Giving Meds

Giving Your Little Furry One Their Meds, Can Be a Very Difficult Task.

Just As With Human Children,  Many Other Species Children, 

Also; Do Not Like Icky-Tasting Medication In Their Mouth.

 The Practical Part Of It

For Pills, I've Found It Handy To Take a Drop of Clean Water, Pour It Onto The Pill,

Then Churn The Pill Up Into a Mash. Add Water To Make It Into a Liquid.

But Not Too Much Water, That 'll Result In a Very Large Amount That Your Pet Has To Get Down.

Keeping The Liquid To a Minimal Is Good. 

Then Take a Clean, Unused Syringe.

(The Needle-less Kind You Can Get At Pharmacies, Only Use Them Once!)

Using The Syringe; Soak Up All The Liquid.

The Mental Part Of It

Tell Your Pet What You Are About To Do.

Throughout The Entire Process.

Reassure Them That You Won't Suddenly Do Anything; 

That You'll Give Them a Heads-Up Before You Start Doing Anything.

This Might Sound Silly To Some. 

But If You've Ever Been at a Doctor's Office, With a Nurse Who REFUSES TO BELIEVE YOU When You Tell Her You Need a Quick Sec To Brace Yourself Before She Sticks a NEEDLE IN YOUR ARM, And Then Charges At You With It, Aiming To Literally HOLD YOU DOWN So She'll Get It Over With Quicker.

You'll Know Why Feeling Secure That People Will Respect Your Boundaries, And Won't Just Attack You At Any Given Moment Of Vulnerability, Actually Giving You The Knowledge When Something Will Happen, So You Can Mentally Prepare Yourself, 

Is So Darn Important.

 The Counting Method

One Of My Boys And I, Have Invented This Brilliant Method;

Called The Counting-Method.

I Tell Him; I'm Going To Count To Three, 

Then I'm Going To Give You This/Clean This Wound On This Side, Etc.

Afterwards I'm Going To Count To 60 

(Or 30, Or Whatever Time Your Pet Needs To Deal With The Previous Intake of Meds/Cleaning Of Wounds etc.)

When I've Got To 60, 

I'll Count To Three And Then I'm Going To Give You Some More/Do This/Do That.

I Make Sure To Give Him "Doable" Amounts Of Meds At a Time,

Sometimes, If The Amount Of One Dose It Too Much To Deal With In One Mouthful, 

You Need To Give It In Intervals.

Just Like You Wouldn't Force a Human Kid To Eat THE ENTIRE Bowl Of Cereal In One Go; They Need To Be Fed It In Spoonfuls.

It's Important To Be Patient, And To Stay Calm, Use a Calming, Reassuring Voice.

No Matter What Happens, Just Stay "Cool", 

Letting Your Pet Know That There's Nothing To Get Upset or Stressed Over.

Tell Him/Her That They're Doing So Well. Praise Them For Every Little Win.

So They'll Feel Confident In Themselves, That They Can Get Through This.

Let Them Know That You Will Get Through This Together.

I Find That Holding Them In My Arms, Hunched Over, With Them Sitting On The Floor With Their Butts/Feet, And Holding Their Upper Body Perhaps

 , Or Letting Them sit With All Four Paws On The Floor. 

But Still Having Me Hold Them In One Place, For The Duration Of The Task.

This Way, They Won't Get a Chance To "Escape".

It Might Sound Forceful, But It's Proven Ti Be Better Than To Let Them Hide Away and Build Up a Fear Of What's Going To Happen; 

Resulting In It Becoming a Longer and More Prolonged Experience Than It Needs To Be.

If Your Pet Seems To NEED a Break However, It's Important To Take In Their Feelings, and Give Them One. Before Continuing Giving Them Meds/Cleaning Wounds etc.

BACKSTORY

For Many Years I Did The Standard "Just Hide It In Their Food" Strategy, 

That Everyone Will Advice You To Do.

The Problem With This Method; Is a Couple of Things;

1. Your Pet Has Way Better Senses Than Humans, 

And "Hidden" Icky Medication, Is Hard To Not Miss.

Which Could Mean Your Little One Won't Eat All Of The Food, Or None Of It At All.

2. This Leads Us To Problem Number Two,
If Your Pet Hasn't Eaten All Of It; But Only Some Of It; 

How Do You Know How Much Of Their Meds They Really Got In Their System?

I'm Not a Fan Of The Whole, Just Stuff It In a Treat and SHOVE It Down Their Throat.

Neither Am I a Fan Of The; Just Opt For No Treat, 

and SHOVE The Meds Themselves Directly Down Their Throat.

Both These Methods Are Very Forceful; The Whole Idea Of SHOVING Anything Down Someones Throat, Then HOLDING THEIR MOUTH SHUT, FORCING THEM TO SWALLOW...

Yeah, Seems Mean And Brutal To Me.

And That's Not Even Taking Into Account The Fact That They Might CHOKE ON IT, If They Get It Down Their Windpipe Instead. Or If It Gets Stuck In Their Throat.

Brutal Indeed.

The Whole, Waiting Aound Until They Least Expect It, Because It Seems Like The Only Time They'll Let You Give It To Them Without Much Of a Fight, Also; BAD IDEA.

That 'll Only Leave Them Tense Around You ALL THE TIME, Thinking You're Some Sort Of Ticking Med-Giving Time-Bomb, Unless They Keep Their Guard Up.

And That's No Good For Your Relationship, Or Your Lives.

So I've Come To Be a Communicator. 

Valuing The Trust In My Promises; If I'm Going To Do Something Unpleasant; 

Like Give Them Meds.

I'm Going To Tell Them About It Before I Do It.

And If I Say; Don't Worry, I'm Not Going To Do Anything Unpleasant, 

They Know, I'm To Be Trusted, And They Can Relax Around Me.

I Also Make Sure To Let Them Know If Something Might Be Really Unpleasant Before I Do It;

Like If a Medication Tastes Really Bad, Or If It's Gonna' Hurt To Get Stuck By a Needle At The Vet.

I Also Make Sure To Keep Their Spirits Up, Letting Them Know That, 

"It's Might Be Bad, But You're Gonna' Get Through It, It's Only Gonna' Take a Little While, And Then It's Over, And We Can Go Home and Play, Or Have a Really Yummy Treat f.ex."

So They'll Know How Much They Need To Mentally Prepare Themselves 

For What's About To Happen.

I Also Tell Them That I Wouldn't Be Putting Them Through Anything Unpleasant 

If I Didn't HAVE TO. And That I Love Them.

It's Not Rocket-Science. Just Like You Would With Any Fellow Human To Make Them Feel Relaxed, And Feel Like They Can Trust You; So Should You With Other Species.

If You Have Any Tips On This Subject; Leave a Comment! :)