Heart Failure & giving Meds

[lilycat]

It's amazing how well cats can manage without teeth. Two of mine have only got their canines left and Dave can still gum his way through pieces of chicken!! I don't know how he manages it bless him.

One thing I have noticed is that the food available to buy at the Vets is really expensive but none of mine like it  .

Clapton certainly sounds much happier now he's got you taking care of him     

[Mark]

He's about 8 now - he is very shy but so affectionate. He doesn't rub his face against you like other cats - he licks you instead 

He had very bad allergic dermatitis, also mouth problems so he is always having teeth out. I think he has 2 left now 

The food thing is a problem. I have tried every prescription food going and every other food I can find. He has sttled on Tesco own brand  ans whiskas senior. Also the odd foil tray of sheba terrine.

Although he is fussy, he loves defurrum and will lick it off my hand which is good news as he can't chew grass.

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[lilycat]

Thanks Mark, Clapton's weight gain sounds really good  - I know it's a real worry when they start to lose weight  .

This morning I discovered that Imogen doesn't like Marmite [but that Lily does]; Imogen did take [a bit] of the Fortekor crushed in her breakfast which was Purina Gourmet, beef flavour. I've got a cupboard full of tender chunks in this and succulent fillets in that, but looking on the bright side...with 4 other cats, if she doesn't eat it one of the others will be more than happy to oblige  . That's without the meds in of course - I have trial runs to see how much she likes a food before I medicate it.

How old is Clapton by the way? He looks a bit shy and thoroughly lovely in his photo  .   

[Mark]

You're absolutely right by the way Mark, Fortekor is prescribed for heart failure in Dogs. I read the info that came in the packet so I will be asking the vet about that when I take Imogen back in 3 weeks...though of course she'll be going back sooner if I'm not happy with how she's doing.

Although it doesn't say for heart failure in cats, I guess its the same difference. Not that Iknow about medical conditions but from what I understand, It takes the pressure off organs so I'm sure there is a good reason your vet has prescribed. Lynn would have a better idea. I think it is a relatively new medicine. One thing I would say is to persevere with it. I don't know if you saw my recent thread where I almost stopped giving it to Clapton as his appetite was almost zero. After reading advice on here, I realised it was because he was missing days here & there and it was messing his system up. Now I make sure he gets it one way or another every day (hence the waste). His appetite is enormous - he gained 6 ounces in 2 weeks recently. He sounds very much like Imogen in that he had a very bad start in life (was a stray in a very bad way) and is terrified of everything. He goes limp with fear in the vets.

I hope it works out and you can find a way to give her pills painlessly for both of you.

[lilycat]

That's a good idea...I'll have to ask if there's an injectable form; or there might be an alternative to Fortekor that's injectable. Once I've got hold of her there's no problem giving her the tablet - it's just the getting hold of her that's the problem.

The frustrating thing is that I know her condition will shorten her life considerably if I can't get her to take the flaming meds!  All I have to do is find a way to explain that to her...shouldn't be too difficult 

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions, I'll try the soft cheese, marmite and the squishy things you can hide the tablet in and see how we get on.

Imogen 1 - Me 0 [for now] 

[Millys Mum]

Does she like pilchards etc? Crushing up in something smelly goes down well at work.

Marmite is nice and sticky, if they like yeast!

Have you ever tried raw steak with her? You make a hole inside a chunk with scissors, slot the pill in and voila, if they like raw that is 

If food really wont work then i have no suggestions for manual tableting because eventually she will just stop comming near you at tablet time.    do you wash the tablet down with water? I read an interesting paper where something like 80% of dry swallow pills still havent reached the stomach after 5 minutes! 

Does anyone know if fortekor comes in an injectable form?

[swampmaxmum]

Lilycat, if you ever want a referral to a specialist, the heart guy at Davies in Hertfordshire (don't know where you are) is so kind and helpful - a Dr Wootton (hope I've spelled it right).
Good luck with little Imogen.

[lilycat]

Thanks for the 'sneaky-beaky' suggestions, I'll try a couple but to be honest, I'm not hopeful. Imogen's never been much of a one for food - she's always been a bit of a supermodel in that respect. Her weight's now down to 3.36kg and I'm a bit concerned that a lot of people have said their cats have suffered from loss of appetite on Fortekor so I'll definitly be watching out for that although she's only been on it since Monday.

You're absolutely right by the way Mark, Fortekor is prescribed for heart failure in Dogs. I read the info that came in the packet so I will be asking the vet about that when I take Imogen back in 3 weeks...though of course she'll be going back sooner if I'm not happy with how she's doing.

I feel so sorry for her - she had a terrible start in life and she gets so frightened that when she goes to the vet she just freezes in terror. In March she had to have her side shaved and then have a cardiac ultrasound and they didn't even need to sedate her, she was so frightened she just stayed where they put her. At her last check up her heart rate was 200 bpm. She only ever really relaxes in my bedroom [she's all purrs and fuss me's] and the garden.

The cat that I lost last year [Mavis] was put on Metacam [by the same vet], which is recommended for the treatment of arthritis in dogs and it improved her poor old legs [she was 16] no end.

I will try some of the suggestions - so far I've only wasted 1 tablet so I have some way to go before I catch up with Marks tally; which I have a feeling I will  

[ccmacey]

I give my cat his meds the "old fashioned way" there is no other way with him, he's a sly cat.

I hold him between my legs, hold his head back with my left and drop the tablet in with my right, making sure his head is vertical so they go down 


Sorry to hear your cat is ill 

[Tiggy's Mum]

Hi Lily cat &  to Purrs

Sorry to hear Imogen is poorly    I don't have any experience of heart failure but I do have lots of experience in giving tablets the 'sly' way!  My cat Tiggy had well over 2000 tablets during the last 4 years of her life, only twice did I have to resort to 'reasonable force'!

For the last two years when she was having 5 tablets a day my main methods were 1 & 2 below (with no 2 being less sticky!), if she were feeling off colour I had to resort to one of the other methods.  One of the tablets she had was Fortekor (for CRF not heart failure) so the tips definitely work with that shape/size of tablet.

1) Primula Cheese in a tube (Chs, Chs & Ham, Chs & Prawn but NOT chs & chive), also works with Dairylea triangles, laughing cow etc, just cut a small chunk off..  Place tablet on finger, squirt a blob of Primula on, Tiggy licked it off, tablet and all. 
2 De-furrum treats (available from places like Pets at Home, Jollyes etc) they are designed for hairballs.  When snapped in half there is a gooey mix which holds the tablet perfectly when you poke it in.  Tiggy loved these and hoovered them up.
3) Wafer thin ham (Bernard Matthews is best as is nice and moist and sticks to itself when folded over).  Wrap tablet in small parcel and hand feed, the tablet may fall out the first time so I roll up in another piece and keep going.  Wafer thin Beef or Chicken is also effective.
4) Cheddar Cheese, experiment with varieties but the moister the better. Shave of a thinnish layer and squish around the tablet.
5) Chicken breast, don't overcook, needs to be nice and moist.  Shave a thinnish layer and again squish around tablet.
6) Tuna, squeeze most of the juiceout and squish around tablet.
7) For powdered meds: Beef sandwich paste (check ingredients NO onion or garlic) mix with a little hot water to make a yummy beefy paste.

[Mark]

I have been struggling to give my cat Clapton his Fortekor for CRF for the last 6 months. If he is very hungry, he will wolf it down in the food without realising. If he can smell it at all, he won't eat the food. This has led to a lot of tablets (and food) being wasted as they dissolve really quickly. One good way is to wrap it in ham or chicken but sometimes he can smell it and then won't take it. I found the perfect thing last night -Prosciutto! as its very sticky, when you squash it around a pill, it stays stuck. It helps that its really thin too.

Its OK when I have some but its not something I buy all the time - another idea is tab pockets which are squashy treats you hide the pill in

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=17_27

I can't use them as clapton doesn't eat treats (no teeth) they work with my other cats though.

Good luck

No guarantees, I wasted 3 pills the other day 

BTW, I understood that Fortekor was for heart failure in dogs & CRF in cats?

[lilycat]

Hi!

I'm a newbie still trying to navigate my way around the site so I'm afraid I put this question on the newbie page instead of here, so here goes again...

One of my cats [Imogen] is 9 and has just been put on medication for heart failure...she has to have one Fortekor 2.5 tablet every day. My problem is that she's a nervous sort - always has been due to the person who originally adopted her, breaking her pelvis when she was a kitten - and though she took her tablet crushed in her food for the first 3 days, she then decided she didn't like it in her food and was most definitely not going to play ball anymore.

I've managed to give it to her the old fashioned way for the last couple of days but she's now avoiding me lke the plague. Does anyone have any ideas?

The tablet is meant to be palatable but she's obviously been the judge of that and thinks it's anything but  .