Kitten with giardia + metronidazole side effects

Hello! After days of consistent searching online and two vet visits and an immense loss of money, I decided to join this site to see if anyone has any valuable advice or maybe something to calm me down, because Google results usually result in death or cancer, as you all know. 

I have a 5 month old Russian blue kitten, who comes from a perfectly healthy and clean cattery and who was in perfect health as I got him. My parents got themselves a kitten from a cat shelter approximately a week after I got to bring my baby home and their kitten had diarrhea, which we assumed was due to environment change & diet.

1,5 weeks ago my cat suddenly got diarrhea as well after a history of very healthy bowel movements. It was random and I thought it was diet related. Since there were no other symptoms except vomiting a couple of times, which I also thought were due to his upset stomach, I kept him on no food for 12 hours, then on chicken and rice diet, then on only dry food diet, and nothing helped. I then took him to my vet and had an x ray and poop sample, and it turns out he had an extremely positive giardia test!   My vet said everything else is fine with him, except that he's bloated and has giardia, but overall he seems like a very healthy boy. So my vet gave me Stomorgyl for 5 days.

After the prescription we came home, happy that we had found the cause and could start the treatment. The first day went by fine and there were no side effects. He was happy, running around, eating, drinking and nothing was wrong. I was so positive about the future. The next evening he got very lethargic and threw up 5 times every 1,5 hours. He still ate though.  I called the emergency and they told me to quit Stomorgyl. So next day my vet called me in and had another x ray and kept him in the clinic, because he was a little dehydrated and needed an IV drip. During the 6 hours that he spent there, they injected Metronidazole in his vein and since it didn't have any immense effect on him, my vet prescribed 50 mg of Metronidazole per day for 10 days. Other than that all vets took a look at him and his x ray and shrugged and said my cat is a very healthy cat. In the clinic he was very alert and curious and except for his bloated stomach, did indeed look very healthy.  But yesterday evening I got him back home, he ate and then slept a lot, which I thought was an okay side effect. Besides, he still played and seemed fine overall. Then at 4 am I woke up because he had nausea and I thought he would vomit any second, but it passed and he went to his toilet, I cleaned both the litterbox and him and then we slept until the morning. I thought to myself - mild lethargy & nausea - those two side effects I can deal with! Also - his poop is now basically liquid and smells horrid, but that I can also deal with + I know this is probably caused both by giardia & antibiotics. 

But then... My vet told me to not give metrodinazole before he has eaten. The problem is - since this morning, he has not eaten anything. He's been quite sleepy, but still plays if i try to play with him. But he completely refuses to eat. He ate a couple of his snacks before, but he doesn't touch his dry food and I tried feeding him 4 different brands of wet food - nothing. He just turns his head away and looks absolutely disgusted. He drinks, but much less than he should. I syringe fed him water and some wet food and gave him his first dose in the morning. About an hour later he threw up only water, so food along with the pill must have moved on from the stomach already. About an hour ago I gave him Synbiotic. Currently he's crawled next to me on the couch and sleeping again, and he is so unwell it breaks my heart. I've cried so much over him already, I'm so afraid I'm going to somehow lose my sweet little boy. Is it possible to die of giardia? I don't understand why my cat is reacting to antibiotics like this, my parents' kitten is 1 month younger and doesn't have any side effects at all. :'( What makes mine so much more prone to feeling so ill? 

Should I continue with the cure? The vet clinic is open tomorrow, but closed on Sunday, so is it okay if I wait until Monday to see if his symptoms ease? I don't want to quit the antibiotics because then he'll never get rid of Giardia. I really don't know what to do. If there's anyone who knows a cat that has had side effects but still continued receiving antibiotics and was fine afterwards, please let me know, right now it all just seems a waste of my nerves and my cat is stressed and unhappy. My vet said that it's okay if he throws up a little, she also said to come in again if he spends 2 days completely unresponsive and refusing to eat. It's been one day with semi-responsive and refusing to eat and I feel like the worst owner in the world. I wish this never happened to my beautiful boy. 

All answers are appreciated.
 

It's not your fault if your kitten has giardia I'm so sorry you're going through this!

It looks like all those things are normal side effects of metronidazole. Just like people, all cats are different- I get terrible side effects from all kinds of medicine, personally. You could try asking the vet if you could divide his dose and give it twice a day, that might be easier on his system. I would think he'd be okay til Monday so long as he doesn't become dehydrated, which you might need to keep helping him with. Try rubbing Karo syrup on his gums, or I have good luck with kitten glop, recipe here http://www.hdw-inc.com/glop.htm

Good luck I hope your kitten gets better!

It's not your fault if your kitten has giardia I'm so sorry you're going through this!

It looks like all those things are normal side effects of metronidazole. Just like people, all cats are different- I get terrible side effects from all kinds of medicine, personally. You could try asking the vet if you could divide his dose and give it twice a day, that might be easier on his system. I would think he'd be okay til Monday so long as he doesn't become dehydrated, which you might need to keep helping him with. Try rubbing Karo syrup on his gums, or I have good luck with kitten glop. I've copy pasted the recipe since I can't post external links yet:

INGREDIENTS:
1 lg. can evaporated milk (not Milnot)
2 tbsp. plain yogurt (not diet)
2 tbsp. mayonnaise (real)
1 tbs. Karo Syrup (light)
1 pkg. Knox gelatin
1 egg yolk (beaten)
1 cup of liquid unflavored Pedialyte

INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix milk, yogurt, mayonnaise and syrup together well. 
Bring 1 cup water to boil and mix in Knox gelatin; set aside. 
Mix egg yolk with small amount of milk mixture and beat well.
Add gelatin and water to milk mixture and beat well. Add in egg yolk mixture and beat well. 
Pour into a freezer safe bowl or similar type of bowl with a cover and set in refrigerator. 
We usually use Ice Cube Trays for our glop pudding. Pudding will last for two weeks covered in refrigerator.
Always warm pudding to room temperature (milk form) before feeding. 
It is very rich in calcium, this pudding can be used as a supplement for kittens, sick cats and show cats to put on weight. Several Veterinarians have approved this recipe as being balanced and nutritious.

Good luck and I hope your kitten gets well soon!

Thank you for the suggestion! I live in a relatively small country in Europe (Estonia), so I'll have to improvise with some of the items you mentioned in the recipe.

I am so worried he is not going to wake up from his sleep at one point anymore. He's just sleeping, sleeping, sleeping, then he wakes up and doesn't want to eat and now he doesn't even want to drink, turns the other side and falls right back asleep.   I don't know how I can get rid of giardia if he responds to medication like this.

Any kind of corn syrup or honey will do the trick. It gives a little boost of sugar and will hopefully stimulate his appetite. Poor baby, it's too bad he's reacting so badly to the medicine.

Couldn't stand it, took him back to the vet today. He's currently under their care because he was a little bit dehydrated and they don't offer me any other antibiotics than metronidazole, possibly other solutions like fenbendazole are not available in my country. My vet is giving him probiotics, vitamins and some food today because he has not eaten by himself for 36 hours, and when I pick him up later, he's antibiotics-free until Monday. I will have to keep them updated with how he's feeling and acting by then. Then my vet advised to still try and continue on Metronidazole and even the thought terrifies me because that means 10 days of seeing my pet suffer of side effects, possibly even longer.

She also offered to inject Metronidazole in his vein for 3 days and said that should also do the trick, so I would take him to the vet in the morning and back in the evening for 3 days. That also scares me, because I'm not sure of the side effects this could have on him, if even 50 mg of Metronidazole per day can have an effect so bad on him that he seems sicker than he was before I took him in. I don't know what the best solution is.

Just wanted to update this - after 3 days off the antibiotics, my kitten was back to his old self. Eating, drinking, playing, running around like a crazy little cat child... As for my vet, she told me to put him back on Metronidazole. I decided to try out alternative medicine instead for now, because I literally cannot stand the thought of my cat suffering or getting possible complications later on or even dying, because our medicine system sucks and doesn't offer anything else but Metronidazole, which he is allergic to, to cure giardia. I considered driving abroad to get fenbendazole, but yes - holistic approach, started yesterday. Today he had the most solid poop he has had in 2 weeks. Here's to hoping. 
 

:cross: that he continues to do well!

Can you order through Amazon or Ebay where you live? I've seen fenbendazole online and in stores near me. I'm surprised your vet only has metronidazole. Still, they're a vet and if they aren't concerned with his side effects I'd try to trust them.. I'm sorry your poor baby is reacting so badly!

It's not your fault he has giardia. I am sorry he got it and is unwell.

One of my cats has a bacterial overgrowth in her intestines. My vet prescribed her a 50 mg bottle of metronziole too and a probiotic. The metronziole twice a day every 12 hours for 10 days and the probiotic once a day for 20 days. . .tomorrow is her last day taking the medication. She had a mild lethargic period but no loss of appetite.


Hoping your boy continues to do well! What's his name? Do you have some pictures of him?

I actually found metronitozole made my cat's belly distended for his course of it for diarrhea. Once I stopped it, his belly didn't feel so distended--but he had pancreatitis and something else going on in his small intestine, so hard to really know.

I hope your kitty makes a full recovery!! 

Hey guys! He's doing much better. His poops are half-solid now. I will take a sample to the vet tomorrow. Overall he's happy, active and more playful than I've ever seen!

Elkie, I doubt I can order it and import it like this if it is not approved in my homecountry. But thanks for the suggestion!

Oldgloryrags88 - I hope your kitty has improved?! His name is Midori. I posted some pictures and an introduction in the general forums (new cats in the block). But here's my baby today, about 10 minutes ago. 


darkhorse321- yeah! It made him more bloated as well, but the other side effects were super scary. I was in complete distraught, staring at my beautiful and usually happy baby laying in his bed and looking at me with the saddest eyes, not even showing interest towards his most favourite toys. And then throwing up, again and again and again. Losing his ability to eat or drink because both made him so nauseated he just went and threw up again. It was a terrible time! So I'm pretty sure Metronidazole is harmful to my baby.
 

Another thing now that I have noticed is that he eats way more than he used to! It's like he's trying to put back all the weight he lost during the use of Metronidazole. Or maybe I just haven't noticed how much he eats before because it wasn't that important lol. I hope that doesn't mean some other condition. I am seriously scared of everything unusual by now! I am now almost certain I know what it feels like to have a sick child lol. Also, I was feeling around his stomach and I felt both his kidneys quite easily. Although then I read that they are usually quite easily palpated in lean cats as it is. So since he has no symptoms of kidney problems, I assume and hope that is just me overthinking as well. Oh the troubles and joys of cat owning!

Oh my gosh is he handsome! I love Russain Blues and any gray colored cat. Glad he is better! And, yes Star is better.

* Russian.

Me too, he's a gem!

So - good news. His giardia test came back negative and his stools are half loose/half solid already! I'm going to continue on some holistic methods to see if they help my kitten but for now we're fine and he is improving with every day. Also, I'm bleaching my whole apartment in the evening just in case.