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Cat on Antibiotic?

999 views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  Curio 
#1 ·
Hi - first post etc etc :)

A couple of days ago our 5 year old English Shorthair, named Bailey, had an allergic reaction to a can of Chicken and Lobster cat food. His throat swole a bit causing him to wheez and he had bad diarrhea and vomitting. We took him to the vet the next day and she told us he was basically OK and it should just pass. His breathing is now fine but he still can't keep any food down - he hasn't eaten in 48 hours so now he's just fetching up bile.

We took him back to the vet today and he was given an electrolite injection pouch "thing" under his skin (to provide his essentials while he's not eating and drinking...), an anti-acid drop (we have to give him one a day until he's better) and the vet also gave us some Amoxycillin to give to him.

Now the problem is we're very wary of giving him the Amoxycillin. He's seems pretty happy in himself and the vomitting has eased a lot now (just once in 10 hours so far today) and I hope he's on the mend. The vet warned that the Amoxycillin could well give him diarrhea. I've also had Amoxycillin before myself and both times it made me feel completely awful. If he's on the mend we're worried about upsetting his system more with this antibiotic - when, as I understand it, it's only being used to fight any infections that may occur from ulcers caused by the acid in his stomach, which he might not even get anyway. The Amoxycillin isn't actually being used to fight his current condition - just as a backup in case of any secondary problems.

Both the vets we saw were wonderful, and assured us that any side-effects of the Amoxycillin were out-weighed by the positives. I just can't see it tho.....unless Bailey is lucky and just isn't affected by it at all. But I really don't want to pump him with drugs if it isn't really needed....but at the same time I want to trust the vet.

Any advice on this issue?
Thanks :)
 
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#2 ·
Trust the vet. That's the best advice I can give you. If they told you to give it to him, then by all means do, it will help! If by chance there are problems with the medications, call the vet and ask for further information. But perscriptions should always be followed exactly! :)
 
#4 ·
I would ask the vet what the purpose of the antibiotic is. It sounds like an allergic reaction, and an antibiotic has no function at all in such a scenario. Find out if there's a legitimate reason for giving the antibiotic. I don't know the whole story. Sometimes vets (and doctors) hand out antibiotics for no reason other than to keep the patient happy.
 
#5 ·
I totally understand your concern and tend to agree with you about not wanting to give antibiotics, hence it upset kitty's system unescassarily.
I'm with Tim on this and asking the vet what exactley the reason would be for administering the Amoxicillin and what are the risks if you do or don't.
I don't know what kind of test, if any, were done or what the vet observed during the visit. But if it were me, I'd want to know more before I started giving drugs just in case something was there.
Did your kitty have fever? I hope it's just allergies.
Please keep us posted on this.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the replies

It seems Bailey is now OK - he hasn't chucked-up for two days and seems a lot more perky and his usual self now. We're still giving him plain food for now until his system settles down completely. He's had a nice normal poop yesterday as well, so all seems well in that area too. He did seem to want to go pee in his litter this morning but couldn't manage it - he tried about 5 times in as many minutes but nothing came out. I'll be keeping my eye on that obviously - I'm thinking his system is still trying to get back to normal.

We decided against giving him the Amoxicillin in the end - almost as soon as the vet gave him the anti-acid he seemed to get better. His temperature has been fine through this whole episode and, apart from the stomach trouble, he's seemed just fine in himself. We really didn't want to give him a drug unless it was absolutely essential. Of course we'll be keeping a close eye on him for a while (not too hard - he's an indoor kitty) and, of course, we'll be straight back to the vet if anything seems wrong.

Thanks for all the advice 8)
 
#7 ·
Have you told the vet about his frequent litter box trips with no results? Maybe you could call the vet and see what they say about that. That is a concern of a whole dfferent nature and might need to be looked into.
 
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