Administration of medications, topically or orally, is often a required part of cat ownership. As veterinarians, we ask clients to perform this job at home, and are often concerned that it isn’t performed as prescribed. As a neurologist, I become especially twitchy about the maintenance of anticonvulsant dosing because the consequence of skipped medications can have dire results. A variation in the serum drug concentration can be MORE harmful than the absolute value of the serum drug concentration. Missed doses, or variable dosing times, can mean that breakthrough seizures are more frequent. Sadly, poorly controlled seizures is one of the leading causes of euthanasia for seizure patients. Topically applied transdermal medications are often the “go-to” solution for medicating cats however a recent study identified reduced compliance with topical as well as oral administration in a limited number of cats. This study came from New Zealand, and included 66 cat owners that responded by survey. In this survey, 39% of cat owners reported noncompliance. Compliance was defined as the extent to which a client follows the prescribes recommendations. This can be dose or timing related. In this group, 1 owner was noncompliant with topical medication and the remainder were non-compliant with oral administration. Clients were asked about several factors, including veterinary visit experiences. Over 90% of owners strongly or somewhat agreed that the veterinarian spent enough time explaining how to administer the medication, and the reason for prescribing the medication. Furthermore, more than 45% of cat owners were shown by the veterinarian (why aren’t folks delegating this to techs??!), 14% were shown by a veterinary student and 40% were not shown. Interestingly, in univariate analysis, only medication class was associated with noncompliance. When further evaluated, antimicrobials were the most common medications associated with noncompliance. In multivariate analysis, owners of single cats, and medication class were statistically associated with noncompliance.

The authors suggest that demonstrating how to administer the medication, using a liquid or tablet or trying both, and considering client characteristics such as prior pet experience should be a part of the discussion or consideration when prescribing medications for cats. Remember, topical and oral medication can be problematic, so this advice applies to both situations. When relating this to seizure medications, a trial of tablet, liquid, and transdermal applications could be considered when recommending an anticonvulsant for cats.

Thanks for reading! I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week and look forward to working with you soon!