Antibiotics + Diarrhea: Any Helpful Remedies?

[GraciesParent]

Hi all!

So, Gracie has a bladder infection and is currently about halfway through a 10-day course of Clavaseptin. It's given her the textbook side effect: diarrhea. Well, very soft poop with a soft-serve-ice-cream consistency. So far, it's still semi-solid, not totally liquid.

I picked up some FortiFlora probiotic powder from the vet, which she lurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrves, but I'm not seeing much improvement in her "output." ;-)

Is there ANYTHING I can give her, food- or treat-wise, to help firm up her poops? She has floofy haunches prone to... erm... poop smears, which neither she nor I enjoy much.

Googling has netted slim results. Gracie's also a very finicky eater and I'm about 95% sure she won't touch pumpkin... though she does like Weruva's Junk in the Trunk flavour, which has some pumpkin in it.

The antibiotics have only verrrrry slightly curbed her appetite, and she's still eating (50/50 wet/dry) and drinking regularly, so that's a relief.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[abyeb]

This thread has some helpful advice: Diarrhea From Antibiotics

I would recommend first calling your vet to let them know what is going on. In the thread linked above, the vet recommended reducing the frequency of dosage, but your vet might have other suggestions. Posters on that thread suggested trying canned pumpkin or slippery elm bark syrup, which you can try if you like, but check with your vet first. Do continue giving the probiotics; it might just take a while for them to kick in, like it was the case for the cat in the above thread.

What's very important, is for you to make sure that she's staying hydrated, which it sounds like she is doing. You can also try giving her some unflavored pedialyte, which can help to prevent dehydration.

 

[LTS3]

Don't give antibiotics at the same time as probiotics. The antibiotics will pretty much cause the probiotics to not have any effect because antibiotics kill bacteria, even good ones. If the antibiotics are given with food, give the probiotics separately about 2 hours before or afterwards.

FortiFlora isn't the best probiotic to use. The CFU count is too low and it's just one bacteria strain. You can use a human probiotic. Vets don't know much about using probiotics in general so you don't need to ask for "permission" to use a different probiotic. Here's soem good info on using probiotics: Prebiotics & Probiotics for Cats: Healing Inflammation and gut dysbiosis

 

[GraciesParent]

Thanks to you both!

The vet is well aware of what's happening, and I'm well-versed in probiotics (for humans -- I take them regularly), so I know to space the dosing out between doses of antibiotics. :-)

I'm also moving her to Omega Alpha Probiotic 8 Plus, which has eight strains of bacteria + digestive enzymes + other nutrients. She seems to like it, which is a relief. So, hopefully that'll help firm things up.

Gracie is a good drinker by nature, and I'm keeping her well-hydrated with extra water in her wet food. She's also been drinking a little more than usual on her own, so she's helping herself in that regard.

Thankfully, she's only got six more doses of antibiotics to go, so hopefully this runny poop will be gone by next week.

 

[darg]

Never see it mentioned here so maybe it's taboo??? Ask about Propectalin. It can be bought on line but a lot of vets have it in their office. I used it 2X per day for the first 2 or 3 days when my cats IBD flared up and then maybe once per day (if needed) after the stool firmed back up and as his medication was working. It contains a probiotic, pectin and kaolin (a mineral clay I think). Comes in a syringe like tube with dosage markings and is supposed to be turkey or chicken flavored but it smells like peanut butter to me. My cat likes the taste so it was never a problem administering it. He just licked it off my finger or the end of the tube. Worked every time and didn't take long to kick in.

 

[GraciesParent]

Thanks darg -- I've never heard of that, but will do some investigating for future reference.

 

[GraciesParent]

As an aside, I've found it fascinating that during this runny-poop period, the runny poop has virtually ZERO smell.

I haven't changed her food -- in fact, she's been getting a bit more freeze-dried salmon as a treat these past 10 days -- but her poop is practically odorless! Which, I suppose, is one teeny tiny good thing about the whole scenario. ;-)

 

[GraciesParent]

One more question: once antibiotics are finished, how long (typically) before things return to normal, poop-wise? I know every cat is different, but in general... a few days? A week? More?

Gracie's last dose of antibiotics was Saturday (June 1st) morning, and she's still getting probiotics, but she's also still having runny poop as of today (Mon. June 3rd).

We're both reeeeeally hoping this resolves soon. :-|

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

How is Gracie doin'?

 

[stephanietx]

Definitely call the vet and ask for a different medication that won't cause diarrhea. You can add in some Saccharomyces boullardi to help with the gastro issues. I have a cat who can't take Clavamox. It causes her to vomit after about 3 doses, so we give her something else when needed.

 

[shadowsrescue]

This is the absolute best remedy for cat diarrhea. I have used it successfully on many cats. In March one of my male cats had a urinary blockage. He was at the ER vet for 4 days. Once home he had terrible diarrhea. Caused by stress and the numerous medications (antibiotics included). I started him on S. boullardi and started to see improvement. I had been using another probiotic as well as propectalin (which in the past had always worked well). Here is an article to read about it.

My Cat Has Diarrhea - What Do I Do?

 

[GraciesParent]

Hi all! Pleased to report that the poops are ALMOST back to normal, five days after finishing her course of antibiotics. (Waiting on today's litter-box "deposit" to see if it's now 100% normal again.)

Thanks for the info above on different strains of probiotic. She goes to the vet today for her re-check to ensure the infection is gone, so I'll discuss her digestive issues ask him what else I can do in the future re: diarrhea.

Gracie's also got the pep back in her step, which is good. :-)

 

[GraciesParent]

Unfortunately, the results from Gracie's re-check showed there was still "significant" blood in her urine, along with inflammatory cells (but no crystals), so the next step will be an ultrasound.

She's obviously bleeding from SOMEWHERE in her urinary system, but continues to show zero classic signs of a UTI, so the vet said it could be kidney stones, cysts, polyps or something else. :-/

He booked her for an ultrasound tomorrow, so all paws and appendages are crossed that we get an answer... and that it's nothing too serious.