Pilling the Cat

[tamaranth]

On Friday night when I administered Sam's pill there were rivers of blood (mine). He has never really bitten me before but this made up for years of neglect. He was very purry afterwards and tried to lick it better but it's not good for them to get a taste for fresh blood I felt that Germolene would be more hygienic.

Yesterday I spent a little time in the Science Museum, looking at gelding irons and horse-pilling devices* in the Veterinary Medicine gallery.

They didn't have anything cat-related on show, but they did have a nice selection of balling guns. Unfortunately I have been unable to Google an image of any 19th-century examples, which were rather more menacing than modern ones.

I have described this device to Sam in lurid detail and explained that if he continues to protest quite so bloodily I will have No Alternative.

This morning's cat-pilling was remarkably civilised. ... and he does seem to be rather perkier, though that might just be the adrenaline. Or the blood. Or the cat-treats with which I soothe his ruffled dignity post-pill.

Comments

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Thrills and pills, eh?

I've gotta confess, if you'd told me out of the blue there was a veterinary device called a balling gun I'd've assumed it had a totally different purpose.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

LOL! I had to read this to my daughter, too.

I was so appalled at the thought of giving my cat a pill every day for the rest of her life that I ended up getting her a radiation treatment at a vet in West L.A. that virtually cures the thyroid problem. She had to stay at the vet for about a week, and when we brought her home we had to be very careful about her radioactive waste for about a month, I think it was. It cured her, and she started regaining all her lost weight immediately -- and she'd been down to skin and bones by the time they could take her, poor thing. They had a long waiting list.

[surliminal.livejournal.com]

My god ¨talk about strontium dogs!! Is this legAL ??

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

If you want we have a pilling device that looks like a syringe with grippers that squirts pills in with a burst of water that triggers the swallow reflex...