HOW EASY IS IT TO GIVE YOUR CAT MEDICATION?

Have you ever struggled to give your cat a tablet? We all want to do our best for our cats but sometimes the thought of giving medication can be very daunting.To understand, we needed more evidence of how difficult or easy owners find medicating their beloved pets. International Cat Care and Vet Professional produced a survey for owners discussing different types of medication, the support received from vets, and how the act of medicating could affect the owner/cat relationship.

There was a huge response to the survey and initial results were presented at International Cat Care’s virtual veterinary congress which took place at the end of June — over 3,000 vets from 96 countries registered for the congress to learn more about cats and their treatment. Understanding that giving medication can be difficult for owners is very important in considering how effectively medicines are given.Treatment often falls to owners so any issues with taking medication are obviously very important.

Of 1,356 responses to the online survey, 54 per cent of owners preferred administering a liquid and 29 per cent preferred tablets. Overall, significantly more owners found tablets impossible to give than liquids. Sadly, 73 per cent of owners reported negative responses to being medicated; most commonly cats running away from their owner but also being wary of, and hiding from them too.

The report says:“Minimal published research is available on how owners find administering medications to their cats.The ability to medicate and complete courses of treatment has wide ranging impacts in veterinary medicine, from damaging the relationship between owners and their pets, human injury, treatment failure, and antibiotic resistance. Supporting clients to achieve successful medication is in the interest of veterinarians, owners, and cats. From this survey, liquids appear to be easier to administer than tablets and preferred by owners. Manufacturers should consider ease of administration when designing products for cats.”

International Cat Care would like manufacturers and veterinary professionals to ‘think cat’ when designing and prescribing medications and has for many years urged pharmaceutical companies to develop medications that are more user-friendly.The charity’s Easy to Give Awards recognise palatable medicines or different routes of administration that make this sometimes tricky activity easier.The results from this survey give us more information to push forward for medicines that are easier to give to cats and to encourage vets and nurses to show owners how to give medication and also to consider medicines which are easier to give.