Married to the Empire

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Calvin-3, Mom & Dad-0

Calvin goes to the vet in about 30 minutes for his annual exam. He's also due for his rabies shot (every 3 years), but he reacts to it. Because of that, we have to give him benadryl before his appointment.

Ruf woke me out of a sound sleep to drug the cat. In the past we've simply shot some liquid children's benadryl down his throat. I bought some last night, we shot it in him, he foamed at the mouth (this is typical), and then... he threw up. Dang.

I had Ruf split a benadryl pill, which we then tried to pop down his throat with the pill popper. He squirmed like crazy and managed to spit the pill into a puddle of water next to the water dish. I retrieved the now-soggy pill, put it back in the popper, and tried again unsuccessfully.

Ruf had to leave for work at that point, so I was on my own. I opened a can of tuna, which had both cats in the kitchen screaming for their share. I hid a fresh pill in Calvin's tuna. He ate around it. I wrapped tuna around it, took the cat and the tuna ball into the bathroom, and proceeded to force feed tuna to my tuna-obsessed cat. (That's something I never expected ever to have to do!)

And you know what? He still didn't get that danged pill down! I've now cleaned foamy cat spit off the counters, vomit off the floor, and flung tuna from all around the bathroom. And not a single bit of benadryl is in the cat.

The winner:



At least we don't have carrier battles with this one!

Update: Calvin's reminder postcard said he's due for rabies this time, but when I arrived at the vet's office with him, I was told he's not due until next year. So, we spent a stressful morning trying to drug the cat for nothing. Figures.

8 comments:

girlemerson said...

I'm sorry because I'm sitting here laughing!

AnneK said...

So what are you going to do now? They can be obstinate, huh?

Anonymous said...

He looks mad in that photo!!

Cathy VanPatten said...

Oh my! I know that look! He is NOT amused!

You should check with your vet to see if they have a compounded version of Benadryl for kitties. Then you can just massage it as a lotion into one of his ears.

Shelly has to take daily meds for her heart murmur, but she is just as reCALcitrant as Calvin. Thank goodness the compounded medicine is available, or there would be no way we could get her to take her medicine.

Anne Marie@Married to the Empire said...

Cathy, that's a good idea! I've done that ear thing with a friend's cat before, and that would certainly make life with Calvin easier. Especially as I was informed that due to many cats getting tumors and cancer at their injection sites, they're now switching from the 3-year rabies back to the 1-year rabies shot. I'm shuddering just thinking about going back to drugging him annually in preparation!

Cathy VanPatten said...

Oh gosh--I haven't heard about the problems with the 3-year shot. Darn. But Shelly's pretty good with shots. It's going to the vet in general that she loathes. She is not a good patient, to say the least!

Anne Marie@Married to the Empire said...

I don't know if all vets are switching, or if it's just my vet. I just know that I'm not looking forward to him having to have his rabies shot every year again!

Oh, and that was the first that I'd heard about the tumors and cancer, too. Bummer, huh?

Ann said...

This is absolutely hilarious!! The line, "Ruf woke me out of a sound sleep to drug the cat" cracks me up! Sorry you had such a tough time for nothing heehee!