Lately, it seems like a lot of our guests at the cats-only boarding facility are on some form of medication. When you think about it, it makes sense — somebody’s got to handle the meds if the owner is away! A healthy cat may be okay at home alone for a weekend with just a friend or neighbor to stop in and make sure there is food and water available.
We keep a big wipe-off board with a list of all the cats who need medication, what they get (and how much each dose is), and when they get it.
I was curious, so I looked up some of the medications we see the most frequently:
- Methimazole is a medication for thyroid conditions, particularly hyperthyroidism (over-production of thyroid hormones). It comes in pill form, liquid form, and recently in a gel form that can be applied to the skin of the ear.
- Prednisolone is an anti-inflammatory medication.
- Metronidazole is an antibacterial medication.
- Various antibiotics, often given to cats who have been sick or injured. We had one cat recently taking antibiotics to relieve an abscessed tooth and another with a big wound on his tail from fighting.
- Meloxicam is a pain reliever. This is one of my least favorite medications because of how it smells — the liquid version that is given to cats smells like rotting flowers to me. It’s overly sweet and seems to stick in my nose for a long time after I’ve closed the bottle.
- Various forms of insulin for cats with diabetes.
- Phenobarbital is a medication for controlling seizures.
The most common one I see is methimazole in its various forms.
Most of these medications are available for human patients in similar situations. In fact, one weekend morning, a woman and her elderly mother came to drop off a cat. The mother — who was visiting from Indiana — was just delighted with the facility and wandered around taking pictures! When she saw the medication board, she laughed and said that she’d been on meloxicam herself after a surgery.