Avoiding medication “cat-astrophes”

While we prescribe various oral and topical flea, tick and worming medications for our feline patients, we understand that administering these products to cats at home is not always easy! Here’s how to keep home treatments for your resident feline friend low-stress.

Oral medications
Administering oral medications to cats requires gentle restraint and correct technique. Here is a video that demonstrates good techniques for giving tablets to your cat.

It can also help to:

Coat tablets in something tasty, like softened butter, which will help your cat swallow the tablet easily
Cut large tablets into quarters to administer in pieces
Hide unpalatable tablets in flavourless gelatin capsules (which can be purchased at your local pharmacy)
Hide tablets (either whole or crushed if the particular tablet is suitable – check with our team about this first) in a small amount of tasty food, administered to your cat when they’re hungry
Topical medications
Most topical flea products are designed to be easily administered to the skin at the back of your cat’s neck/scruff area, where they can’t lick it off. Some cats, however, can resent the feeling of the liquid and become uncooperative. It can really help to perform a gentle towel wrap restraint of your cat if they’re wriggly for this, as demonstrated in this video. Remember to have a treat ready for them afterwards, for a positive reward.

Occasionally, cats may suffer irritation or contact allergy reactions to certain products. If your pet seems very irritated by a particular product (seeming agitated, trying to lick or scratch at the spot for a long time after application, or developing a red skin patch in that area), please seek veterinary advice, and ask us about alternative products to try.

And don’t forget, if you’re really struggling to administer routine treatments to your cat, you can always have a chat with our friendly team. Depending on the particular treatment, we may be able to recommend an easier alternative product. Otherwise, our experienced nurses and vets are always happy to provide hands-on help medicate your cat in the clinic.