Right, so we took my cat to the vet after she's been meowing and limping, and apparently she has a clot in her front left paw which is extremely painful, so the doctor gave us 5 syringes (er, not needle kinds) with painkiller. The vet tells us to squirt it under the cat's toungue ever 12 hours or so, but as I found out today, I have a problem: I can't get the cat to open her mouth, without me prying it open and having her hiss and try to get away. I was thinking I could wait for her to meow, but she never does when I am near her with the syringe, and I don't want to wait for her to yawn or force her mouth open again.
So what is a good way to get my cat to open her mouth?
Maybe offer a treat and when she goes to open her mouth you give her the old bait and switch? You'd have to be fast about it and your aim probably wouldn't be very good. Although I have to imagine medicine like that would get into a cat's digestive system anyway... squirt something under their tongue and they're going to swish it around their mouth.
Maybe offer a treat and when she goes to open her mouth you give her the old bait and switch? You'd have to be fast about it and your aim probably wouldn't be very good. Although I have to imagine medicine like that would get into a cat's digestive system anyway... squirt something under their tongue and they're going to swish it around their mouth.
The vet said the medicine would absorb in the mucus tissue under her toungue.
Try squeezing the cheeks gently (don't try to force the mouth open, just gradually increase the force) right at the corners of her mouth. This usually gets cats to open their mouths.
-Put one hand over your cat's eyes to make it meow and open it's mouth.
-Then, with your other hand, put your thumb and middle finger at the hinges of the cat's jaw so it can't close (Gloves are recommended since I've noticed that cat's teeth are very sharp).
-Take the hand off of the cat's eyes, and put the pills/whatever into the cats mouth and remove your hands so the cat has it's mouth closed with the medicine inside.
-Rub the cat's throat to get it to swallow
You can give the cat a bit of water too, so the pain pills will go down a bit more smoothly. And make sure you have the medicine pre-measured to save time. Also, hold your cat between your arms so it can't squirm away while all this is going on. Good luck, it won't be easy. None of my cats enjoyed this much, and if yours is like mine, you're going to have a resentful cat on your hands for the next week. Lol
EDIT: If the cat doesn't meow when you cover it's eyes, go with the 'Yourself' approach to open it's mouth.
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.” — Albert Einstein
"Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig." — Robert Heinlein
Push gently at the corners of it's mouth! Don't use too much force, you don't want to hurt the poor thing. Just use enough to get it open and put the medicine in. Also, you're gonna want to hold kitty, as 99% of the cats I've seen absolutely HATE that and will try their hardest to squirm away. But it's the easiest way I know of!
Try squeezing the cheeks gently (don't try to force the mouth open, just gradually increase the force) right at the corners of her mouth. This usually gets cats to open their mouths.
If you have someone else with you, get them to wrap the cat in a towel and have them hold it. That gets the claws out of the way. Gently push in at the corners of the cat's jaw to open her mouth and squirt the stuff in.
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Go then, there are other worlds than these. - Stephen King I want to know God's thoughts, the rest are details. - Albert Einstein
If it sleeps heavily enough and you just need to inject something, you could slowly open it while the cat is asleep, if the aforementioned strategy doesn't work.
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So what is a good way to get my cat to open her mouth?
Stick finger in mouth = Success, and pain.
The vet said the medicine would absorb in the mucus tissue under her toungue.
-Then, with your other hand, put your thumb and middle finger at the hinges of the cat's jaw so it can't close (Gloves are recommended since I've noticed that cat's teeth are very sharp).
-Take the hand off of the cat's eyes, and put the pills/whatever into the cats mouth and remove your hands so the cat has it's mouth closed with the medicine inside.
-Rub the cat's throat to get it to swallow
You can give the cat a bit of water too, so the pain pills will go down a bit more smoothly. And make sure you have the medicine pre-measured to save time. Also, hold your cat between your arms so it can't squirm away while all this is going on. Good luck, it won't be easy. None of my cats enjoyed this much, and if yours is like mine, you're going to have a resentful cat on your hands for the next week. Lol
EDIT: If the cat doesn't meow when you cover it's eyes, go with the 'Yourself' approach to open it's mouth.
You heard that, green and red.
"Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig." — Robert Heinlein
So... make it watch twilight???
/joke
Hope that helps!
I'll try that.
I want to know God's thoughts, the rest are details. - Albert Einstein
FFS, I am obviously wonderful.