Ive just spent £950 on the vets, come give me practical advice on confining my cat and giving it meds while I recover from the heart failure

[Wankerchief]

Yup cat came in slow walking and limping, no idea what happened it look like a big chunk of skin is missing, poor thing
She need stitches, drip, bloods ect so is at the vets getting sorted.

Anyways we’ve been told we have to confine her inside and give her pain relief and meds. Ive never had to do this before, our old girl tabby is bomb proof and has never seen a vet outside of her yearly check so I’ve got no idea how I’m supposed to keep a young feisty cat confined and how to give her meds, any tips?
She’s a cat that was left by previous tenents that we’ve been looking after so not insured( will do now obviously) Ive never had a vet bill before and this was a bloody shocker! luckily I’ve been saving for driving lessons so could pay off most and put the rest on a card.
This second hand menace will be the death of my bank account

A picture of her looking majestic because why not

I thought your cat had heart failure!

Ouch. Both for kitty and you!
This is why I have insurance for my cats. Even a fairly small procedure can be very expensive. Hope she's better soon. They tend to bounce back pretty quick from bumps and cuts.

Oh gosh no!I
can see my wording wasn’t so clear, apologies😱

No her heart is fine, just the manky leg. Couldn’t afford hear attacks on top of that bill tbh

Yes our tabby’s insured with lifetime cover but we’ve only recently convinced timid jinx to come into our home let alone vet or insurance

What kind of meds?
If you have to confine her inside make sure she has lots to entertain her. Borrow a cat tree? Boxes, tunnels, I find big bits of paper loosely scrunched with a few treats hidden in will amuse for a little while. Catnip toys, Hessian bag with a rattling toy inside hung off a door handle drives mine a bit mad (in a good way)

If moggie needs to have meta cam I've found hiding it in lickilicks helps massively. I put a wee bit on a plate, then the dose of medicine then a wee bit more of the treat and bam...its gone in seconds.

I feel your pain - my moggies are costing me a fortune.

Boy cat was limping away and has had three x-rays today...only to take the most expensive shit and pee ever. I think our insurance will cover it.

She will come home with antibiotics and painkillers that’s about as much as I know, our vets still come take the pet and then call you and there wasn’t much info given as they were rushed.
Hopefully will know more when I pick her up after 6

She’s quite greedy and gobbles her food and anything she finds so I’m hoping I can trick her with the meds easily

When we had to confine Boy cat for all of November and December 2020 he watched a lot of YouTube for cats...it really helped!

Our cat LOVES tuna (flake up bits from a tin with a bit of the spring water). Will eat it all in seconds, so we let antibiotic tablets and metacam dissolve in that.

Ours has twice had some mystery illness, that resolved about 2 hours after starting antibiotics in tuna. Convinced its just a ploy to get tinned tuna

Ive been very lucky till now that our cats have been hardy lazy things with no real injuries so in 25 years with multiple cats I’ve never had a big bill so this was a rude awakening

We had a dog that would put on a limp to get attention, my poor mother took him to vets twice and paid a fortune back then to be told he was faking it

Just mix it in with her food, gourmet pate is good.

She’s beautiful. You can see the contrition in her eyes.

I see that as a "sorry, not sorry" face.

She also looks like she's wearing a small sparkly party hat in the 2nd photo 😻

in terms of meds - if it's a tablet I massively recommend something called Easy Pill cat which I got from my vet. Sort of a putty that my cat finds irresistible & will eat anything in it

If she has to be properly confined then a large dog crate is usually the best way to do that.

For tablets it’s easier if it’s a two man job.
One person wrap the cat in a towel so only her head is showing and her claws are trapped.
The other person place your hand around the back of her head, with your thumb and index finger either side of her jaw and gently pull her head back, use your other hand to lower the lower jaw, place the tablet as far back down the mouth as you can then close the jaw tightly, keep the head tilted back and rub her throat until she swallows.

Cat pill instructions...

Watch out for dirty protests if your DC is not used to being kept in and going in a litter tray. Mine did a great big poo on my DS’s bed and peed in my wardrobe when I had to confine him. 😾

She’s home, lots of stitches in the muscle and a cone of shame. She’s grumpy about not being able to groom.
Vet says cone has to stay on but she can be out and about as long as she doesn’t jump, we’ve taken all her fave high beds away and blocked any windows so she doesn't jump.
She is causing chaos with the cone, bashing and banging around

She’s got meta cam so we've brought some cat gravy that she loves. She’s got pill antibiotics, two a day for five days.
She has to go back on Thursday and then in 12 days for the stitches.
She’s got a litter tray she occasionally uses when it’s raining super heavy so I’m hoping she will use that

Beautiful, beautiful cat but ouch at the bill (been there, done that...).

For giving tablets I wouldn't be without a cat pill popper and a thick towel to wrap the cat in so only the head is free.

Hope she's better soon.

Definitely a pill popper. That is not a contrite face at all!!

@Wankerchief

A picture of her looking majestic because why not

She's extremely beautiful and I hope she gets well soon.

@Wankerchief

We had a dog that would put on a limp to get attention, my poor mother took him to vets twice and paid a fortune back then to be told he was faking it

We had a cat that did this. If you said "sore paw" to her she would start limping.

Watch out, when that cone comes off she is definitely going to be trying to kill you. That's the face of a cat doing some serious plotting.

Metacam made my cat sleepy so you might get away with it