Spiral Bacteria in Kitten - How much to feed him while he's on meds?

natalieh

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One of my kittens has what the vet called "spiral bacteria" in his intestine which was the cause of his loose stool/diarrhea. I took a stool sample to the vet yesterday and they gave me some Metronidazole to give him twice daily. I'm hoping for some improvement in his poop here in a few days! It used to be more yellow/orange in color but has now turned more brown (not dark) after only having three doses. It is VERY runny now though. Seriously - sometimes he can't even make it to the liter box and there will be some drops of poop leading to the box before there is the big one there... The fact that it's more liquidy is slightly concerning... but I'm hoping this is just his system working with the medicine to push out the bad stuff...
 

I am wondering though... do you think I should be feeding him more or less while he's on the medicine? He is skinny and feels hungry most of the time because these bacteria essentially cause food to be pushed through his system. So on one end it seems like I should feed him more since he isn't getting as much out of the food. On the other hand, I wonder if feeding him less would help the medicine work better. I certainly don't want him to go hungry. Just wondering if feeding him too much or even a normal amount would "dilute" the medicine in a way.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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You didn't mention the age of the kitten, but I wouldn't think you would want to deprive him of food, even a little bit, if he is little. 

However, just in case, I think you should probably ask the Vet.  I would also mention the fact that his stool is even looser than before ( if that's the case) even though the color is now more normal.

BTW, I have never heard of "spinal bacteria" and can't even find anything when googling!

 
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natalieh

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Yeah, I was googling as well and couldn't really find anything. She had a scientific name for it but I can't remember what it was. I believe it started with an S but I'm not sure.

The kitty was born in mid-March according to the foster home so that would put him at just over 14 weeks now. I just decided to give him a normal amount of food... this morning his stool was firmer and not liquidy like yesterday which was nice to see. It's still pudding like though. I will keep looking at it and hopefully it will continue to improve. I have an appointment for both kitties on Friday for a second round of dewormer - good timing for another check up!
 
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