There is a lot of misconception when it comes to cats. One of the main thing that you should know, if you want to ensure the healthiness of your cat, is knowing everything that is a myth. The most common misconception that you’d have to combat is the idea that oral medication will be easier if it’s sweet. Most Veterinary compounding pharmacies will tell you that cats don’t taste sweetness.
The most common way of giving your cat medication is through its food. This means that you will sometimes have to wait for your cat to have an empty stomach before giving it food that’s mixed in with the medication that your cat is supposed to take. While this may be an easy way of doing things, you wouldn’t know what to do if you have to give your cat medication while it’s full.
Know Your Cat’s Taste Buds
Giving your cat liquid medicine is not as easy as giving it something that it can chew on and entertain itself with. Many medicines that are in the form of a liquid are in that form due to their effectiveness relying on it. You will need to know what compromise you can do to ensure that the liquid medicine that you get from veterinary compounding pharmacies take their effect properly.
Giving Your Cat Liquid Medicine
1. An easy way to give your cat liquid medicine is by holding the top of its head with your less dominant hand.
An average person will be able to grip the entirety of an average cat’s head including its cheekbones which are also known as zygomatic arches. Maintain this hold firmly, but make sure that you’re not giving your cat any reason to feel discomfort.
2. Once you’ve secured the hold on your cat’s head, gently tilt their head backward.
Naturally, your cat will drop its lower jaw any time it’s looking upwards to the ceiling. This will give you a chance to introduce the medicine to your cat’s mouth with the use of your free hand. Depending on the medicine that you’re trying to give it, you might have to take a certain amount of time doing so.
3. If you’re trying to give your cat a capsule, make sure that you drop it as far as you can without touching the tongue of your cat.
While you’re still holding the head of your cat upwards, you’ll be able to see if they’ve swallowed. To ensure that they do, gently blow on their nose which can trick them into swallowing due to natural instincts.
4. You can also ask from your veterinary compounding pharmacies if they have a device which can help you with your cat’s liquid medicine.
The most common device that you can get is a pilling device. It’s used to put the pill at the base of the tongue of your cat without having to use your hands and risking getting bit.
Administering medicine to your pets is no mission impossible. With a little help from the pros through veterinary compounding, life could be so much easier.
Veterinary compounding pharmacies are great partners of veterinarians and pet owners. At Akina Animal Health, we make sure your pet’s health is our top priority.