Cat & antibiotics

rising_from_the_ashes

Maybe an animal in the waiting room spooked her a bit - or she could maybe smell an animal who was (can't think of a better way to put this) a "resident" having to stay in the practice for treatment.

If you can get a liquid form then that would prob be the most stress-free for her - my old cat had kidney failure from the age of 3 and was put on tablets and, like your girl, it was a nightmare trying to get them down. I eventually managed to get a liquid form of the medication and an antibiotic (needed them pretty frequently) that he seemed to like crushed in his food (must've added some kind of flavouring to it).

I had him until he was 10 which was pretty good going due to the length of time he'd had the condition - and would never have managed this if I'd had to stick to tablets as it would've been far too stressful for him.

Fingers crossed she's feeling a bit better soon.

Fire_Fox

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

I rekon I'll be telephoning the vet tomorrow & asking for the liquid version.

I would've normally requested it, but she was so stressed, I just wanted to get her out of there. She is usually ok when at the vets, but for some reason she was just freaked out by the experience. It was the same vet I always see, so couldn't understand her reactions.

My mum visited today & she rekons alot of the cat's problems are related to old age & I should just try & keep her comfortable more than anything. I'd noticed she had lost a bit of weight & when the vet weighed her, she'd lost half a kilo. She is quite over-weight, but still worrying that she has lost this weight. Hopefully, she'll be ok.

Maybe she could smell an animal that had been in the vets room earlier, and if her gums are sore, she may have been eating less. Have you been advised to give probiotics to repopulate the gut flora after the antibiotics?

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Have you been advised to give probiotics to repopulate the gut flora after the antibiotics?

No, noone has ever mentioned probiotics. Wasn't that long ago she needed antibiotic injections for a kidney infection & probiotics weren't mentioned then either.

Where do they sell them for cats?

Fire_Fox

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

No, noone has ever mentioned probiotics. Wasn't that long ago she needed antibiotic injections for a kidney infection & probiotics weren't mentioned then either.

Where do they sell them for cats?

Please do OK it with your vet practice, but you can buy probiotics from companies like VetUK. Get freeze-dried rather than a liquid form as it's more stable and you get more lurgies for your money! They need to be stored in the fridge once opened, taken with or after food (so digestive acid does not kill them, carnivores have super strength acid) and not at the same time of day as the antibiotic. If that is impossible, just start the probiotics after you have finished the course of antibiotics, either way carry on for at least a week afterwards. Human doctors are terrible for not advising it, then are surprised people don't finish the course of antibiotics because they have the runs, and that IBS is so common!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

You could try a) mixing the medicine in a marble sized blob of chicken liver pate (Meep's favourite method of medicine delivery - so much so she will scarf down a tablet quite happily, pate being deemed worth the sacrifice)

or b) mixing the stuff with tetrafin goldfish flakes (the others fall for this one every time - they are so busy trying to get their noses into the pinch of flakes they don't notice the additional seasoning)

scaredy_cat

you could leave feeding her a bit later so she is hungry, them in a small amount, sprinkle the anti b's on, mix in and wait until she eats it all.

then feed her the rest of her food

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Telephoned the vet today & spoke to the receptionist. She advised that the antibiotics can be mixed with a small amount of water and syringed into my cat's mouth.

I took their advice & mixed one with water. I actually wiped my finger over the end of the syringe & tasted it...yuk it's horrid..very bitter tasting. Now I'm wondering what liquid I could mix it with to give a better taste, as failing that I don't know what to do

rising_from_the_ashes

What about some cat milk?

Or ..... you could try some of the pate style meat, mix with some water to make more liquidy (not sure if this is a word!) and then add the antibiotic to it?

It's a nightmare getting pets to take medication - I really wish they could talk sometimes so you could explain it's for their own good!!!!