Our Cat Vomiting Up Antibiotic Pill

[Marlow cat]

Our dear cat Marlow has an abscess. It was drained 3 days ago. He's been taking the antibiotic aventiclav twice a day. We have been giving it to him with food. We have to grind the pill and put it in his mouth with food. The first two days went fine. Today he has vomited after each of the pills. Any suggestions for how to keep the pills down? Thank you.

 

[LTS3]

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There are more tips here: Pilling Cats: Must-know Tips For Hiding Pills

 

[daftcat75]

I would ask for a liquid but most of them are really nasty tasting. I have to start Krista on Veraflox tomorrow. It's not terrible, but it's not palatable either. Yes, I taste her liquid meds. I was planning to mix it in tuna with pumpkin food since it's going to mush her stools and that's the only way I can get her to eat pumpkin.

And if that's still not palatable enough, I got one of these from Chewy.
Cat-in-the-bag E-Z-Zip Cat Carrier, Light Blue, Small - Chewy.com

I can mix it with a touch of duck fat, then "bag her and gag her."

 

[FelisCatus]

[...] It's not terrible, but it's not palatable either. Yes, I taste her liquid meds. [...]

Well, that’s a first for me. I’ve never heard of someone tasting their kitty cats medicine before.

Not judging of course.

I usually ask if the medicine comes in any flavours, and if they say no I assume it will be terrible.

 

[daftcat75]

I mentioned this to the techs at the vet's office and they said, "Oh yeah. We do the same. You're not weird. Or we're all weird."

Clavamox and Entyce are horrible. With Entyce, I thought I was going to run to a corner and start foaming myself. I didn't wince and gag with Veraflox. I think there's some hope that I can make it palatable for her.

 

[stephanietx]

Personally, I would ask for a different antibiotic. Your kitty is obviously not able to tolerate it. I have a kitty who throws up when she takes Clavamox. We don't give her that now. There are other antibiotics that will work.

 

[Marlow cat]

Our dear cat Marlow has an abscess. It was drained 3 days ago. He's been taking the antibiotic aventiclav twice a day. We have been giving it to him with food. We have to grind the pill and put it in his mouth with food. The first two days went fine. Today he has vomited after each of the pills. Any suggestions for how to keep the pills down? Thank you.

 

[Marlow cat]

I forgot to mention this is the same method we've been using successfully for giving his heart medications.

 

[Marlow cat]

Try Pill Pockets: PILL POCKETS Treats for Cats: PILL POCKETS™ Treats | GREENIES You can find them at most chain pet stores (Petco, Petsmart, etc).

There are more tips here: Pilling Cats: Must-know Tips For Hiding Pills

 

[Marlow cat]

Thanks for your reply. Marlow is swallowing the medicine. He throws up 5 to 10 minutes later.

 

[Marlow cat]

Personally, I would ask for a different antibiotic. Your kitty is obviously not able to tolerate it. I have a kitty who throws up when she takes Clavamox. We don't give her that now. There are other antibiotics that will work.

 

[Marlow cat]

Thanks. If Marlow can't keep the medicine down tomorrow we will try to get a different one from the vet.

 

[daftcat75]

Oh okay. Aventiclav is the Canadian version of Clavamox. Are you giving this with food or on an empty stomach? Clavamox is known to cause GI distress. You could ask for Cerenia which would prevent vomiting but it does cause anorexia in some cats. You could also ask for a different antibiotic or a liquid formulation.

 

[Marlow cat]

Thanks for your suggestions. We are giving it to him with food. We have our fingers crossed that he's able to stomach it tomorrow.

 

[daftcat75]

How did today’s dose go? If it didn’t go so well, ask your vet for Veraflox (pradofloxacin) in liquid form. I thought 1 mL was going to be a huge dose to go by mouth. Then I tasted it and it’s not horrible. So I thought this should be easy enough to mix into a small amount of food. Sure enough, I mixed the 1 mL dose into about a half ounce of Tiki Cat Tuna with Pumpkin and she ate it right up. Then she mowed down a plate of her regular food. At least this first dose was super easy. Let’s see if this holds up for six more doses. Or if it stays down for that matter. Or how badly it soups her poop tonight. Yay! Antibiotics.

 

[Marlow cat]

How did today’s dose go? If it didn’t go so well, ask your vet for Veraflox (pradofloxacin) in liquid form. I thought 1 mL was going to be a huge dose to go by mouth. Then I tasted it and it’s not horrible. So I thought this should be easy enough to mix into a small amount of food. Sure enough, I mixed the 1 mL dose into about a half ounce of Tiki Cat Tuna with Pumpkin and she ate it right up. Then she mowed down a plate of her regular food. At least this first dose was super easy. Let’s see if this holds up for six more doses. Or if it stays down for that matter. Or how badly it soups her poop tonight. Yay! Antibiotics.

 

[Marlow cat]

Thanks for your suggestion. Marlow threw up two and a half hours after taking the medicine while we're trying to give him his heart medication. We're waiting on a call from the vet to see about liquid alternatives. The good part is the abscess swelling has gone way down. But we're stressed out knowing that you're supposed to finish the full course of antibiotics.

 

[daftcat75]

Three hours later and all is well with Krista. She even ate another portion already. I put probiotic in that portion to help diminish the antibiotic soupy poops.

 

[Marlow cat]

Try Pill Pockets: PILL POCKETS Treats for Cats: PILL POCKETS™ Treats | GREENIES You can find them at most chain pet stores (Petco, Petsmart, etc).

There are more tips here: Pilling Cats: Must-know Tips For Hiding Pills

Thanks for your suggestions. We've tried pill Pockets before. Worked a little bit. Then he stopped eating them. You need a little bit and spit the pill out as well.

I would ask for a liquid but most of them are really nasty tasting. I have to start Krista on Veraflox tomorrow. It's not terrible, but it's not palatable either. Yes, I taste her liquid meds. I was planning to mix it in tuna with pumpkin food since it's going to mush her stools and that's the only way I can get her to eat pumpkin.

And if that's still not palatable enough, I got one of these from Chewy.
Cat-in-the-bag E-Z-Zip Cat Carrier, Light Blue, Small - Chewy.com

I can mix it with a touch of duck fat, then "bag her and gag her."

Thanks for your suggestions. Was tried those pill pockets and so forth without success. Sure is stressful. He's such a good cat. We got the liquid form yesterday. He kept the medicine down yesterday and this morning so far.

 

[Marlow cat]

Our best wishes to Krista and you. So far, Marlow has kept the medicine down last night and so far this morning. We are using the liquid form.