Flagyl?

Hi Everyone,
Marc has been having a bout of runny poos. The vet put him on Flagyl. I gave him his first dose this evening, and as expected - it didn't go well.

I did a search in the forum on Flagyl, so I know many of you have cats who have been on it. Did it make them foam at the mouth? Marc took his dose, and ran away shaking his head and basically spitting foam out everywhere, or at least I hope it was foam and not his entire dose. It has a very strong smell, so I can't imagine it tasted good.

anyone else experience this? I'm concerned he didn't actually take in any of his meds. Thanks!

Flagyl, or metronidazole as the generic version is called, is really a horrible tasting medication and can be a nightmare to get in your cat. I've taken Flagyl myself and it even leaves a bad taste in your mouth. It is the best treatment for diarrhea though.
Foaming at the mouth is common when a cat gets something it his mouth that he doesn't like. It could be caused by anything bitter tasting. It's nothing dangerous, just unpleasant for the kitty. It's mainly an attempt to get the stuff out of their mouths. It's hard to know if any medication was swallowed or if it all came out with the foam. To me on the safe side I'd wait until tomorrow to give another dose.
To get the pill in the cat I would recommend using a "piller" that you use to basically shove it down the cat's throat so that he won't taste it. You can get them at most pet stores. You could also try to coat the pill in butter or something similar your cat likes to mask the taste and help it go down easier. Nutrical could help. Some people swear on pill pockets but I've never tried them so I can't say. Don't try to crush it up and mix it with food. The smell of it is really strong and your cat won't touch it. I've tried to mix it with everyting under the sun and not even my all eating dog will touch it.
Another option, which can be costly, is to get a flavored liquid version of the medication made at a compound pharmacy. I know people that have had a lot of luck with that. Sometimes it's a lot cheaper to get a medication from a compound pharmacy and sometimes it's more expensive. You just have to check. I get medication for one of my cats from Roadrunner pharmacy that specializes in pet medications. Your vet has to call in the prescription to them and they ship it to you.

Have fun

Thank you so much for replying so quicly!
I should have mentioned this is a liquid form of the medication - though, unfortunately for Marc, it doesn't seem to be flavored.

So it's the liquid version I'm scared he's spitting out while foaming at the mouth.

Oh... I feel for you. Yeah, it's an unpleasant med. I had to give the pill form to my Genever for 10 days, twice a day. It was a huge ordeal. I imagine the liquid is even harder to give! Good luck with the rest of the doses, and I hope he gets enough of the medicine in his system to make him better!!

I had trouble with it with Patches and he normally isn't bad to pill. One of the vet techs where I take him finally crushed them and put them inside small capsules. That was fine until I didn't get one far enough back in his mouth and he held it in his mouth until it opened up.

Yes that's normal. You can probably guess which kitten in this picture got some Metrazol (as they call it on my side of the pond)

Lynxx used to foam at the mouth every time we gave him a pill. 1 of the reasons we stopped doing it ourselves, and let the vet tech's do it. Out of 3 only 1 doesn't fight us when it comes to medicine.

Thanks everyone!

mimosa - LOL! that picture was very funny. thank you for sharing!

If it's not that much liquid you could put it inside a gelatin capsule. Just buy some sort of vitamin, open the capsule and empty the stuff inside and reuse the capsule.
What I do with liquid though is stick the syringe far back in their mouth and squirt it in, close the mouth right away and make kitty swallow by rubbing his throat and blow in his nose. It doesn't always work but it's worh a shot.

If nothing else works there is an injectable version. Imo it is much easier to give a cat an injection than trying to get them to swallow something.

I've had to do the twice a day liquid dosing for Sophie! I usually sit on the floor with my legs crossed, lay Kitty on her back in the bend of my leg, have a tissue/paper towel handy, and open her mouth with my left hand and use a syringe with the flagyl and inject it deep down the back of her mouth and immediately close her mouth as she swallows the liquid! Usually when her tongue comes out she has digested the full dose and a quick wipe up of the mouth and fur and she's done! With pills I do about the same but use my finger to get thepill deep down her throat, otherwise it gets spit out! Sophie get meds three times a day now so we get lot's of practice!

It is really excellent for diarrhea, but I would totally recommend you getting it in a pill and also getting a pill-popper, which will help to put the pill all the way on the back of the kitties throat, avoiding foaming... Good luck!

Awful, bitter tasting stuff. Liquid is difficult to dispense as they always can taste it. Get the pill form and a pill plunger. Just get the plunger in the back of the throat past their tongue. I usually scruff with one hand and plunge with the other. Metro will get a handle on the diarrhea!!

I've also had those once myself (not liquid though). It was sooo bad, the taste was just horrible! And I always threw up 2h after taking the pill.. I had to switch it to other one. I can relate to your kitty, poor thing!

I've called my vet to ask for the pill form. At least I can try to put it in a pill popper and see how it goes. If not, I'm going to try to get it closer to the back of his throat as some of you suggested.

This medicine is just disgusting! I can taste it in my mouth just from cleaning up his foam. yuck. poor little guy

I read the threads here from time to time but just registered.   I know this thread is old by maybe my post can be of some help to someone.  I apologize for waking an old thread.

I have an 8 year old Himi.   He's has had bouts of what the vet refers to as Colitis since he was a year or so old.  We've pretty much worked it down to once or twice a year and most are caught early and are mild.  He just went through a bad one, first since April 2013 and first "bad" one since his very first one.  He is still working on getting back up to speed (after 10 days now) but doing much better.   Relative to this thread, the vet has me administer Metronidazole 2X per day, usually for a 5 day course.  10 day course this time.   BUT, my vet dispenses Metronidazole Benzoate.  The Benzoate form is not bitter, or at least not nearly as bitter.  There is some concern that this form of the drug could be potentially harmful in cats (due to the benzene).  Nothing confirmed and in short term, intermittent use my vet (and others) feel it is safe.   It's compounded for the vet in a flavored liquid form and my cat tolerates the dosing very well.   As long as I deposit it in the back of his mouth he is fine with it and it goes right down.  I've actually tasted a drop and, to me anyway, it isn't bitter at all.  Whatever base they are using, the taste is sweet.

Maybe this can be of some help to someone.   I know Metronidazole is very commonly used for tummy issues in cats and I would personally hate to have to dose him with the "regular" Metronidazole.

Best of luck to all of you.

My Mainecoon has IBS and takes Flagyl. I've given it to him in tablet form and liquid , both of which makes him foam at the mouth. It was so difficult to give to him and I thought there must be a way that he can't taste the pill or liquid. As my cat was already taking another med , budesinide in a compound form I asked pharmacist if they could compound Flagyl and they said yes. I asked my vet to call in a prescription. The medicine is in a capsule form, small for cats and easy to give. I use a pill injector and my cat taste the pill and problem was solved. [emoji]128570[/emoji] I even got empty capsules to put other meds in so I could put 2 or 3 in together as my cat takes 4 meds daily.

I inadvertently left out the most important word when compounding Flagyl Your cat cannot taste anything and the capsule slides down easily.
This segment goes along with my last message

I'm hoping Baby, a feral I am fostering does not have giardia. I am waiting for the results. I thought it could be tapeworm  (although I haven't seen segments).

I can't touch him. How many injections of metronidazole would be needed?   And, has anyone succeeded with the liquid form?  We originally didn't have a fecal sample to test

and used Strongid-T (liquid) and then Albon for coccidia crushed in his food..

Baby still has soft, foul odored stool!  Waiting for lab results.

Is the treatment with metronidazole really 14 -15 days? AGH. These are the most expensive ferals, (and the most spoiled, lol)

nybody said:

 
I'm hoping Baby, a feral I am fostering does not have giardia. I am waiting for the results. I thought it could be tapeworm  (although I haven't seen segments).

I can't touch him. How many injections of metronidazole would be needed?   And, has anyone succeeded with the liquid form?  We originally didn't have a fecal sample to test

and used Strongid-T (liquid) and then Albon for coccidia crushed in his food..

Baby still has soft, foul odored stool!  Waiting for lab results.

Is the treatment with metronidazole really 14 -15 days? AGH. These are the most expensive ferals, (and the most spoiled, lol)

Click to expand...

The dose is low enough in cats that it can be capsulated in small gel caps.  You can use a piller with a little bit of margarine on the capsule and it goes right down.  I like the syringe type pillers that hold a little water to chase the capsule ( use very little water) and have a silicone tip to hold the capsule.  I've stopped using the benzoate form of metronidazole  (Flagyl).  I crush the tablets and weigh out the powder for the correct dose per my vet.  A bad case may take a 2 week course 2x a day.   Trust your vet ... As long as he or she offers a form that is tasteless.  Metronidazole is impossible to give if the cat tastes it.  Again, unless its the benzoate form.

Good luck

Adult Cat Feeding:

Vet put my cat on Metronidazole chewable tablets. Syringe feed your cat using the tabs.

1 10 ml feeding syringe

1 can of Hills prescription diet or purina critical nutrition.

Mix or blend cat food adding a little water until a slight slurry is achieved.

Crush chewable tablet into fine enough particle to exit syringe.

Add droplets of water to tablet particles (in bowl or cup) until a slight slurry is achieved.

Remove plunger and add about 3 mil of slurry food into syringe.

Now add your Metronidazole slurry into syringe.

Now finish by adding slurry cat food up to the 10 mil mark.

Reinsert plunger and you're ready to go.

Feed into cats mouth emptying half the syringe. (You want the Metronidazole into his mouth)

Cat may experience mild distaste, but 30 sec later he should be good to go.(no drooling, no freaking out)