Kenzie's first pill....

First off: thank you for all of your helpful suggestions; they are
greatly appreciated.

I got my computer working....sort of. It's very, very fussy, though, and
is not behaving itself, at ALL.

I managed to do a system restore, sort of, but because I'm not a
'computer person', I must have missed something important. But it's
running, somewhat...for now.

I picked up the tapazole; it was only about $20 for a 2 month supply;
not bad at all. Of course it was almost $40 if I would have bought it at
the Walgreens by my house. How can they charge so much? I called around;
I only had to drive about 15 miles (20km?) (round trip) to save almost
$20

The pills are pretty small; much smaller than 'normal' pills. I decided
to give her a full 5mg tablet tonight, as a 'loading' dose. It's done
with antibiotics, to get the blood levels up to their therapeutic range,
as soon as possible.

I decided to try the meat based baby food; I got ham and turkey, since
she likes them both.

Oh yes: she won't eat canned cat food. Most cats like it better than
kibble, but Kenzie won't eat it, at all

I decided to give her some as a treat first, before trying with the
pill.

Kenzie sniffed at each kind, and turned up her nose and walked away.

I'll try again, but I'm not very hopeful.

If Kenzie won't eat it, *I'M* going to: A 2.5 oz (70gram) jar costs a
dollar! That's almost $7 a pound, or over $15/kg. I could by steak for
that price. Kenzie won't eat steak, though, or any form of beef I've
ever tried to give her. A true calico cat, she is.

Then I got the bright idea of putting the pill into a piece of turkey.

I cut up some smallish sized pieces, and slit one halfway, and put the
pill inside.

Kenzie hoovered up the turkey. Until she got to the piece with the pill
in it. She bit into it, and spit out the pill, in 2 pieces. I managed to
drop the tiny piece, so I had about 3/4th of the pill left.

So I decided to try the butter method. I got a small wood stick, like a
long, narrow popsicle stick, and put some soft margarine on the end. I
buried the remainder of the pill in the margarine.

I opened Kenzie's mouth, and placed the pill as far back as I could. And
she swallowed it.

I gave her a sardine as a treat.

But this method won't work for long: Kenzie is a very, very smart cat.
She will learn quickly that if she sees that little flat wood stick,
it's going into her mouth, with a pill and some margarine

Kenzie can run VERY fast, too. Faster than I can, and she can get behind
some furniture, where I can't reach her.

I don't know what 'pill pockets' look like. But given that when I first
got Kenzie, I bought EVERY kind of cat treat in the two biggest pet
stores in the area, I doubt that she will eat them voluntarily.
Unfortunately. I'll call around and see if I can find some at a pet
store, to try out. I'll try almost anything, at this point.

This is going to be a long ride.

Also: Kenzie needs to gain some weight. I have been feeding her Nutro
Natural Choice Complete Care Weight Management.

She needs something with more calories. I was thinking about getting
some kitten kibble.

But I don't know if that's too 'rich' for her, or if the extra protein
would be hard on her kidneys.

Any and all advice will be gratefully accepted.

Thank you for all your help!

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ^..^

"Life without cats would be only marginally worth living."
-TC, and the unmercifully, relentlessly, sweet calico kitty, Kenzie.

Every day is a treasure with Kenzie; I try to treat them that way. There
will only be so many, and then there will never, ever, be any more.

How you behave towards cats here below determines your status in Heaven.
- Robert Heinlein

not sure where you are but if you are near a walmart or Sam's or Meijers,
definitely check their prices, some of our local groceries even provide
antibiotics in the generic form free of charge, and you might ask dan about
the form of meds that is put into a cream and rubbed on the inside of the
ear, good luck, Lee
"Gandalf" wrote in message
...
First off: thank you for all of your helpful suggestions; they are
greatly appreciated.

I got my computer working....sort of. It's very, very fussy, though, and
is not behaving itself, at ALL.

I managed to do a system restore, sort of, but because I'm not a
'computer person', I must have missed something important. But it's
running, somewhat...for now.

I picked up the tapazole; it was only about $20 for a 2 month supply;
not bad at all. Of course it was almost $40 if I would have bought it at
the Walgreens by my house. How can they charge so much? I called around;
I only had to drive about 15 miles (20km?) (round trip) to save almost
$20

The pills are pretty small; much smaller than 'normal' pills. I decided
to give her a full 5mg tablet tonight, as a 'loading' dose. It's done
with antibiotics, to get the blood levels up to their therapeutic range,
as soon as possible.

I decided to try the meat based baby food; I got ham and turkey, since
she likes them both.

Oh yes: she won't eat canned cat food. Most cats like it better than
kibble, but Kenzie won't eat it, at all

I decided to give her some as a treat first, before trying with the
pill.

Kenzie sniffed at each kind, and turned up her nose and walked away.

I'll try again, but I'm not very hopeful.

If Kenzie won't eat it, *I'M* going to: A 2.5 oz (70gram) jar costs a
dollar! That's almost $7 a pound, or over $15/kg. I could by steak for
that price. Kenzie won't eat steak, though, or any form of beef I've
ever tried to give her. A true calico cat, she is.

Then I got the bright idea of putting the pill into a piece of turkey.

I cut up some smallish sized pieces, and slit one halfway, and put the
pill inside.

Kenzie hoovered up the turkey. Until she got to the piece with the pill
in it. She bit into it, and spit out the pill, in 2 pieces. I managed to
drop the tiny piece, so I had about 3/4th of the pill left.

So I decided to try the butter method. I got a small wood stick, like a
long, narrow popsicle stick, and put some soft margarine on the end. I
buried the remainder of the pill in the margarine.

I opened Kenzie's mouth, and placed the pill as far back as I could. And
she swallowed it.

I gave her a sardine as a treat.

But this method won't work for long: Kenzie is a very, very smart cat.
She will learn quickly that if she sees that little flat wood stick,
it's going into her mouth, with a pill and some margarine

Kenzie can run VERY fast, too. Faster than I can, and she can get behind
some furniture, where I can't reach her.

I don't know what 'pill pockets' look like. But given that when I first
got Kenzie, I bought EVERY kind of cat treat in the two biggest pet
stores in the area, I doubt that she will eat them voluntarily.
Unfortunately. I'll call around and see if I can find some at a pet
store, to try out. I'll try almost anything, at this point.

This is going to be a long ride.

Also: Kenzie needs to gain some weight. I have been feeding her Nutro
Natural Choice Complete Care Weight Management.

She needs something with more calories. I was thinking about getting
some kitten kibble.

But I don't know if that's too 'rich' for her, or if the extra protein
would be hard on her kidneys.

Any and all advice will be gratefully accepted.

Thank you for all your help!

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ^..^

"Life without cats would be only marginally worth living."
-TC, and the unmercifully, relentlessly, sweet calico kitty, Kenzie.

Every day is a treasure with Kenzie; I try to treat them that way. There
will only be so many, and then there will never, ever, be any more.

How you behave towards cats here below determines your status in Heaven.
- Robert Heinlein

On Mar 4, 11:40*pm, (Gandalf) wrote:
First off: thank you for all of your helpful suggestions; they are
greatly appreciated.

I got my computer working....sort of. It's very, very fussy, though, and
is not behaving itself, at ALL.

I managed to do a system restore, sort of, but because I'm not a
'computer person', I must have missed something important. But it's
running, somewhat...for now.

I picked up the tapazole; it was only about $20 for a 2 month supply;
not bad at all. Of course it was almost $40 if I would have bought it at
the Walgreens by my house. How can they charge so much? I called around;
I only had to drive about 15 miles (20km?) (round trip) to save almost
$20

The pills are pretty small; much smaller than 'normal' pills. I decided
to give her a full 5mg tablet tonight, as a 'loading' dose. It's done
with antibiotics, to get the blood levels up to their therapeutic range,
as soon as possible.

I decided to try the meat based baby food; I got ham and turkey, since
she likes them both.

Oh yes: she won't eat canned cat food. Most cats like it better than
kibble, but Kenzie won't eat it, at all

I decided to give her some as a treat first, before trying with the
pill.

Kenzie sniffed at each kind, and turned up her nose and walked away.

I'll try again, but I'm not very hopeful.

If Kenzie won't eat it, *I'M* going to: A 2.5 oz (70gram) jar costs a
dollar! That's almost $7 a pound, or over $15/kg. I could by steak for
that price. Kenzie won't eat steak, though, or any form of beef I've
ever tried to give her. A true calico cat, she is.

Then I got the bright idea of putting the pill into a piece of turkey.

I cut up some smallish sized pieces, and slit one halfway, and put the
pill inside.

Kenzie hoovered up the turkey. Until she got to the piece with the pill
in it. She bit into it, and spit out the pill, in 2 pieces. I managed to
drop the tiny piece, so I had about 3/4th of the pill left.

So I decided to try the butter method. I got a small wood stick, like a
long, narrow popsicle stick, and put some soft margarine on the end. I
buried the remainder of the pill in the margarine.

I opened Kenzie's mouth, and placed the pill as far back as I could. And
she swallowed it.

I gave her a sardine as a treat.

But this method won't work for long: Kenzie is a very, very smart cat.
She will learn quickly that if she sees that little flat wood stick,
it's going into her mouth, with a pill and some margarine

Kenzie can run VERY fast, too. Faster than I can, and she can get behind
some furniture, where I can't reach her.

I don't know what 'pill pockets' look like. But given that when I first
got Kenzie, I bought EVERY kind of cat treat in the two biggest pet
stores in the area, I doubt that she will eat them voluntarily.
Unfortunately. I'll call around and see if I can find some at a pet
store, to try out. I'll try almost anything, at this point.

This is going to be a long ride.

Also: Kenzie needs to gain some weight. I have been feeding her Nutro
Natural Choice Complete Care Weight Management.

She needs something with more calories. I was thinking about getting
some kitten kibble.

But I don't know if that's too 'rich' for her, or if the extra protein
would be hard on her kidneys.

Any and all advice will be gratefully accepted.

Thank you for all your help!

~~~~~~~~~~~~ *^..^

"Life without cats would be only marginally worth living."
-TC, and the unmercifully, relentlessly, sweet calico kitty, Kenzie.

Every day is a treasure with Kenzie; I try to treat them that way. There
will only be so many, and then there will never, ever, be any more.

How you behave towards cats here below determines your status in Heaven.
- Robert Heinlein

Full dose of 5 mg, well I wouldn't recommend doing that after today.
Loading doses are primarily for antibiotics and dewormers. Thyroid
dosages are specific for a REASON and it takes a few weeks for the
levels to be affected. If you do it this one time, that should be
okay, but next dose needs to be the right dosage. Next blood test
will tell if the dosage is the right one.

5 mg tabs are pretty tiny. and if the recommended dosage is half
that, then the trick is finding the right thing to hide it in.
cheese?

Weight Management food is more for weight MAINTENANCE. What did the
vet recommend you feed her?

make sure she also has plenty of water too.

best of luck to you,

Kristi

On Mar 5, 2:40*am, (Gandalf) wrote:
snipped.....
Any and all advice will be gratefully accepted.


Here is a secret I learned from doing a lot of fostering. It should
work especially well with these small pills.

Get a jar of Cheez-Whiz - it has to be refridgerated. Take
a small blob, just big enough to wrap the pill up. Put it on
your finger, open Kenzie's mouth and scrape the cheeze blob
off on the back of her front teeth, so it sticks to the top roof of
her mouth. Most cats really like it and probably
wonder why you won't just give it to them to eat....unfortunately
then they lick the cheese off and leave the pill. This way they
usually swallow the pill because it is all wrapped up in the sticky
cheez-whiz inside their mouth.

see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheez_Whiz

Hope it works for you.

Debbie

"Gandalf" wrote in message
...
First off: thank you for all of your helpful suggestions; they are
greatly appreciated.

I got my computer working....sort of. It's very, very fussy, though, and
is not behaving itself, at ALL.

I managed to do a system restore, sort of, but because I'm not a
'computer person', I must have missed something important. But it's
running, somewhat...for now.

I picked up the tapazole; it was only about $20 for a 2 month supply;
not bad at all. Of course it was almost $40 if I would have bought it at
the Walgreens by my house. How can they charge so much? I called around;
I only had to drive about 15 miles (20km?) (round trip) to save almost
$20

The pills are pretty small; much smaller than 'normal' pills. I decided
to give her a full 5mg tablet tonight, as a 'loading' dose. It's done
with antibiotics, to get the blood levels up to their therapeutic range,
as soon as possible.

I decided to try the meat based baby food; I got ham and turkey, since
she likes them both.

Oh yes: she won't eat canned cat food. Most cats like it better than
kibble, but Kenzie won't eat it, at all

I decided to give her some as a treat first, before trying with the
pill.

Kenzie sniffed at each kind, and turned up her nose and walked away.

I'll try again, but I'm not very hopeful.

If Kenzie won't eat it, *I'M* going to: A 2.5 oz (70gram) jar costs a
dollar! That's almost $7 a pound, or over $15/kg. I could by steak for
that price. Kenzie won't eat steak, though, or any form of beef I've
ever tried to give her. A true calico cat, she is.

Then I got the bright idea of putting the pill into a piece of turkey.

I cut up some smallish sized pieces, and slit one halfway, and put the
pill inside.

Kenzie hoovered up the turkey. Until she got to the piece with the pill
in it. She bit into it, and spit out the pill, in 2 pieces. I managed to
drop the tiny piece, so I had about 3/4th of the pill left.

So I decided to try the butter method. I got a small wood stick, like a
long, narrow popsicle stick, and put some soft margarine on the end. I
buried the remainder of the pill in the margarine.

I opened Kenzie's mouth, and placed the pill as far back as I could. And
she swallowed it.

I gave her a sardine as a treat.

But this method won't work for long: Kenzie is a very, very smart cat.
She will learn quickly that if she sees that little flat wood stick,
it's going into her mouth, with a pill and some margarine

Kenzie can run VERY fast, too. Faster than I can, and she can get behind
some furniture, where I can't reach her.

I don't know what 'pill pockets' look like. But given that when I first
got Kenzie, I bought EVERY kind of cat treat in the two biggest pet
stores in the area, I doubt that she will eat them voluntarily.
Unfortunately. I'll call around and see if I can find some at a pet
store, to try out. I'll try almost anything, at this point.

This is going to be a long ride.

Also: Kenzie needs to gain some weight. I have been feeding her Nutro
Natural Choice Complete Care Weight Management.

She needs something with more calories. I was thinking about getting
some kitten kibble.

But I don't know if that's too 'rich' for her, or if the extra protein
would be hard on her kidneys.

Any and all advice will be gratefully accepted.

Thank you for all your help!

You have the same problem with pilling Kenzie that I have with pilling
Bonnie when I have to. Right now I don't. Good luck and I wish I had some
helpful info for you!!

Cheryl

"Gandalf" wrote in message
...
First off: thank you for all of your helpful suggestions; they are
greatly appreciated.

The pills are pretty small; much smaller than 'normal' pills. I decided
to give her a full 5mg tablet tonight, as a 'loading' dose. It's done
with antibiotics, to get the blood levels up to their therapeutic range,
as soon as possible.

I decided to try the meat based baby food; I got ham and turkey, since
she likes them both.

Oh yes: she won't eat canned cat food. Most cats like it better than
kibble, but Kenzie won't eat it, at all

I decided to give her some as a treat first, before trying with the
pill.

Kenzie sniffed at each kind, and turned up her nose and walked away.

I'll try again, but I'm not very hopeful.

If Kenzie won't eat it, *I'M* going to: A 2.5 oz (70gram) jar costs a
dollar! That's almost $7 a pound, or over $15/kg. I could by steak for
that price. Kenzie won't eat steak, though, or any form of beef I've
ever tried to give her. A true calico cat, she is.

Then I got the bright idea of putting the pill into a piece of turkey.

I cut up some smallish sized pieces, and slit one halfway, and put the
pill inside.

Kenzie hoovered up the turkey. Until she got to the piece with the pill
in it. She bit into it, and spit out the pill, in 2 pieces. I managed to
drop the tiny piece, so I had about 3/4th of the pill left.

So I decided to try the butter method. I got a small wood stick, like a
long, narrow popsicle stick, and put some soft margarine on the end. I
buried the remainder of the pill in the margarine.

I opened Kenzie's mouth, and placed the pill as far back as I could. And
she swallowed it.

Honey, you've got to take the bull by the horns. Or the cat by the head, as
it were. No cat likes being pilled. And yes, they discover quickly there's
a pill in the tasty treat you're offering them. You have to remember, they
have much more sensitive noses than we do. But you can do it

What I did when I had to pill Persia was get her to come over for some
scritches on my lap. When she was all purring and loving it I put my arm
around her body to hold her against me. (Yes, they'll struggle. Remember
who is bigger and that it's for their own good.) I hate to use the word
"pried" but that's what I did, I pried her mouth open with my right hand and
popped a pill in, back in her throat. Then I held her jaws closed and
gently blew on her nose. (Blowing on their nose causes them to swallow,
it's a reflex.) She swallowed the pill and I let her go. She ran off, very
indignant, but I gave her a treat of gooshy food and praised her highly.
She never did like being pilled. But she didn't put up too much of a
struggle after that when she figured out "okay, I just have to swallow this
thing and I get a treat" VBG

Jill

On Mar 5, 1:40*am, (Gandalf) wrote:
First off: thank you for all of your helpful suggestions; they are
greatly appreciated.

I got my computer working....sort of. It's very, very fussy, though, and
is not behaving itself, at ALL.

I managed to do a system restore, sort of, but because I'm not a
'computer person', I must have missed something important. But it's
running, somewhat...for now.

I picked up the tapazole; it was only about $20 for a 2 month supply;
not bad at all. Of course it was almost $40 if I would have bought it at
the Walgreens by my house. How can they charge so much? I called around;
I only had to drive about 15 miles (20km?) (round trip) to save almost
$20

The pills are pretty small; much smaller than 'normal' pills. I decided
to give her a full 5mg tablet tonight, as a 'loading' dose. It's done
with antibiotics, to get the blood levels up to their therapeutic range,
as soon as possible.

I decided to try the meat based baby food; I got ham and turkey, since
she likes them both.

Oh yes: she won't eat canned cat food. Most cats like it better than
kibble, but Kenzie won't eat it, at all

I decided to give her some as a treat first, before trying with the
pill.

Kenzie sniffed at each kind, and turned up her nose and walked away.

I'll try again, but I'm not very hopeful.

If Kenzie won't eat it, *I'M* going to: A 2.5 oz (70gram) jar costs a
dollar! That's almost $7 a pound, or over $15/kg. I could by steak for
that price. Kenzie won't eat steak, though, or any form of beef I've
ever tried to give her. A true calico cat, she is.

Then I got the bright idea of putting the pill into a piece of turkey.

I cut up some smallish sized pieces, and slit one halfway, and put the
pill inside.

Kenzie hoovered up the turkey. Until she got to the piece with the pill
in it. She bit into it, and spit out the pill, in 2 pieces. I managed to
drop the tiny piece, so I had about 3/4th of the pill left.

So I decided to try the butter method. I got a small wood stick, like a
long, narrow popsicle stick, and put some soft margarine on the end. I
buried the remainder of the pill in the margarine.

I opened Kenzie's mouth, and placed the pill as far back as I could. And
she swallowed it.

I gave her a sardine as a treat.

But this method won't work for long: Kenzie is a very, very smart cat.
She will learn quickly that if she sees that little flat wood stick,
it's going into her mouth, with a pill and some margarine

Kenzie can run VERY fast, too. Faster than I can, and she can get behind
some furniture, where I can't reach her.

I don't know what 'pill pockets' look like. But given that when I first
got Kenzie, I bought EVERY kind of cat treat in the two biggest pet
stores in the area, I doubt that she will eat them voluntarily.
Unfortunately. I'll call around and see if I can find some at a pet
store, to try out. I'll try almost anything, at this point.

This is going to be a long ride.

Also: Kenzie needs to gain some weight. I have been feeding her Nutro
Natural Choice Complete Care Weight Management.

She needs something with more calories. I was thinking about getting
some kitten kibble.

But I don't know if that's too 'rich' for her, or if the extra protein
would be hard on her kidneys.

Any and all advice will be gratefully accepted.

Thank you for all your help!

~~~~~~~~~~~~ *^..^

"Life without cats would be only marginally worth living."
-TC, and the unmercifully, relentlessly, sweet calico kitty, Kenzie.

Every day is a treasure with Kenzie; I try to treat them that way. There
will only be so many, and then there will never, ever, be any more.

How you behave towards cats here below determines your status in Heaven.
- Robert Heinlein

Cats are so smart about trying to sneak them medication. You may have
to pill her
the regular way -- just pry open her mouth and push the pill to the
back of the throat.
In theory, this sounds doable. It just all depends on Kenzie. Yoda is
difficult to pill. He
will clamp down on your finger, and not let up; so I have to use a
"piller", a contraption
that looks like a big syringe with a place to insert the pill. /They
are awkward, and I don't
like using them, but it's the only way with him. He's also a master at
harking the pill
back up, no matter how far back in his throat I think I've gotten it.
I'll think he's swallowed
it and find it stuck to his ruff later.
I think it helps a little to grease the pill with butter if you can,
to make it slide down easier. ;-)
Bosley is even worse, he gets very aggressive toward me, but the other
three are fairly
easy to pill. Good luck!

Sherry

"Gandalf" wrote in message
...
First off: thank you for all of your helpful suggestions; they are
greatly appreciated.

I got my computer working....sort of. It's very, very fussy, though,
and
is not behaving itself, at ALL.

I managed to do a system restore, sort of, but because I'm not a
'computer person', I must have missed something important. But it's
running, somewhat...for now.

I picked up the tapazole; it was only about $20 for a 2 month
supply;
not bad at all. Of course it was almost $40 if I would have bought
it at
the Walgreens by my house. How can they charge so much? I called
around;
I only had to drive about 15 miles (20km?) (round trip) to save
almost
$20

The pills are pretty small; much smaller than 'normal' pills. I
decided
to give her a full 5mg tablet tonight, as a 'loading' dose. It's
done
with antibiotics, to get the blood levels up to their therapeutic
range,
as soon as possible.

I decided to try the meat based baby food; I got ham and turkey,
since
she likes them both.

Oh yes: she won't eat canned cat food. Most cats like it better than
kibble, but Kenzie won't eat it, at all

I decided to give her some as a treat first, before trying with the
pill.

Kenzie sniffed at each kind, and turned up her nose and walked away.

I'll try again, but I'm not very hopeful.

If Kenzie won't eat it, *I'M* going to: A 2.5 oz (70gram) jar costs
a
dollar! That's almost $7 a pound, or over $15/kg. I could by steak
for
that price. Kenzie won't eat steak, though, or any form of beef I've
ever tried to give her. A true calico cat, she is.

Then I got the bright idea of putting the pill into a piece of
turkey.

I cut up some smallish sized pieces, and slit one halfway, and put
the
pill inside.

Kenzie hoovered up the turkey. Until she got to the piece with the
pill
in it. She bit into it, and spit out the pill, in 2 pieces. I
managed to
drop the tiny piece, so I had about 3/4th of the pill left.

So I decided to try the butter method. I got a small wood stick,
like a
long, narrow popsicle stick, and put some soft margarine on the end.
I
buried the remainder of the pill in the margarine.

I opened Kenzie's mouth, and placed the pill as far back as I could.
And
she swallowed it.

I gave her a sardine as a treat.

But this method won't work for long: Kenzie is a very, very smart
cat.
She will learn quickly that if she sees that little flat wood stick,
it's going into her mouth, with a pill and some margarine

Kenzie can run VERY fast, too. Faster than I can, and she can get
behind
some furniture, where I can't reach her.

I don't know what 'pill pockets' look like. But given that when I
first
got Kenzie, I bought EVERY kind of cat treat in the two biggest pet
stores in the area, I doubt that she will eat them voluntarily.
Unfortunately. I'll call around and see if I can find some at a pet
store, to try out. I'll try almost anything, at this point.

This is going to be a long ride.

Also: Kenzie needs to gain some weight. I have been feeding her
Nutro
Natural Choice Complete Care Weight Management.

She needs something with more calories. I was thinking about getting
some kitten kibble.

But I don't know if that's too 'rich' for her, or if the extra
protein
would be hard on her kidneys.

Any and all advice will be gratefully accepted.

Thank you for all your help!


I'd go from the weight management to the regular, but not all the way
to kitten food. She doesn't need that much calcium. That way she
would be getting more calories from fat and less from protein,

Jo

"Gandalf" wrote in message
...




Also: Kenzie needs to gain some weight. I have been feeding her Nutro
Natural Choice Complete Care Weight Management.

Isn't weight management food for kitties that tend to put on weight, to
prevent them from doing so?

She needs something with more calories. I was thinking about getting
some kitten kibble.

But I don't know if that's too 'rich' for her, or if the extra protein
would be hard on her kidneys.

I would not give an elderly animal food that is designed for growing
youngsters, it is far too high in protein for ageing kidneys to process
without harm , especially dry food.
Does Kenzie have a good appetite? i.e. would she slightly overeat if given
the chance? If so I would give her a food suitable for her age - sorry,
I've forgotten how old she is - and a bit more than is recommended.
If she will eat it all, she should gradually put weight back on.
If she won't you'll have to find something high calorie that she *will* eat.
Does she like sausage? Cheese? Meat fat? You'll have to experiment.

There's a downside to feeding cats dry food all their life and you've just
discovered it :-(

Tweed

"Sherry"

[Gentle snip]

Cats are so smart about trying to sneak them medication. You may have
to pill her
the regular way -- just pry open her mouth and push the pill to the
back of the throat.
In theory, this sounds doable. It just all depends on Kenzie. Yoda is
difficult to pill. He
will clamp down on your finger, and not let up; so I have to use a
"piller", a contraption
that looks like a big syringe with a place to insert the pill. /They
are awkward, and I don't
like using them, but it's the only way with him. He's also a master at
harking the pill
back up, no matter how far back in his throat I think I've gotten it.
I'll think he's swallowed
it and find it stuck to his ruff later.
I think it helps a little to grease the pill with butter if you can,
to make it slide down easier. ;-)
Bosley is even worse, he gets very aggressive toward me, but the other
three are fairly
easy to pill. Good luck!

Sherry

That's what I was going to suggest, Sherry, 'the piller' with some butter on
the pill..
I hope none of your cats has drawn blood with you trying to pill them.
And you are so right about cats being hard to pill. You can put butter on
the pill, to make it easier not to hark up, and keep her mouth closed, and
blow into her nose. When she licks her nose, you'll know she swallowed it.
I've found little piles of pills under the bed over the years from different
sneaky cats, who have all denied doing it. Try giving Kenzie the pill when
she's asleep, followed by a treat.
It'll all be okay, we're al purring for her..and your nerves as well.
Good luck
Kyla & Mosey