How to worm a cat...

cailleach an airgid

Does anyone have any tips? My kitten is with me just a month. The vet did her first worm tablet in five seconds flat with little to no hassle. I just did it for the first time and it was a twenty minute battle that has left us both traumatised and covered in butter, her very upset with me and me feeling like Judas (despite being a responsible cat owner who cares for her health).

Any ANY tips? I have to worm her at five and six months and then it's down to every three months. This cannot be something we have to go through four times a year!! Poor Pangur-and poor me if I'm honest!!

boomerang

http://www.icatcare.org/advice-centre/cat-care/how-give-your-cat-tablet

Noxin

I found the easiest way was to sit on the floor with kitty on lap butt towards your stomach.
Pill in right hand, left hand under chin(?) on neck. Use thumb and forefinger and gently press into the corner of kittys mouth.
The mouth will open. Get the pill in as far back as you can go, close the mouth gently but firmly and hold it.
Lift head slightly and rub the neck up and down for a minute or so.

Worked every time for me. You might feel like you are hurting the kitty by holding it's mouth shut but you won't as long as you are not squeezing tightly.

Hope this helps.

anniehoo

Spot ons are your friend:

Revolution (active ingredient Selamectin) or Advocate (imidacloprid & moxidectin) are suitable for both external and internal parasites, with Revolution being suitable for younger kittens 6weeks + and also kill flea eggs, which Adovcate doesn't, but both are fine.

You simply squeeze one of the small capsules onto their skin between their shoulder blades and let it absorb. No messing with tablets and the drama that goes with them.

thegreatgonzo

I had a cat who hated the tablets so I used to wrap him in a towel before I sat him on my lap. I still got the dirty looks but it was over much more quickly.

boomerang

Revolution (selamectin) in Ireland = Stronghold.

Thing is, neither Stronghold or Advocate will treat tapeworms.

OP You could try Parazole in some yummy, very pongy food (tuna, sardines, sachet food) when your kitten is extra hungry. It's really bland. And it also treats the common tapeworms save for Dipylidium caninum (the one associated with fleas.)

SpaceTime

It depends how vicious your cat is to be quite honest.

If you've a very tame, friendly cat that will let you handle his/her mouth, you can drop a tablet on the back of their tongue (doing the manoeuvre described above)

If you've a vicious cat, you might want to slip it into a small piece of chicken or fish and sneak it in that way.

srsly78

As suggested by others: just hide the tablet in their food, break it in half if needed. Keep a close eye on them to make sure they eat it.

anniehoo

boomerang wrote: »

Revolution (selamectin) in Ireland = Stronghold.

Thing is, neither Stronghold or Advocate will treat tapeworms.

Yeah true, but I only treat once a year for tapeworm anyway as they're not really pathogenic (harmful to the cat) or zoonotic (harmful to humans). Plus tapeworm in younger animals is rare. Ascarids are their main problem so once a year dose of Praziquantel/Drontal tab crushed in chicken is grand for tapeworms.You can get a spot on too( Profender) but not sure if it's in Ireland.

SillyMangoX

Also for extreme cases, don't forget the humble pill popper. A life saver for less co operative cats in the vets and relatively cheap! But if you can get it in through food I would go that way first. We cover tablets in soft cheese, peach and dude will eat it straight from my hand but cream is a little harder so my mam holds him and I just open his mouth and drop it at the back of his tongue, hold his mouth shut and rub his throat till I feel him swallow!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002ZJ8GLE/ref=pd_aw_sims_1?pi=SL500_SS115

inocybe

If your cat hunts it will get tapeworm from rodents though. I find if I forget to worm at 3 months the eggs begin to appear within weeks. I've also used Profender and it didn't work for tapeworm in my cats, so i went back to pills. You may as well practice pilling for the day when you have to give antibiotics or other meds. Milbemax is a tiny pill and is easiest to get down.

Zapperzy

boomerang wrote: »

OP You could try Parazole in some yummy, very pongy food (tuna, sardines, sachet food) when your kitten is extra hungry. It's really bland. And it also treats the common tapeworms save for Dipylidium caninum (the one associated with fleas.)

Off topic but can you send me a link for that? Didn't know that about parazole and can't find any information listing that anywhere

boomerang

anniehoo wrote: »

Yeah true, but I only treat once a year for tapeworm anyway as they're not really pathogenic (harmful to the cat) or zoonotic (harmful to humans).

Agree they're not pathogenic, in my own experience, but at the same time I'd rather be spared the sight of a proglottid segment exiting their butt... As happened in a young feral tom cat we trapped and neutered tonight. :eek:

In college though we were given a very long and alarming list of problems associated with tapeworm infection in cats and dogs. Must see if I can dig it out of the dusty heap of notes!

ETA: Found it!

Mineral imbalances, abnormal thyroid function, intestinal gas, blood sugar imbalances, dizziness, poor digestion, weight changes, symptoms of pernicious
anaemia.

boomerang

Zapperzy wrote: »

Off topic but can you send me a link for that? Didn't know that about parazole and can't find any information listing that anywhere

Can't remember where I learned that orginally Zapperzy, but it stuck in the mind, because we use fenbendazole to worm our ferals!

Do a google search for fenbendazole + Dipylidium caninum

Irish Stones

Noxin's tip is one of the best methods so far, I do that way with a cat of mine who is a little tiger when it comes to medicines
The other thing I used with success is the pill gun, a kind of syringe that help you put the pill as far as possible in the cat's mouth in less than two seconds and without stress for both of you.

Nody

Irish Stones wrote: »

Noxin's tip is one of the best methods so far, I do that way with a cat of mine who is a little tiger when it comes to medicines
The other thing I used with success is the pill gun, a kind of syringe that help you put the pill as far as possible in the cat's mouth in less than two seconds and without stress for both of you.

We had to go this route with a cat who utterly refused pills in anything using a cut off syringe trying to feed it. If you want to go down this route I'd recommend something like this combined with soft cheese (or other soft stuff) before and after the pill.

rannerap

I wait until they are quite hungry, then I crush up the tablet and mix it with a small amount of pouch food. Something strong smelling like tuna. They eat it no problem then!

cailleach an airgid

Thanks a million for all the help - I had to collect the vaccine record from the vets yesterday, and just picked up a worm tablet while I was there. My cat is generally very tame and calm, but just really didn't like being held and having her month opened and a tablet in butter put in! I think that the idea of sitting on the floor is good, as she was a bit wriggly on my knee. I also think that I will employ an extra pair of hands the next time (boyfriend is a farmer who is excellent at handling animals, so between us we should manage a tiny cat!).

I might try the added to food method next month first though - she has dry food to free feed during the day, but LOVES her little bit of wet food in the evenings - I do wonder if crushing it up in that would be an easier way, as she straight up guzzles it!

Thanks again for the help :-)

boomerang

If you think about it from the cat's perspective, it's basically force-feeding and the cat has no idea that what you're giving it is for their benefit! If you shoved something in my gob and them clamped my mouth shut until I swallowed, I'd be pretty upset too! So I always suggest the gently-gently approach first. Many cats will take a tablet voluntarily if it's wrapped in/smothered in something tasty, so leave the more adversarial methods 'til last, particularly if you haven't had much practice and can't do it quickly and smoothly!

rannerap

cailleach an airgid wrote: »

Thanks a million for all the help - I had to collect the vaccine record from the vets yesterday, and just picked up a worm tablet while I was there. My cat is generally very tame and calm, but just really didn't like being held and having her month opened and a tablet in butter put in! I think that the idea of sitting on the floor is good, as she was a bit wriggly on my knee. I also think that I will employ an extra pair of hands the next time (boyfriend is a farmer who is excellent at handling animals, so between us we should manage a tiny cat!).

I might try the added to food method next month first though - she has dry food to free feed during the day, but LOVES her little bit of wet food in the evenings - I do wonder if crushing it up in that would be an easier way, as she straight up guzzles it!

Thanks again for the help :-)

If she loves the wet food then thats the way to go! use something extra fishy to cover the scent of the tablet. Do it when shes hungry and she will have it eaten before she has a chance to notice what it was! I failed miserably getting mine to eat it the first time, but when I did that it worked a treat and I was gobsmacked!