? Cat will NOT tolerate injections

Hi,

[Years ago I was an active participant on this board because of my (now late) Boo.]

I'm currently trying to help friends manage their elderly cat's diabetes (diagnosed several months ago). But the cat is extremely wary and skittish (likely began life as a feral kitty), and will run and, if held down, violently fight back every time a shot is attempted. They are not aiming for remission, as there is no way the cat is going to tolerate blood testing. They manage to successfully get a shot into him less than half the time, even with every 'trick' I and they know 0f -- giving treats immediately after, hiding the syringe, sneaking up on her while she's sleeping or eating, wrapping her up, etc.

Right now, my friends rely on protective gloves while one holds down the struggling, screaming, biting cat, and the other tries to give the shot. Cat and humans are hugely stressed out by the whole situation, as you'd imagine, and it simply isn't very effective.

Has anyone else here dealt with a similar kitty?

 

@Djamila is the one person I refer to because her Sam boy was feral and no human contact for first year or two of his life. She might be able to give some tips

 

Hello.

That sounds very stressful for all concerned.

If it were me. I'd be buying the lowest possible carb food.

Depending on how long/severe the diabetes is. I would stop with the shots (yup I know this sounds really bad) but thinking long term I'd be working on getting kitty to sit next to me without holding her and feeding her treats while,she sits there. Then working up to stroking. Treats, gently playing with her scruff and treating and eventually very carefully and slowly showing her the syringe and pretending to inject without any needles, more treats and playtime and then working up to injections eventually. The only problem with this is it could take an Exceptionally long time and you must be able to only move to the next step when kitty is ready and not before. You are also,starting with a kitty who is now fearful and that doesn't help.
Try catnip, feliway, sedation eg valerian or something like that under vets supervision. I know there are pastes you can get for horses who have Show nerves, hate being clipped etc that act short term I don't know if anything like that is available for kitties though.

But that really is in my opinion the only option I would take. Otherwise you will end up with a cat who is afraid of her owners and will never trust them again. And by the sounds of things is well on the way.

My kitty is a rescue and this is how I trained her to have her bg tested. Slow and steady. If I tried to hold her or force her I would be in that situation too.

 

I agree with Tara. I hate to suggest they stop shots as that will put the kitty's overall health at risk, but forcing a feral cat will never work long-term anyway. They simply cannot continue to treat him that way. Cats can be trained. They can be acclimated to the routines of FD - testing and shots - but it needs to be a gentle process where the cat takes the lead, and the humans create an environment for the kitty that is calm and safe. What you're describing is neither calm nor safe right now. That poor kitty must be terrified to have them sometimes sneaking up on him, sometimes holding him down, if they continue that way it will cause far more damage than good.

Tara has outlined a good process to begin training. They will likely not get more than a single stroke and treat in at a time at first, but if they repeat that several times every day, working up to gently touching the ears or tenting the skin, (and a treat) several times each day, and on and on to re-establish trust, they will eventually be able to resume shots, and at some point testing.

One thing with my kitty was that I never ever held him down to test or shoot. Sometimes I would get ready to test, he would jump and run off, and I would have to give him a minute, soothe him back, and try again. Over and over. At the beginning it would sometimes take an hour of attempts and rests to get a test done. And sometimes the first couple of weeks, it just couldn't happen. But with gentle persistence we made progress, and eventually made it a routine.

There is an urgency to getting the cat the treatment he needs, but they have to be calm and at peace themselves, and treat him with the respect and gentleness that a wild cat requires if they are going to be able to move forward from this. It's difficult to manage a feral with diabetes, but it is not impossible. If they are able to join here themselves, we would all be more than happy to help them take the baby steps to getting back on track.

 

Thanks for the suggestions.
The thing is, in all other ways/contexts, this cat is sweet natured and affectionate toward her people. It's ONLY the matter of the injections that send her into this state, and they've been working at this for nearly half a year now. She fights like her life depends on it every single time, even though she now knows it's not an especially painful thing. Less than an hour post-shot (or post-shot attempt), she's back out from hiding and being her usual friendly self.

 

What insulin is being used? Lantus can sting. Some cats are more sensitive to the stinging than others.

 

This is such a difficult situation, and it's very good of you to help them. My civvie, Max, came off a clearly rough time on the streets; he wasn't feral, but he was terrified of people and everything else, and it took a long time to build trust.
I found this video when I was first contemplating testing and was looking for behavioural techniques to acclimate Girlie to the sound of the lancet, etc. The cat you're talking about sounds mighty terrified, but the steps in the video mirror the things that Djamila was talking about.
At one point Girlie started to get cranky about injections, so I did the tent and poke (no needle) and lots of chin scratches until she started ignoring injections again.
Anyway! For what it's worth, here's the video:
Good luck!

 

Ok well, that's because you are thinking like a human and not a cat.

My kitty is sweet and affectionate to me. But because of her nature, and she was a feral kitten when I got her she has a certain temperament. If I treated her the way the kitty you describe is being treated I'd be shredded and end up in the same situation.

When she was smaller/younger she was impossible to pill. (Still is) out came the kitty burrito. Cue the ensuing fight and loss of trust, screaming and clawing etc. For years afterwards she wouldn't allow me anywhere near her if I was carrying anything that even resembled a cloth/blanket/towel. I learned a very important lesson that day. And I learned to listen to my cat and what she was telling me!

You have 2 options I can see.

1) retrain the cat to become adjusted and used to being given her insulin in a kind and patient manner where she trusts her people.

2) ignore everything the cat is telling you and continue with the fight until she ends up very sick and hates people. No cat should be put through that much stress in my opinion and I don't understand why any owner would want that. Imagine you felt you had to fight for your life 2x a day every day?

No one can make anyone do anything and I do recommend checking everything from making sure the injections are being given correctly to a vet check to be sure there's no other underlying causes for her behaviour.

If not then maybe it's time to consult an animal behaviouralist and see what they recommend.
Would love to know what they say if you do go down that route.

Good Luck!

 

I agree with Tara. Just have them work on desensitizing. If he's affectionate then as they are pretting each time they should gently scruff the neck so he associates it with feeling good. Feliway diffusers may help calm as well. Giving a special treat That is only given after the scruffing. Whatever that may be.... Catnip, deli meat, ect.

 

Oral medications may also be an option. It's not ideal, but sometimes injections just aren't workable. My beloved childhood kitty Rusty Red was an aggressive jerk and developed diabetes at age 16. My sister has worked as a vet tech and has volunteered socializing feral kittens and even she said no way to trying to give him shots or home test -- he was a serious biter. (Like so serious he sent my dad to the ER when he was still a kitten!) Switching to low carb wet food plus liquid Glipizide bought him three more healthy years as the tyrannical king of the household.

I'm lucky Pants is so much more cooperative!