Can any of the cat lovers here advise on the safest way to worm a cat. Mog who is a semi feral cat and about 14 now has been unwell the past few days, yesterday she threw up some milk I gave her and in it was what looked like a segment of a tape worm about 4 inches long. Today she’s eating again and seems quite a bit better but I’m wondering if the worms are making her unwell. I had given her a topical wormer on the back of her neck about 18 months ago and she became extremely unwell after it - reading up on the web it seems a common enough possibility with the type I gave her. As she’s quite old I’m wary of giving her anything too potent In case it causes more problems then it solves. Can anyone advise best course of action? I know vets can give them an injection but not many are open now and getting her to a vet is a major ordeal.
For a fully grown 4 kilo cat; one whole ‘Drontal’ tablet will do the job.
The problem tho’, is these tablets are big, and cats don’t generally like to oblige with swallowing them without getting heavy handed.
Don’t be fooled though, cats have the gullet scope to swallow one of these tablets without issue. It’s just a cat thing, they choose not to.
If your cat is a hunter, then worms are likely to keep happening, so this is a repeat performance.
Good luck, and i hope the scratches heal up on your arms quickly 
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This is brilliant [ and hilarious! ] explanation is definitely worth a watch:
Thanks @Debs, so Drontal would be considered safe for an older cat and not too toxic? Presumably the big tablet could be broken up in her food?
Yes I agree Drontal is the one. Our ol’ moggy was a hunter from day one until when she was well past it, rats, rabbits, frogs, slow worms, you name it, they all got bought home, she even caught a bat one evening. , watched it/them for a while & just jumped up & snatched it down. A hunter cat will always pick up worms, it got past a joke with a combo of vet bills & gross worm bits in throw ups & phoo.
It took some practice, a lot of high speed cat wrestling & Germaline for the humans, but Miff eventually got used to it & went into a semi rigid state that despite her locked up jaw it did get down the gullet. Once every three months seemed to do the trick.
IME breaking it up into food is a failure, they won’t eat it 
I expect these tablets taste real nasty, and each table probably has a protective coating on to hide the taste. So i would recommend holding your cat with mouth open [ or get some help, perhaps with a towel wrap around cat ] bung a whole tablet into cat’s gob and clamp hand over cat’s mouth until you hear her ‘gulp’ it down. This may take a minute or two but hang in there!
After you let the cat go, and she spits out the tablet, repeat the job all over again 
Make sure you watch the above Flea movie, all 3 parts! 
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Incidentally, i use Broadline flea control on my cats. It’s a spot-on that comes in a syringe [ but not with a needle ] so it’s a bit easier to put on to back of there necks.
They hate having this treatment, and it’s expensive, should do it every month but TBH i do it about every 3 months. Seems to keep the blighters at bay tho’.
Trouble is, with cats that hunt and eat the mice they catch that could be infected with a tapeworm flea, so worms can still be a problem…
We use Profender spot-on once every three months. It’s not cheap but it’s quick to apply. One cat couldn’t care less and the other is out of the cat flap if you even think of it when looking at her, but once applied the drama is all over in half an hour.
Best
David
There is a knack to giving cats tablets, easy once mastered, though if inclined to attempt to scratch viciously a rowel wrapped around the cats forelegs does the trick.
At least that was my experience, from days with up to 15 temporarily housed cats as well as our own five.
It’s an old one but will strike a chord with the owners of many a cat (cough Syltonia Honkong Suzy Wong)
How to give a cat a pill:
- Pick up cat and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat’s mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.
- Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.
- Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away.
- Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm, holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.
- Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.
- Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat’s throat vigorously.
- Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and vases from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.
- Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil, and blow down drinking straw.
- Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink 1 beer to take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse’s forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.
- Retrieve cat from neighbor’s shed. Get another pill. Open another beer. Place cat in cupboard, and close door onto neck, to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.
- Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch bottle of Scotch. Pour shot, drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot. Apply whiskey compress to cheek to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw T-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.
- Call fire department to retrieve the damn cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil-wrap.
- Tie the little @!!@#@#$%'s front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table, find heavy-duty pruning gloves from shed. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of steak filet. Be rough about it. Hold head vertically and pour 2 pints of water down throat to wash pill down.
- Consume remainder of Scotch. Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room, sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and remove pill remnants from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new table.
- Arrange for SPCA to collect mutant cat from hell and call local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters.
How to give a dog a pill:
- Wrap it in cheese.
Killer Suzywong.
Note about dogs, cheese is OK for veggie poof dogs.
For me it’s liver every time. In SA we fed dogs garlic to stop ticks, starve the dog for 2 days, insert a garlic clove in a chunk of liver, a few seconds to sniff tease the dog & it disappeared so fast, didn’t touch the sides.
Milbemax has a slight edge over Drontal. They both do the same job, but to cut a long story short, Milbemax has less (if any) side effects and is a smaller tablet. It’s just a safer option basically. The downside is that it’s only available by prescription from a vet, but still cheap. It’s what I’ve now used for the past 3 years.
The key to giving a cat a pill is to make it totally routine. We have to give one of our’s a pill every day. So we have a routine.
The cats arrive from wherever at tea time and if they even hear the hinge squeak on the cupboard, they will come, but I call them if they don’t show up instantly. I put a little soft food in a bowl each and the cat that has to have the pill runs ahead of me to my study. I put her bowl on the floor so that she has to approach it from my left. Then as she is about to eat, I lift her head gently up with my left hand and speak quietly and gently to her. Her mouth drops open, I pop the pill in with my right hand and she then gets to eat the food. It helps that all her feet with those sharp claws (!) are on the ground holding her up, so not available as weapons.
If you lift a cat’s head up and back, just a bit, with one hand, her mouth will fall open. This is the secret knowledge that vets have been taught during their training!
Best
David
That’s very good Suzywong. As the owners of a rescue cat who hates being handled, we can relate to that!
I use Milbemax on my dog. He spits it out, so I have place it on the back of the tongue and clamp his jaws shut. He just gives me that look … no scars!
Yes it can be tricky!
I put Mo my cat in a sitting position on the floor. Kneel down and surround him with my knees. I pop the pill in quickly with my finger on top of the tongue as far in as possible. Snap and keep his mouth shut, then syringe half a 1ml amount of water in the side of his mouth, using one of those thin 1ml syringes from the vet. The water makes him swallow and it’s better to down a pill with water anyway.
The surround by knees trick is also my fallback! It works really well. If you keep your feet together then the cat backing away just gets stuck in the gap and both hands are free for pill application. And again the claws are not useful as weapons!
Best
David
My Mo says “My hands are registered as lethal weapons” in a Bruce Lee accent. I’m not joking either.
So you don’t have Burmese then… 
True. They are both Maine Coon. And big. And strong.
Millie who is 12 needs two nurses to hold her if the vet needs to do something she doesn’t like. One is simply not strong enough.
Freddie is younger and bigger, but an old softy.
Best
David
LOL…Maine Coons are gorgeous, so ”Go Millie!”
But there is a good reason why Burmese have “A Reputation”.
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