medication

at one stage or another it might be necessary to administer medicines to your cat. this sounds daunting at first, but with a little practice and help from your vet, it can be achieved.
the most common forms of medicines are:

• tablets
• liquids
• creams or ointments
• eye drops
• ear drops

how to administer medicines

each cat is different. some are pretty relaxed and are easily dealt with. others might not like the idea and wiggle around, or even scratch and bite. if you have one of the latter ones, get a friend to help you to hold it still or wrap your cat in a towel to keep the claws out of action.

giving tablets

• restrain your cat (see above) hold its head slightly tilted back with one hand
• hold the tablet between the thumb and the index-finger and open the mouth gently with the middle-finger
• pop the tablet as far as you can into your cats mouth
• close its mouth, bring the head to its normal position and rub its neck gently to help with the swallowing

giving liquids

depending on the prescribed liquid, it can be either administered by syringe (without the needle), a dropper or it can be mixed with food.

with syringe or dropper:

• place your hand above your cat's head, tilt the head to one side, lift its lip with your index-finger
• now insert the tip of the syringe/dropper from the side, and squeeze the liquid slowly into your cats mouth, allow time for swallowing

administer skin cream

• wash your hands before and after using any creams or ointments on wounds
• read the label to find out how much cream you shall use or follow the instructions of your vet
• rub creams on, either with your finger or cotton-bud

giving eye drops

• wash your hands thoroughly
• restrain your cat in the known fashion (read above)
• hold and tilt your cats head either to one side with one hand
• while holding, open your cats eye a little by placing your thumb and index-finger above and below the eyelid
• with the other hand, squeeze or drop the ointment in your cat's eye
• be careful that you don't touch the eye with the tip of the tube or bottle
• close and open the eyelid with your fingers once or twice to help moisten the whole eye with the substance

giving ear drops

• hold your cat's head firmly
• fold the ear back gently and apply the drops directly into the ear canal
• massage the base of the ear
• don't put anything into the ear canal as it might damage the delicate insides