its local cat population. It was big news at the time.
It was a mystery. Until a local pub goer overheard an old boy bragging in the boozer one night that he disliked cats messing his garden so he had “dealt” with them.
Transpires he was placing pilchards in his garden laced with rat poison.
I think he got cautioned for it.

[mugnapper]

On my walk by the canal the other day, I met 2 middle aged women on a week long narrow boat holiday.
Both had brought their cats on board with them, but were having to take turns sleeping as the cats were disembarking and bringing back mice, rats and in one case, a rabbit in the middle of the night.

[BobG]

Years ago our then cat actually was one of the affectionate kind. One evening my then partner and I set off down the road walking to the pub about 500 yards away. Aret, the cat, followed us the whole bloody way. She ended up sitting with us in the bar. I tried her on Arkells 3 B's. Happily, she had good taste. She refused it!

BobG