My Next Cat Will Be the Most-Unadoptable Ever

[sallyomally]

Give him a high value treat right after he gets his meds - something that he loves and gets only after the meds. I used to buy roasted chicken breast for Friday. It got so that he would come to tell me it was med time if I was a bit late with his meds.

The next time you're at the vets, have them shave around his anus. I used to have to do that with Sebastian, because he wouldn't clean himself properly. I had to have my sister come over to hold him while I shaved, or vice versa, because my ex husband wouldn't help. After a while, Sebastian started cleaning himself - I think he decided it was the lesser of two indignities.

My niece owns a cat with a lot of hair and a fluffy butt like Bogart. The only solution was to occasionally have the vet trim the area around his hiney while he was under light sedation(Gus is like your boy in the personality department). Good luck!

 

[jeneticallymodified]

This makes so much sense. Today went a lot easier because I forced myself into a determined, no-nonsense frame of mind. I grabbed a towel, wrapped him quickly, held him down firmly and 1-2-3 it was done! Still not happy about having to do this every day. The vet has agreed to let me try a transdermal form of the azitrhomycin. I get to start that tomorrow. He's had a good dosing of the oral so hopefully we have a jump on it and the transdermal will help keep any infection at bay.

well done! it's not for ever, remember- and it's just a few seconds of unpleasantness in an otherwise nice day.

oooh, transdermal! that'd be good!

I have a few strategies in mind. I'm trying to go over to him to pet/kiss as often as possible so that he knows that I'm not just going to torture him with medicine every time I touch him. That seems to be helping. I'm also going to administer the meds in the same way every time. Before I was trying different methods so it must have seemed like I was trying to trick him and that's why he was becoming leery of me. Now I show him the towel and the syringe and I say, 'medicine time' and get it over with quickly. That way he knows it's coming and he won't be suspicious of any other moves I make towards him. It seems to be helping. Hopefully I'm doing the right thing. And hopefully the transdermal cream will help as well. So far he has no problem with me touching his ears...I've been practicing, lol.

that's great! cats thrive on routine, and it'll really help him learn to trust you.

he is a very lucky cat.

 

[mlp]

he is a very lucky cat.

Agreed.

 

[Freesia]

it sounds like gypsy socialised herself very effectively- people had something that she wanted. that can happen with kittens around her age, especially if their momma was relatively unafraid of humans. cat sociability is much like people personality traits- part genetics, part exposure to stress hormones in the womb, part learned behaviour, part personal experience-driven.

Absolutely. I know which cat might be her father and he is really quirky and he was unafraid when I encountered him, came up to me. So I think perhaps there must be genes for sociability, her sister was also adopted by the neighbour and she is really friendly too : ) .

 

[KLS52]

Give him a high value treat right after he gets his meds - something that he loves and gets only after the meds.

I was using the transdermal creme for awhile and Bogart is responding to me much better, thank goodness! He did start to get a little worse and I was concerned because the vet said transdermal is not as effective as the oral forms of antibiotic. The transdermal also has a lower dosage. So I decided to go back to the liquid to build it back up into his system. He is being so much more cooperative! I found a treat that he likes a lot, so I show him the treat, squirt the yucky stuff into his mouth, and he doesn't even run away anymore...he waits for his treat! Of course it's only been a few days and there's nothing to say that he won't start balking again. But for now, it's pretty cool and I don't have to have "the pit", worrying about how I'm going to get the meds in him.

 

[jeneticallymodified]

I was using the transdermal creme for awhile and Bogart is responding to me much better, thank goodness! He did start to get a little worse and I was concerned because the vet said transdermal is not as effective as the oral forms of antibiotic. The transdermal also has a lower dosage. So I decided to go back to the liquid to build it back up into his system. He is being so much more cooperative! I found a treat that he likes a lot, so I show him the treat, squirt the yucky stuff into his mouth, and he doesn't even run away anymore...he waits for his treat! Of course it's only been a few days and there's nothing to say that he won't start balking again. But for now, it's pretty cool and I don't have to have "the pit", worrying about how I'm going to get the meds in him.

i think it's all coming together now. he knows the routine- so he understands that it's not getting progressively more scary to be medicated every day... he likes his treat, so you have that incentive.... you're less apprehensive about what you're doing cos it's going well, and you've got it down to a fine art, so he'll not pick up on so much background stress at med time.... you're more adept, so it's a quicker experience..... and he's feeling better, so he's less cranky... he's less edgy, cos he's settled in, and realised that this is actually quite a nice place to live.... and he's a very smart fellow- that makes a big difference.