There may be times when you are required to give your cat an injection. Injections are common for cats with diabetes who require insulin. Other conditions, such as advanced kidney disease may also require injectable medications. The goal of this page is to help you and your cat become more confident in the process.
Key Points
Many of the principles that apply to giving subcutaneous fluids also apply to giving smaller injections. Tricks like distracting them with food can work very well. Be sure to visit the subq fluids page and see what tips and tricks you can apply to this process.
- If you’re unfamiliar with giving injections, ask your vet for some subq fluids to practice with
- Get used to what it feels like to draw the “medicine” into the syringe
- Practice measuring the correct dose
- Practice giving the “medicine” to your cat in a way that is completely safe for them
- If you are giving a medication that stings, or if your cat is a biter, put an e-collar on prior to giving the injection to protect both of you
- If you’re new to giving injections it might be a good idea to ask your vet to shave the area where you’ll be giving the injection
- The shaved area will make it easier for you to see exactly what your needle is doing, so you know you actually got it under the skin before depressing the plunger on your syringe
My Favorite Videos
This video shows the process of training a cat to accept injections. I have used this method myself, but over the course of a couple weeks, rather than just a few minutes.
This video has a good explanation of how to prepare the medicine in the syringe as well as how to do the injection itself.
This is another good video on how to give a cat an injection while also using food as a distraction.
Feline Disease Management 