Diarrhea and antibiotics

[hocuspocus]

My 10 yr old male inside cat just had two teeth extracted. This is his second round of antibiotics in a little over a month ( october he had swollen tonsils and a cough so they put him on it and he did great). They put him on the same antibiotics with pain meds and a probiotic to sprinkle in his food. Hes eating the probiotic and seems to be fine except now, today hes had two mushy poos. Will this get worse? Any ideas what to do? Vet is closed til Fri.
Thanks

 

[raintyger]

No way to tell what will happen, but quite often antibiotics do cause diarrhea. The last time my kitty was on antibiotics that caused diarrhea the vet said it was OK to take her off because her symptoms had gone away and she was almost done with the course anyway.

When you give the probiotics, you should make sure you give them at least 2 hours after the antibiotics. If you give them right after or at the same time as the antibiotics, the antibiotics will just go in and kill off the probiotics along with the bad bacteria.

 

[ldg]

Is the probiotic Fortiflora? It's usually pretty good with the antibiotic-induced diarrhea. But as Raintyger points out, it needs to be given several hours after (or before) the antibiotic, or the antibiotic just kills it off too.

if you're already doing that and it's not helping, you can either try increasing the dose given; break it up into two doses (am and pm); OR try an L. acidophilus probiotic. You may not be able to get one until Friday if you're in the U.S., but a local health food store should carry a good one. Just ask for their best L. acidophilus probiotic, and give your kitty 5 billion CFU in the morning and 5 billion CFU at night.

 

[hocuspocus]

I had no idea you had to time the Fortiflora differently than the antibiotic. I only gave him the antibiotic once a day and it was at night...usually an  hour after he ate. I sprinkled the Fortiflora on his food twice a day, half a packet each. I know he ate it because he's been eating like a horse since he came home from the vet! 

I talked to a vet tech who I am friends with on Facebook and was there for his surgery and she said to just take him off the antibioitic for a day and see how it goes. He had taken his third dose by then. This morning I found two mushy poos in the litter box. Hes still eating and drinking just fine and even playful now. I haven't given him any pain meds either since yesterday morning. He seems fine. I am hoping once the antibiotics are out of his system his poos go back to normal. 

I will call the vet tomorrow morning to see what else to do, just wanted to know if there was anything  I should do to help with his diarrhea. Poor thing. 

I appreciate the advice. If they tell me to put him back on it, I will time the fortiflora better.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[raintyger]

Yeah, antibiotics are pretty much indiscriminate, they kill everything. That's why it is common for people to get antibiotics for bacterial infections and then have a recurrence after the antibiotics course is done--it's because the immunity went down when the antibiotics knocked the good flora and fauna out of your system.

Is the antibiotic Clavamox? It is a very strong, broad antibiotic. One lady who worked a cat shelter commented that she didn't know of a cat yet that didn't get diarrhea from Clavamox, yet all the vets prescribe it.

When he is off the antibiotic you might consider a probiotic with a wider variety of organisms. You can get them at the pet store or a lot of members here favor getting the human grade Natural Factors double strength acidophilus and bifiidus, I believe the dosage is 1 capsule/day, but you might want to start out with a little less to see if he's sensitive (probiotics are pretty safe, overdosage usually means a bout of diarrhea).

 

[hocuspocus]

Thanks again for all your advice. The vet was closed again today (I didn't know until I got the answering service). Messaged my friend who said to give the Fortiflora, discontinue any antiobiotics and pain meds and see if that helps. 

Got home and he had only two small soft poos...so maybe its not 'diarrhea" but just loose stools? 

Hes acting fine, playful, hungry as ever and no swelling or discomfort in his mouth where they did the teeth extraction. My friend did mention they gave him a shot of antibiotics before the surgery, which I didn't know so maybe it was too much or heck I don't know LOL

He was given zithromax, which I know is a strong medicine. He did very well on it last month, had no adverse reactions. 

I will see how he's doing in the morning and may call the vet just to check in. My friend said she would talk to the vet today and if what she told me was different she would let me know and I didnt hear from her so I guess its okay. 

I put some Fortiflora on his food tonight, but he didn't eat very much....we came home late and I noticed some dry food had been eaten so maybe that will help bind things up a little haha. 

This site is great. Thank you for all the wonderful advice, support and knowledge!!!