How to give a pill to a cat.

                                               Bessie 


 I am looking after two kitties.  One was injured badly from a fall or a blow , maybe from a car but we don't see how, as her head is untouched.    The owner had to go to the states after postponing her trip for four days while the cat was in intensive care and an oxygen tent.  


I have never had to give pills to a cat before.  First is the awkward holding of the cat in one arm , the prying the mouth open and closing the mouth again without getting tangled up in feet , teeth and claws. Then there is the spitting out of the offending pill and the cat making a dash for it.  Of course, my arms are just short enough not to reach her under the bed so that I can begin all over again.  The second time is always accompanied with growls and hissing.  


But wait, there is another option.  You can grind up the pill and put in some water and shoot it into her mouth with a syringe.  The trick is getting just enough water for the syringe so you don't have to do it twice.    If you have to turn loose the cat will evaporate.  This worked great till my husband left on a business trip.  One to hold the cat the other to prepare the potion.


The third way is the easiest and the most cowardly.  That is to grind up the pill and put it in a special paste that you can spread on her paws.  The cat will also be annoyed with you for this so there is no way to win favor with your beast no matter what you do. 


 Today I couldn't stand the growls and hissing at me anymore so I let the cat sit in my garden for several hours as a reward for licking off her paste.  I watched her while I read and had my lunch and she just wanted to gaze a while and chase a dragon-fly... such simple desires.  I imagine the moment my back was turned though she would have made a dash somewhere.  Cats don't like to be curtailed or watched even.


 Finally she came over to me, asked for a rub down , talked her little cat speech and thanked me.  Yes, I know I am anthropomorphizing.  I  do that with the faith of an evangelist.  Great to be around a creature who can really live in the moment and not hold a grudge.  It occurs to me that cats are superior to humans.