Clindamycin - Diarrhea

Oh dear. Snickers, after all he has been through, is now going through a whole new set of problems. Please read his story in the S.O.S. thread (Lost Bengal) for background information.

I took him in to the vet yesterday morning because he was gagging and I thought maybe his upper respiratory infection hadn't been cured. The vet took his temperature and he had a fever so she put him on Clindamycin, 50 mgs. once a day. I gave him his first dose when we got home. As the day progressed, he actually seemed a little less lethargic and was playing with the other cats. By nightfall, steep decline. He had diarrhea so bad, he couldn't control it. I found several messes throughout the house, the first few completely clear but with mucus so I wasn't sure if he threw up, peed or had diarrhea! As the night progressed, he was sleeping on his perch and fluid was dripping out of him occasionally while he slept, and he was completely unaware!

I did not give him a second dose and I researched on the net and see some horror stories of chronic diarrhea and colitis in some animals from that drug! I called the vet today and she said they prescribe that medication very widely for cats and have never heard of one having diarrhea from it. But she agreed it is suspicious that it occurred suddenly and severely hours after taking the drug. She has now prescribed another antibiotic (one he's been on before without incident) because of his fever, otherwise she might have tried taking him off all meds while this diarrhea situation clears up. She said not to start the new antibiotic for a few days to allow the diarrhea to hopefully cease. Well it's not getting any better today, day 2. It's still completely liquid and he has very little control over it. He is slightly lethargic but eats and drinks well ... he has a very good appetite and I give him water often, as well as moist food.

Has anyone had any experience with this? Do you have any suggestions for me on stopping diarrhea in cats? I feel so bad for him! Out in the cold of winter for 12 days, trapped in a garage for 8 of them, dehydrated and malnourished ... and now this!

OK thank you for the link! I will go buy it tomorrow morning. Is it something that can be mixed into moist food? When you say "full dose" will it give me the full recommended dose for a cat? He is 12 pounds. Do I need to check with the vet first? Can this harm him in any way? Any side effects? Thanks SO MUCH!

Wow, you guys have a lot of great advice! I read somewhere about that bark stuff too. I will start with the Bene-Bac....I don't want to do 2 new things at once because I want to see what effect each one has. We have a Petco near my house and my husband is going to buy it first thing in the morning. When I said Snickers is lethargic, he is slightly lethargic ... but he has been since he came back from running away for 12 days because of his upper respiratory infection, which is still an issue because he's sneezing sometimes and gagging sometimes (nothing constant) and has a fever. I need him back on an antibiotic for that, but first things first ... stopping this diarrhea. I think the reason the vet isn't concerned is because he is drinking tons and eating well ... so he feels well in general. He's grooming himself too but sometimes he can't keep up with all the drainage/dripping going on and his tail and rear end fur gets hard and stiff. So I've been saturating paper towels with waterless cat bath and washing him and drying with a soft towel ... he loves it and feels like he is being pampered. He does walk around during the day, wanting to be out with the family and other cats, and he is interested in toys for a short time so nothing looks life threatening or scary to me. But I know how serious dehydration could be, so I'm watching for it and giving him LOTS of water. He eats dry food on his own here and there, and I feed him moist food twice a day, sometimes three times, to supplement that. His normal weight is around 14-15 pounds and he was down to 10 pounds when we got him back. He was 11.5-12 pounds at the vet 2 days ago, so he had been putting weight back on. Thanks again, everyone! I will post an update after we get him started on Bene-Bac tomorrow!

OK, yes ... my husband picked up Bene-Bac in gel formula (they didn't have powder). By the time he got home with it, it was noon and Snickers hadn't gone yet today. He had eaten and drank several times, so I'm thinking it's finally resolving itself. It is now 2:18 and he still hasn't gone. So I'm thinking this is a good sign and I'm afraid to give him anything and mess with Mother Nature!

He is not taking the new antibiotic yet and won't be until we see that his diarrhea has resolved. Another day or two, maybe. Does anyone think I should do something different?

P.S. The new antibiotic is Baytril. Does that seem appropriate? He was on several rounds of it when he was about 8 months old for a URI and did fine on it.

Ok then here is my plan. I am going to wait for his next bowel movement (which, by the way, it's 10:01 p.m. and he still hasn't gone today, to my knowledge). If he HAS gone today, then it was normal because when it's diarrhea, nobody will bury it and the boxes have no diarrhea in it. I was gone for about 4 hours today so I couldn't montir from 6-10:00 p.m. but I did watch him alllll day and he did not go till that point.

So ... I'm thinking the diarrhea, caused by the antibiotic, is resolving itself. Thank God. But I'm not starting him on the Baytril until I see a normal bowel movement out of him. Otherwise, if he has diarrhea, I won't know if it's from the first or second antibiotics. Even though all indications are that the first antibiotic troubles are over since he didn't have a BM today.

Once I do start him on the second antibiotic (Baytril), I will give him Bene-Bac at the same time, once a day for 7 days, then every other day for 7 days. Sound good?

Well, we saw no evidence of Snickers pooping at all Saturday and Sunday, but we know he must have at some point. We didn't see him use the litter box at all, and we know he must have at least urinated. But he seemed to be feeling so unwell (URI) and felt a little hot to me, that I decided to give him the Bene-Bac and Baytril on Sunday night.

WOW, what a difference. Already today he was looking SO much better! He's been running around, playing with toys, playing with the new kitty, and torturing Simba (our other Bengal) all day. Back to normal! I feel bad for Simba ... when I got home he meowed at me and I remarked right away that he sounded hoarse or something. I was concerned he might be getting sick. Well, a few hours later I knew why ... Snickers started chasing him around the house and Simba was literally yelling like a banshee. He is so sensitive and so scared and HATES Snickers chasing him around an wrestling with him! So I had to separate them temporarily again. I don't know how I'll ever get him over that. Simba always screamed about Snickers before, but he's way worse now, ever since Snickers got back from his little escape trip. Killer is, Snickers is 12 pounds and Simba is about 18-20 pounds! Little Freddie is about 7 pounds (7 mo. old) and Simba plays just fine with him, but Snickers is a pretty tough cookie.

Anyway, Snickers' health seems SO much better! He is no longer listless and lethargic and tired all the time. He's got his spunky bengal personality back ... we really missed it!

Thanks so much for all the advice on the antibiotics and Bene-Bac!