Speaking of the cat

Have you ever used a compounding pharmacy to get your medications in alternative forms?

I inherited from my mom an aversion to swallowing pills. I got over it years and years ago (probably taking a daily birth control pill helped.) But my mom still actually has a hard time taking pills.

I'll have to suggest to her using a compounding pharmacy. I discovered this because all of the comical and painful things you read about trying to pill a cat are true. Especially my cat. As my cat ages I have had to give her medications more often, so we have explored various alternate methods of delivering the dose.

You can get medication in capsules that you open and mix the contents into their food. They can suspend the medication in liquid. You then use a syringe-like device to shoot the liquid down the cat's throat. Mixing in food is of course the least traumatic to the cat, but if the medication has an odor or taste, cats can get finicky...and you're never really sure they got their full dose. Humans, on the other hand, can control that a little better.

Shooting the liquid down the throat can work OK, but if the liquid is even the least bit thick or gooey, cats have a magic ability to yack it back up. It's not pretty. Imagine me trying to push gooey drool back into my cat's mouth. Not a bonding experience.

So, after suffering through this latest gooey-drool situation, I asked if there wasn't yet another alternative. And that's when I learned about trans-dermal application of medication. Instead of a liquid I get a cream, and I rub just .1 ml of cream on the inside tip of my cat's ears. Apparently it soaks through right into their blood stream.

It was a much nicer experience rubbing my cat's ear for a minute.

And I think my mom could handle rubbing cream in her ear too!

Comments

[Marianne]

hi, how do you clean off the transdermal cream? it builds up after a few days, but my cat can't stand for me to clean his ear flaps every day...

[Elisa Camahort]

Hi Marianne: Maybe you're putting too much on? The amounts I was putting on my cat's ears did not create build-up like that. It seemed to soak in and be absorbed pretty completely.

[Tips on cat care information]

This includes cleansers, dish soap, laundry detergent, dryer sheets, antifreeze, plants, etc. Keep all poisonous items out of reach, either in a locked cabinet or in an area your pet is not allowed, such as the garage or the basement. If you have a plant that is poisonous to your pet, consider getting something else instead. Even if it’ s up high your cat can still get to it if he’ s determined enough. For a list of poisonous plants, click here.