If you own a cat, you already know how hard it is to get the little beggar to do anything he or she doesn’t want to, and that includes taking medicine! Pills and capsules are a particular problem – it’s almost impossible to get a cat to swallow a pill, so your only option is to crush it to powder and hide it in the cat’s food. Cats have a good sense of smell, so you may have to hide it in a stinky treat, like salmon, for example.

If your cat is too smart for you, you could try getting your vet to prepare the medicine in a liquid form that the cat can’t detect. Never forget that you can never count on a cat getting hungry – most cats have several houses in the street to ’stock up on’ if the main home food dispensary starts playing up! Why only the other day, Woohoo brought home this fine cat – how could I possibly not feed him too?!

I’m against the use of plastic tubes to force the medicine down your cat’s throat. You can traumatize the little fella if you do this – he almost certainly won’t want to be your friend for days afterwards! No matter how sophisticated the tube (and some have ‘launch mechanisms’ etc), your cat will struggle, and this won’t be fun.

In an absolute emergency (for example, when you know your cat has eaten something poisonous, and there is no time to call the vet) there is one guaranteed technique that could save your cat’s life. I repeat, NEVER use this technique except in dire emergencies. Pick your cat up by the scruff of the neck and angle the cat’s head backwards making his mouth face upwards. This is how mummy cats pick up kittens, and they have a reflex to temporary immobility in this position. You can then drop the medication straight down the cat’s throat. The cat’s usual reaction will be to swallow, although watch out for the cat breathing in – you don’t want to pour it down his airways! Once swallowed, you can gently let the cat down. Remember to give her lots of strokes and treats after this kind of thing, because it is kind of traumatic for the cat (and the owner!).

If you have enjoyed this article, why not sign up for http://www.petmillions.com ? You can support your favorite cat charity, and get a chance to win a million! You can even vote for Woohoo while you are there! vote for Woohoo! . Just enter his pet id (3151) and away you go! Ta! Jules.

Mr Henderson is the owner of several animals including Woohoo, a tabby cat with a real hatred of medicine! Woohoo is entered in the http://www.petmillions.com contest – please vote for him!

Frontline is a line of products for the treatment and prevention of fleas and control of ticks on pets – mostly dogs and cats. It is manufactured by Merial – a large animal health company. There the are following products:

* Frontline Plus
* Frontline Topspot
* Frontline Spray

It is a liquid that is applied monthly to an animal’s back to protect pets from fleas and ticks. Once Frontline is applied, it is absorbed into the animal’s skin. The insecticide, Fipronil is then secreted in the animal’s hair follicle, and dissolves in the natural skin and hair oils that cover the fur. Frontline is the #1 selling flea and tick medicine for dogs and cats in the world

A method of protecting your whole property – Damminix – may also be cited in this category. It consists of biodegradable cardboard tubes stuffed with permethrin-treated cotton and works in the following way: Mice collect the cotton for lining their nests. The pesticide on the cotton kills any immature ticks that are feeding on the mice. It is important to put the tubes where mice will find them, such as in dense, dark brush or at the base of a log; mice are unlikely to gather the cotton from an open lawn. Best results are obtained with regular applications early in the spring and again in late summer.The more neighbors who also use Damminix, the better. Damminix appears to help control tick populations, particularly in the year following initial use.

source : wikipedia.org

Flea and tick treatments can be a cheaper way to rid Spot and Fluffy of insects, but dog and cat owners should beware of self-medicating their pets.
Owners should contact their veterinarian before giving any drugs to their pets, and they should read any packaging thoroughly. Just as a parent would not give medicine to a child without reading the label, pet owners should seek the correct advice for treating their animals.It’s important to get the right guidance. You can certainly get things cheaper.

Last fall, at the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s insistence, Hartz Mountain Corp. agreed to cancel uses of several flea and tick products that may be associated with a range of adverse reactions, including hair loss, salivation, tremors, and numerous deaths in cats and kittens, according to the EPA’s Web site.
For the past eight years, Geisert said she has relied on Front Line brand products, which should be applied with a doctor’s supervision. “The cats metabolic system is quite different from dogs,” said Geisert. “People don’t have that knowledge base.”
As with humans, any drugs should be given to animals only with medical guidance, said Amy Shroff, chief of staff and emergency and critical care department head at Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center of New England in Waltham.
“Anybody can buy any medicine and put it on any animal,” said Schroff. “Cats and dogs metabolize drugs differently.”
Ashland cats Oreo and Jaguar fell ill this week after their owner Amy Lenar applied Bio Spot brand medication to them to treat fleas. Lenar’s third cat Kiwi, which also received the medicine, was shot and killed by an Ashland Police officer after the town’s animal control officer feared it was infected with rabies.