My cat is sick

Hello, Pose 123. I am very sorry to hear about your beloved pet Rusty. I thought I would respond to hopefully answer some of your question. I currently work as a Licensed Veterinary Medical Technican in a very busy mixed animal practice in South Western Pennsylvania. Sounds like you have alot on your hands with this little guy. I hope you have found out a way to get the pills into him without stressing him too much. I found that wrapping a patient snug in a bath towel like a burrito helps keep them calm, protect you from their claws and makes giving pills easier. They also make "pill pushers" that help giving pill alot easier and keeps your fingers away from their mouth. Also check with your vet to see if there are any forms of Prednison you can give.... like liquid form or a transdermal injector that absorbes through the skin. We see alot of dogs and cats diagnosed with diabetes every year. All of them after having their blood sugars or glucose levels regulated seem to live content, happy lives. The insulin that we currently give to our diabetic cats is Vetsulin. It is specific for use in cats. Insulin shots should be given TWICE DAILY at the SAME TIME EVERY DAY to properly regulate blood glucose levels. They should also be on special diet of canned or dry food specific for diabetic animals. We feed Hills Science Diet W/D canned and dry. Also patients just starting insulin should have their blood sugar levels checked atleat ONCE WEEKLY for the first few weeks until the patient is regulated. Then atleast ONCE MONTHLY after that. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Pose I am so sorry that your poor Cat is in a bad way like that It is not easy to give Cats Pills with a Dog you just wrap in the Meat and give to them I used to crush the Pills in the Cats Food, I just used to put a bit of Food down with the Pill crushed and when she ate that I would give her some more Food I hope he will be ok on this the poor Baby and I am so sorry I know it is not good when our Pets are sick I will keep him in my Thoughts and please keep us informed how he is doing

Maybe you can cut the pill into pieces and put it on his food. Cats hate to take pills and is going to be very difficult to do this everyday. I have a 14 year old cat ,but he appears to be okay so far. I can understand how you will because I love my cat very much too.

I'm so sorry Pose... but I am sure with the combination of meds and TLC Rusty will bounce back in no time! My cats ailments lie in the area of his ears. At 6 years old he has had to have 2 surgeries and is prone to ear infections. No amount of money is too much to make sure he is taken care of though, thats the expectation I had before adopting any of my pets. I am fortunate, Tobi takes his pills very well. I just hold him firmly and gently, and coo gently to him to calm him down if he gets fidgety. He seems to like it when I talk to him constantly through the process and encourage his good behavior. Getting frustrated and manhandling him just makes the whole ordeal needlessly traumatic. I have heard alot of tricks to help get the pill down but at the end of the day it will come down to practice. Tobi knows I will not let him go untill he swallows, so he has come to just kind of accept it so he can get it over with as fast as possible.

Sorry to hear about your precious pet. One needs to realise that an animal cannot tell you it's in pain or uncomfortable, so yes keep an eye open for panting and restlessness too. To give a cat a pill you need a good lesson at martial arts really! lol But no.. simply get someone to hold the cat still and force his mouth open (good luck) and push the pill right down THE SIDE OF HIS MOUTH...BETWEEN HIS TONGUE AND TEETH. push it as far to the back of the mouth as possible. A cat that age has already had a good life really, and as hard as it may seem (big mouth here!) (but I have learnt to accept)it may well be kinder to let her go peacefully, instead of suffering longer than necessary.

Don't worry about the cost ... if you love your pet enough, the money means nothing. We spent over $15k (x-rays, blood tests, and lots more tests). He had some rare disease that has never been treated successfully before. I foudn some information on the internet, talked to the vet about it (luckily for us, our vet really cared about animals) and now he is all better and doesn't have to take medication anymore! When he got sick, he was taking prednisolone (twice a day), I used to turn him upside down on my lap. He got used to this 'tradition' and everytime I did it, he knew he was getting the tablet. Once he is lying down on my lap facing me, I will then tell him what a good boy he is, slip a finger between his lips, drop a pill in with my other hand (make sure you drop it in really deep, not in the front of the mouth but at the back). Sometimes when he was being particularly difficult, I had to drop it in and hold his mouth shut until he swallowed it. What I foudn was once I have tried a couple of times, the pill was too wet to use again (hard to drop something that sticks to your fingers!), so I would have to give him a fresh one. With the injection, (I have been giving my Sister inlaw's cat his daily injection (twice a day). What we do is feed him and while he is eating, inject him then. Now he is so used to it, he doesn't even flinch. Don't worry, they get used to it and don't think that you are hurting them. In fact, my oldest cat, used to call me whenever I forget to give him his pill!

I truly feel for you. My daughter and I bought a red poodle we named him Rusty. Rusty lived a very good life, we loved him dearly and he got the best. My daughter made sure Rusty had the best. He was about 17 years old. When we knew Rusty was failing we were told he also had bad diabetes. We did all we could too and finally we had to do what the vet said was the best but the worst for us. Having Rusty put down was the hardest trip I have ever had to make to the animal hospital, but he was creanated and sent to the animal cemetary. It's no eazy walk in the park and I'm sorry to know you're faced with this dilemma. Blessings my friend.

i am sorry to hear about your feline friend do u want my opinion as hard as it may be to accept maybe its time to let him go he is going to need alot of meds and he eventually is going to die if he cant breathe the kindest thing u can do is have him euthanized he may be suffering and it hurts him to keep on going i understand your dilemna i have 6 of my own and 2 of them are 18 yrs old thank god they are healthy but if i thought for 1 minute that they were suffering i would have them put down it is a terrible thing but if it was u in all of this agony what would u want obviously he has given u alot of good years think about his best interests if he seems to be ok i guess i would give him the best i could for however long he will be here but if he gets to the point where u can tell hes suffering he may thank u for doing the right thing it is all up to u on whatever u decide he is your baby and u live with him so u know what hes going thru make a decision on whats best for him i know u would keep him 4 ever but theres a time when u need to do whats best good luck in your resolution for this baby i will have him in my thoughts and will be praying that he is not in pain and that god will take care of him when the time comes your heart will tell u what to do

Hi Pose123! Oh poor Rusty but he is lucky to have you! I hope he gets better. Yes, I do think that its medication will be expensive but I think Rusty is worth it. I just hope Rusty will do get better. Just my thoughts. Take care always and have a nice day! :)

Ow poor kitty :( that sounds awful, I just had to put a cat down she was old too, I don't know how old as she came to us as a stray. It was heart breaking but the alternative was not workable for us. Maybe just maybe it's time to let that kitty go? sounds to me that it will cost a lot of money to keep that cat healthy at this point, and it probably does not have much left in him, I know you love him but is it really worth it? if you can manage it would be great to help him but if you can't don;t break the bank for a cat that probably only has a year or two left. Good Luck with your kitty I hope he feels better soon. Oh and I hope I didn't come off too negative? I certainly didn't mean to be as I love cats very deeply in my soul.

I had never knew cats can life 13 years,your cat is really formidable!

I'm so sorry to hear that you had to put Rusty to sleep. It is tough to see your beloved pet in pain. It sounds like he had a good life and again I'm sorry for your loss. Jen

It sounds like Rusty is a beloved pet and part of the family. It really stinks that he is so sick. My cat has asthma and I take him into the vet for his meds that help him with his asthma. I also had to turn him into an indoor cat because whatever he gets into when he goes outside causes his asthma to act up. But he's very happy. Our pets are like little people and they are going to need special care especially when they are older. I applaude you for not putting your baby to sleep just because it is expensive to take care of him now that he has gotten older. As far as giving him his meds when I give my kitty his med I put it in a piece of cheese and he usually gobbles it down. Sometimes we have to do it more than once but can get him to take it. Our vet also has a pill popper that you stick towards the back of your kitty's mouth and you pop it in and you have to hold their mouth shut until they swallow. It usually takes myself and my hubby to do it that way. So I hope this helps those are the only two ways that work for us. Take care and just keep on loving your baby!