Hi everyone! I need some advice.
I've been feeding my kitten (Percy) a raw diet since he was ~3 months. We finally sorted out a good home-made diet with fine ground chicken bones and coarse ground chicken/beef muscle meat (plus liver, egg yolks and supplements, and the occasional (frozen) pet store mouse or a chicken wing/neck to munch on). He's now almost 8 months and a healthy 10.4 lbs. Since spring arrived, Percy has been supplementing his diet by hunting flies/bugs out in the yard and munching on the new grass coming up. We also had a visit from a friend's dog for a week, who likes to slobber all over him (poor kitty!) so add in dog fur and slobber.
Anyway, he started having some concerning poops last Thursday (excess mucous and blood streaks) and an increased appetite. He also has a little bit of gingivitis which I thought was from teething but hasn't gone away. I took him to the vet yesterday, who (after a cautionary comment on the safety of a raw diet) thought it might be giardia, and prescribed a deworming pill (milbemax) + 7 days of liquid antibiotic (metronidazole), and a follow up appointment. I also asked that he send away a fecal sample for testing.
The fecal test came back positive for Campylobacteriosis and Clostridium perfringens, and the vet recommended Tylosin to treat it, since he said that the metronidazole can in some cases temporarily treat the diarrhea, but not the underlying infection.
His last poop (after 4 days!!) was a normal, solid log of mostly fur with no liquid (maybe a bit of mucous on the outside) and the gum redness has subsided (though he still has tartar buildup; I'm looking into tooth brushing).
My concern is that giving him an antibiotic (especially this new one) will wipe out his normal gut flora, and he might not be prepared to handle the possible bacteria in the raw diet. Should I switch to feeding him a cooked diet until the course of antibiotics is over? The vet isn't pro-raw so I don't think I'd get an unbiased answer from him. I’m pretty sure he'll blame the bacteria on his diet at our follow-up appointment tonight ('though in this case he might be right, even though we are halfway through this batch of food and he only had symptoms after the dog was here for a week).
I'd really appreciate any input. I want to keep him on raw, but it's most important for him to be safe and healthy. My friends are also really skeptical and I'm starting to second guess this decision (it's not a problem for my health, and no kids around)
ps- Here are some pics of Percy
I've been feeding my kitten (Percy) a raw diet since he was ~3 months. We finally sorted out a good home-made diet with fine ground chicken bones and coarse ground chicken/beef muscle meat (plus liver, egg yolks and supplements, and the occasional (frozen) pet store mouse or a chicken wing/neck to munch on). He's now almost 8 months and a healthy 10.4 lbs. Since spring arrived, Percy has been supplementing his diet by hunting flies/bugs out in the yard and munching on the new grass coming up. We also had a visit from a friend's dog for a week, who likes to slobber all over him (poor kitty!) so add in dog fur and slobber.
Anyway, he started having some concerning poops last Thursday (excess mucous and blood streaks) and an increased appetite. He also has a little bit of gingivitis which I thought was from teething but hasn't gone away. I took him to the vet yesterday, who (after a cautionary comment on the safety of a raw diet) thought it might be giardia, and prescribed a deworming pill (milbemax) + 7 days of liquid antibiotic (metronidazole), and a follow up appointment. I also asked that he send away a fecal sample for testing.
The fecal test came back positive for Campylobacteriosis and Clostridium perfringens, and the vet recommended Tylosin to treat it, since he said that the metronidazole can in some cases temporarily treat the diarrhea, but not the underlying infection.
His last poop (after 4 days!!) was a normal, solid log of mostly fur with no liquid (maybe a bit of mucous on the outside) and the gum redness has subsided (though he still has tartar buildup; I'm looking into tooth brushing).
My concern is that giving him an antibiotic (especially this new one) will wipe out his normal gut flora, and he might not be prepared to handle the possible bacteria in the raw diet. Should I switch to feeding him a cooked diet until the course of antibiotics is over? The vet isn't pro-raw so I don't think I'd get an unbiased answer from him. I’m pretty sure he'll blame the bacteria on his diet at our follow-up appointment tonight ('though in this case he might be right, even though we are halfway through this batch of food and he only had symptoms after the dog was here for a week).
I'd really appreciate any input. I want to keep him on raw, but it's most important for him to be safe and healthy. My friends are also really skeptical and I'm starting to second guess this decision (it's not a problem for my health, and no kids around)
ps- Here are some pics of Percy