Well, sadly, I'm an expert eye ointment doser. You've been given a triple antibiotic, which is pretty standard. The eyeball actually heals itself surprisingly well- it's a little known anatomical fact. It can sustain serious injury, such as painful scratches to the cornea, and it actually repairs itself faster than other body parts. This is true for humans too- although it's hard to believe because a corneal scratch is so freaking painful (yes, I've been there- in fact, a corneal burn, and I'm fine- no permanent damage...so I speak from having real knowledge!). So that is the good news. But I regularly treat the no-kill adoption cats eyes with Triple Antibiotic and/or Terramycin because some of them are always passing around a URI. I took one of the kittens home this past weekend that is one of the WORST for eye ointment treatment- which probably explains why his URI won't go away because no one wants to treat the little Devil. He's very spastic and he runs around like a crazy man non-stop. My mom has never seen anything like it and she's always trying to tell me he has a "thyroid problem" or he's ADHD or something (she's just talking out of her a$$- she doesn't really know anything!). Now she's compared him to an out-of-control puppy, which I think is a good comparison. He just always runs at you like a maniac and he's always under your feet and he "dances" around on his toes non-stop. Needless to say, when you go to pick him up and hold him, he's a monster! He got me accidentally last night under the eye with a scratch...so, I know the pain of trying to treat a spastic cat. But I can get eye ointment in him 3-4 times/day no problem. Here's what I recc: Scruff the cat- and I mean scruff. You have to get a really good hold on the cat by the scruff. There's no way for me to treat my little B/W Devil unless I have him scruffed really good (and even then he does this unique thing where he moves his 4 legs around like he's "air swimming" even tho I have him scruffed?). Use a big bath-sized towel to wrap the cat in. Wrap the cat really tight and make sure you get all 4 legs in there. If you circle the towel around the cat, the cat can't figure out quickly enough how to get out of the many layers of towel. I wrap them really tight so that all that is sticking out is the face- I call it the "kitty burrito"! You should be able to wrap the cat like a burrito and still hold the scruff. I am right handed so I hold the scruff with my left and wrap the cat with my right really quickly- holding the kitty burrito against my chest, with the cat's head in the crook of my left arm. Then you put the ointment in the eye with your right hand. You may not be able to do this alone. I've been doing the eye treatment thing for a looong time and what you need more than anything is confidence in your skills. If you need a partner, I recc the partner scruffs and holds the cat's head steady- while the cat is wrapped in the towel- that leaves you free to have both hands for inserting the med. You may need to have two hands so as to pull the lower eyelid down and insert the med close to the lower eyelid. I have been doing it so long that I can do it one handed and get the med on the eyeball without touching the eye- even with the squirmiest cat in the world-- but I don't recc that if this is your first time. You don't want to scratch the cat's eyeball with the tip of the tube should the cat make a sudden attempt to escape, so please be careful. I'll be honest- with a real fighter of a cat, you do have to use your muscles to get control- but it's for such a temporary time, that you shouldn't worry about being too rough- use your judgment. I hope this helps a little. Good luck. -Caroline
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: RE: Penelope/GrizzabellaDate: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 01:06:14 -0500 Don’t have any great suggestions for the eye ointment. When I had to give it to my Tucson, it took two of us. We wrapped her up in a big towel and then moved quick! I’d be interested in how the buspar works. Tucson’s on Clonicalm but not sure it really works. She goes after my Romeo with a vengeance and I’m ready to try something different…. He’s a big scaredy cat and usually runs and hides someplace where she can’t get at him but on those rare occasions that she does manage to throw her 18 lbs body on him, she’s always on the losing end of things…. Doesn’t stop her though… I feel for you—I know how hard it is… Christiane Biagi 914-632-4672 Cell: 914-720-6888 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Katrina Animal Reunion Team (KART) www.findkpets.org Join Us & Help Reunite Katrina-displaced Families with their Animals From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Monday, November 12, 2007 11:08 PMTo: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Penelope/Grizzabella Ok, guys, thought I'd update you on the situation with the two fighting girls. Jeff took Penelope (FeLV negative) to the vet today. We noticed last night that her left eye was beginning to cloud up. Dr. Dolen said she had scratched her cornea somehow in at least a couple different places (he used the phosphorescent light thing). I figure its where she and Bella(FeLV+) have been fighting so much. :( Anyway, he gave her eye ointment (Neomycin and Polymyxin B Sulfates and Bacitracin Zinc) that she's supposed to get three to four times daily. We've managed to get it in once so far. She is NOT tolerating it at all.. Its very stressful for her. But we'll see if she "gets used to it" as we try it more often. She goes back in a week so he can check up on her. Any of you guys have any recommendations on how to put ointment in a cat's eye? A very skiddish spastic cat? As for the fighting/aggression, Dr. Dolen prescribed Buspirone (generic BuSpar) 2.5mg daily for Penny and Grizzabella. We're going to give it a try and see how it goes. Has anyone had any experience with Buspirone in cats? I know its a human psychotropic drug often used to treat aggression/behavioral/anxiety issues, but I've never heard of it being used in cats! He said give it three weeks and we'll see how its going. Michael See what's new at AOL.com and Make AOL Your Homepage. _________________________________________________________________ Climb to the top of the charts! Play Star Shuffle: the word scramble challenge with star power. http://club.live.com/star_shuffle.aspx?icid=starshuffle_wlmailtextlink_oct
