Diarrhea when on Antibiotics

My poor Teddy...
I've said in previous posts stuff about his persistent URI. He has 5 days left on his Zithromax treatment, and his diarrhea is getting worse. Any time he's gone on an antibiotic he's had terrible diarrhea, but this time it's worse - in terms of smell, consistency, etc. He's actually eating, drinking, playing, and behaving completely normally, which is what we find so surprising. The medication is definitely working - he's finally stopped coughing, his sneezing is greatly reduced, and his breathing is a lot clearer thanks to less snot.

I'll be stopping by the vet tomorrow morning, but I'm sure they're just going to tell me to complete his course (he also has a follow up on Tuesday) of antibiotics and as long as he's eating and drinking, that he should be okay.

My questions for anyone who'd like to answer are:

1. Have you had a cat on Zithromax, and has your cat has terrible diarrhea?

2. How long does it typically take for stool to return to normal after finishing antibiotics? I didn't pay close enough attention last time and I can't remember how long it took him. I didn't know if there was a "typical" time range.

I cant talk for my cat but I had that trouble with Zithromax and loose stools

I would imagine a day or two after treatment should be back to normal

When Wawa came to me he was covered with bruises, a large abcess on his leg and some open wounds. The vet of course put him on antibiotics, etc. and Wawa developed a bad case of diarrhea. I asked the vet to find other means to heal my boy. She did. She stopped the antibiotics, increased the topical medicines, and prescribed a healthy diet of homemade food. Also she told him to keep him confined in his cattery. Wawa took longer to heal but the diarrhea stopped.
I know in Teddy's case he needs antibiotics but ask your vet if there are other similar medicines that don't cause diarrhea.
Hope Teddy gets well soon!

Poor Teddy. I hope he's better soon!

I don't know if this is much help, but when my dog had trouble with diarrhea from her antibiotics, the vet suggested giving her yogurt (several hours after the antibiotics so it wouldn't interfere). Perhaps you could ask the vet if that might help? Don't give your cat anything without checking with your vet first, though!

antibiotics cause diarrhia because they kill bacteria. There are friendly bacteria in the intestinal tract that keep it healthy and working good, with antibiotics it kills everything, even the friendly ones unfortunately. The best thing you can do is start giving liquid acidophlis. I wouldn't give any milk beased products because cats have a hard time digesting those. You can get acidophlis from a health food store. Keep feeding it to your cat even after the antibiotics are finised. She will need time for the friendly bacteria to grow and become restablished in her intestinal tract.

This is a common physical reaction to antibiotics, as has already been well explained. I, too, recommend giving Teddy acidophilus. I always give this to my girls when they are on any antibiotic.

One of may cats had the same thing.
The prob with ABios and cats it that some nuke all the bacteria in the intestinal tract.


Like some of the others said, some acidophilus powder OR liquid should help. You can also get a PRO biotic powder for cats. If this is a chronic problem with your cat this could be a good investment.

The other thing to do would be to feed him plain, deboned, deskinned, boiled chicken breast. You can add a teaspoon or so of canned, sugar free pumpkin to this too. not fresh pumpkin. it has to be the canned variety and has to be free of sugar.

Then once he has come off the antibios if he is still soft the fastest way to get everything back to normal is to give him just a tiny bit of raw chicken, or beef. I got this advice from my vet. Not a whole bunch. Just one tiny heaped teaspoon will do the trick. Just make sure the meat is fresh and from a good source.

Originally Posted by tuxedokitties

Poor Teddy. I hope he's better soon!

I don't know if this is much help, but when my dog had trouble with diarrhea from her antibiotics, the vet suggested giving her yogurt (several hours after the antibiotics so it wouldn't interfere). Perhaps you could ask the vet if that might help? Don't give your cat anything without checking with your vet first, though!

Click to expand...

My vet's office recommended this too. They said you can use any flavor as long as it's not chocolate or coffee.

Originally Posted by zazi

One of may cats had the same thing.
The prob with ABios and cats it that some nuke all the bacteria in the intestinal tract.


Like some of the others said, some acidophilus powder OR liquid should help. You can also get a PRO biotic powder for cats. If this is a chronic problem with your cat this could be a good investment.

The other thing to do would be to feed him plain, deboned, deskinned, boiled chicken breast. You can add a teaspoon or so of canned, sugar free pumpkin to this too. not fresh pumpkin. it has to be the canned variety and has to be free of sugar.

Then once he has come off the antibios if he is still soft the fastest way to get everything back to normal is to give him just a tiny bit of raw chicken, or beef. I got this advice from my vet. Not a whole bunch. Just one tiny heaped teaspoon will do the trick. Just make sure the meat is fresh and from a good source.

Click to expand...

My cats have not had any loose stools at all since I put them on a raw diet. I would have recommended this too but not sure if you should give him any raw untill the infection is completely gone.
I hear too much bone will cause constipation so maybe give your cat some ground bone and see if that does the trick.

Thanks everyone.

I know all about what the antibiotics do... both from teaching it to poor unassuming students and from the unpleasant personal experience. I just didn't know how a poor little kitty could handle it... I can, but Teddy? Poor boy. I'll talk to the vet about yogurt - since Teddy has IBS, we're very hesitant about trying new things.

Shambelle, ask you vet about a pro biotic powder. They do come in non-lactose varieties which may not cause any IBS flare ups.

Yogurt may do that since it's milk based.

Diarrhea is a normal side effect of antibiotics. You can give him a product called Bene-bac to repopulate his normal intestinal flora. Be sure to give it as far apart from the antibiotic dose as possible.

My cat just got off of the same antibiotic for a URI. The diarrhea is still going on four days after antibiotic was completed. When I called at day seven of ten day course, the Vet gave me probiotic sprinkles to put on his food daily, to build up good bacteria. This didn't work, my thought is that I should have been given the sprinkles the day the antibiotics began..I called again, and I got kitty kaeopectate From the vet. ( don't use human kind, it has ingredients that felines cannot tolerate) he gets 2 mg twice a day . Three days later, still having problems. It's foul . I plan to bring him in tomorrow , because dehydration is a concern. The vet said it takes several days for the kaeopectate, to work, but I see no difference at all, and he is an older cat and I guess I worry more. Huge snow storm here now, so not going anywhere tonight.

When my cat had loose stool, probiotics from a vet didn't work, but refrigerated acidophilus from a health food store worked. I think the one from vet might had been stored in warm place and became ineffective. I know the acidophilus worked because he became very gassy on the first day and then his stool started firming up.