Here are some handy tips on how to give your cat oral medication - making life easier for you and your cat.
STEP 1 - Carefully wrap your cat in a towel, making sure that the legs are secure. When cats are swaddled like this, they feel more secure and wriggle less.
HELPFUL HINT - if you warm the towel up a little bit (a few seconds in the microwave works), cats feel even more secure and comfy.
STEP 2 - Hold your cat securely into your body. Like using the towel above, when a cat feels secured by your body, they are less likely to resist your handling.
STEP 3 - Hold your cat's head up slightly, gently put the tip of the syringe into the corner of the mouth, then press the plunger. If a cat's head is more vertical, it is harder for them to clamp their jaws shut. Introduce the tip of the syringe where the lips meet right at the back of the mouth - this makes it more secure. Dribble a small amount of the liquid at a time so you don't overwhelm your cat's swallowing reflex...a little bit at a time works better then all at once.
STEP 4 - Give your cat a little kiss on the top of its head....it will make them and you feel better!
STEP 5 - Give your cat something yummy as a reward. Despite what most people think, cats can be trained. If you offer a treat after every time you medicate your cat (be it liquid, tablets, or spot-ons), it is like getting the jelly bean at the doctors. It needs to be ready to give straight away, and even if they don't eat it straight away, they will recognise the offering, and over time come to expect it.