Kittens have a lot of energy, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. We love kitten energy here at Advanced Animal Care Berea but just know that they will be much more playful. They're going to be a lot more mischievous. They might have some middle-of-the-night, 3:30 in the morning zoomies going around the house, so be prepared for that if you've never had a kitten before.

We’re not currently able to recommend or advise on CBD oil. There are a lot of different variations out there and many different sources. So until there is more information and guidance for that, it's not something we can recommend.

You should observe them for some time afterward because they can hide it, spit it up, or spit it out if they didn't take it. I would say consult with your veterinarian because many times, there are other options and other delivery methods that might suit your cat better if you're unable to get that medication in there.

Many years before I did this profession, I gave my cat medication, and I thought I got it down, but she started foaming at the mouth. And I thought she was reacting to the medication. I called my veterinarian, and, after going back and forth, he assured me I didn’t get it down. So yeah, that's one of the reactions they can have is foaming at the mouth.

If you have a really food-motivated cat, you may be able to crush certain medications and hide them in canned food. I often recommend that you don't feed them the whole meal with that medication in there. Just give them a little dollop of that. Also, you want to give that to them when they're hungry, not when they're full, obviously, so they're more apt to eat all of it. If they're not food motivated, then you may be able to administer it through a suspension. Certain medications can be in liquid form. If it’s appropriate, we may talk about a prescription food they can eat and not have to give them a pill or medicine.

But we can also help you or teach you how to give your cat medication. If it's a pill, we can show you how to pill a cat. It's always nice to have a partner to help you do that—one to hold and one to give the pill. And you want to do it when they're not paying attention and surprise them. And to save your fingers, they make pillers, which are little extensions. And that would help facilitate getting the pill in the back of the throat.

There are different types of medication and many different delivery mechanisms. And so specifically, medication for pain might be Tramadol, which we often give what we call transdermally, which means it's absorbed through the skin. And so if you think about a cat, the one area that they really can't lick directly is the inside of their ear, and it's relatively hairless, so with very thin hair. And so that would be one area of pain medication for cats. Or we may give something in the cheek pouch that is absorbed through the mucus membranes. We may also use K-laser therapy. That is not a direct prescription medication, but it also can help dramatically with pain control.

That's a great question. I'll answer that by saying cats are sensitive to many medications. As I stated with the dogs, diphenhydramine, Benadryl, is a pretty benign and safe medication. Still, I would always recommend that you consult with your veterinarian to ensure you're treating appropriately and get the proper response from that treatment. This is particularly true if your cat is already on medication, as the two medications could interact badly.

Our cats are very sensitive to pain medication. And so, we don't recommend it, especially if it's not an NSAID, as Tylenol can be deadly to them. So we would recommend you check with your veterinarian before giving them any kind of pain medication.

For most medications, I would say yes. Even if you are using something common like flea treatment, you want to make sure it's labeled for the cat. When cats are given an inappropriate medication or a dog medication, they can react severely to that.

So cats are a little tricky because, as you can see, they're squirmy. So what can help is having a blanket here. And so you can help to contain their legs a little bit, make them a little less squirmy so that just their head's sticking out, not hurting the cat whatsoever. Still, it does allow you to get a little bit better of a grip on them and kind of help prevent them from squirming around with all those legs and slashing around with their claws.

You should slowly give cats liquid medication. A lot of the liquids are not formulated for cats to like the taste of them. Some of them can foam at the mouth and try to spit them out. So give it to them slowly, making sure they have a nice tasty food afterward or some water to wash it down with will help. And then also ensure that you are keeping your eye on the cat afterward if you're trying to do a pill so that your cat isn't spitting it out to the side of their mouth.