Clavamox + Metronidazole = not eating?

[emiliemeow]

Hi all.
My cat was diagnosed with mild pancreatitis and hepatitis. She was given these two meds to treat it. I’m supposed to give them to her 1mL of each 2x a day for 30 days.

It was a process to figure out a way to administer them. Ultimately, a day and a half ago it became clear that the only way was liquid forms fed via a syringe. It hasn’t been very fun.
Well, today she didn’t eat any food. She went over to her food, had a sniff, then walked away. I’ve tried multiple kinds of food and no luck with any of them.

I understand that lack of appetite may be a side effect of both of these meds. I’ll be calling the vet tomorrow and I also have chicken baby food arriving tomorrow but I just feel so defeated and I’m at such a loss. Finally, after 2 weeks of trying different ways to get her to take the meds, I get her on them and now she refuses to eat.

I’m starting to wonder if this is worth doing. I’m feeling hopeless and I’m worried about her health, both physical and mental (she’s now afraid of me because of all the force-administering for the meds).

How common are these side effects? What else can I do? How king can she go without eating?

 

[emiliemeow]

How king can she go without eating?

sorry, I meant how long

 

[Antonio65]

Hi emiliemeow , sorry to read about your sick kitty.

So, if I have understood it right, your cat has been diagnosed with pancreatitis and hepatitis two weeks ago, right?
If I have understood it right, in these two weeks you tried to administer the meds in a pill form with little success, until you found out that a liquid form was easier to administer, but after a day and a half she stopped eating and you're asking if the meds might have given her an upset tummy.

Well, it might be, but the first thing that came to my mind is that she has stopped eating because she's not feeling well due to her issues that in these two weeks might have got a little worse?

Did you notice any other sign, like pain in her abdomen, nausea?

How long can she go without eating? Well, the rule of the thumb is that after 3 or 4 days without eating at all, a cat enters a phase that might lead to the hepatic lipidosis. So, one day isn't a great problem, but you have to make sure she will eat soon.

If she allows you to, you could push some suitable food into her mouth with a syringe with its needle removed. There are specific foods for this purpose, like Hill's A/D, Royal Canin Recovery, Eukanuba.
They are very liquid (Royal Canin is the best in my opinion) and can be given easily and smoothly with a syringe.

Let us know.

 

[emiliemeow]

Thank you for the reply. Yes, that is possible that maybe she’s just gotten worse over that time.
I did finally get some greeenies treats in her after making this post. I remembered I had some, figured it was worth a shot, and sure enough she happily ate them.
I tried to put some on top of her normal food but no luck there.

 

[Antonio65]

I think you need to force her to eat like I have explained yo above. If she lets you...

In cases like pancreatitis and hepatitis, not eating is really a bad thing.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. As I understand it, it is absolutely essential to get your cat to eat with pancreatitis. If I were you I would try any/all of the following in the hopes of jump starting her appetite.

• Baby food meats – make sure it doesn’t contain any garlic or onions (Gerber Stage 2 and/or Beechnut)
• Canned tuna or chicken in water
• Salmon
• Sardines (make sure there are no bones)
• Chicken or turkey - deli meats
• Rich kitten food
• Fish, tuna or BBQ flavored canned wet food
• Kentucky Fried Chicken or any similar product

The baby food meats can also be a way to get her to take the meds without you having to syringe-feed them to her. It would also help in that she would be getting some food in her tummy along with the meds which should aide in keeping her from feeling bad from them.
Other things to try with the meds are:

• Lickable treats, such as Applaws, Tiki Cat Stix, Vitakraft, Wholehearted, and Inaba Churu, just to name a few. Tiki Cat Mousse works well too.
• The 'juice' from canned tuna or chicken in water, with a piece of the meat as a treat afterward.

 

[She's a witch]

Cats with pancreatitis need supporting meds as much as possible, meaning nausea meds, pain killers, appetite stimulants, fluids, all of that to help her eat. If she doesn’t get any of it, I’d definitely contact your vet and ask about them. I don’t know much about hepatitis though, so not sure if the usual meds protocol for pancreatitis may be different in this case.

 

[emiliemeow]

Really good update!
She ate! I tried a few more treats and she finally went for some greenies. After that, she wanted more food. She had all of her breakfast this morning.
Administering the meds is still not fun for either of us, but this morning after I did she ate the treats I gave her after.

 

[Antonio65]

That's what we need to read, good news!
Please, be consistent with all the therapies. Pancreatitis is a devil of a disease and can be recurrent if not properly treated.

 

[daftcat75]

Great update! I would still ask your vet for anti-nausea (typically Cerenia aka maropitant) and appetite stimulant (typically mirtazapine) medications. Pancreatitis is tricky and you can have lots of ups and downs. Pancreatitis can also do long-term damage to the pancreas if it's not treated adequately. It's better to treat it too aggressively than not aggressively enough.

You can ask your vet to call these prescriptions into a compounding pharmacy like Wedgewood. They can compound the medications into easier to give formulas like transdermal, flavored liquids, or chew treats.
Veterinary Pharmacy

 

[emiliemeow]

We are using compounded meds from Wedgewood! She still didn’t really like it so I’m force giving them to her 2x a day. Not fun for either of us but it needs to be done.
She’s having diarrhea now so the vet recommended I get Proviable. I’m hoping she won’t notice it mixed with her food.

 

[daftcat75]

We are using compounded meds from Wedgewood! She still didn’t really like it so I’m force giving them to her 2x a day. Not fun for either of us but it needs to be done.
She’s having diarrhea now so the vet recommended I get Proviable. I’m hoping she won’t notice it mixed with her food.

That’s the Clavamox. It will kill the good gut bacteria the same as the bad. Use sacchromyces boulardii if Proviable doesn’t work out. It is yeast and it will survive the antibiotics. Many cats will willingly take s boulardii mixed in their food. Krista would eat the stuff straight on its own.

My Cat Has Diarrhea - What Do I Do?

 

[emiliemeow]

So the probiotics will be here Monday. There’s a new behavior that I’m concerned about though. She’s yowling after I give her the meds and right before she uses the litter box.

 

[emiliemeow]

So the probiotics will be here Monday. There’s a new behavior that I’m concerned about though. She’s yowling after I give her the meds and right before she uses the litter box.

to be clear, these times are the same - she uses the litter box basically a bit after I give her the meds.

 

[emiliemeow]

She’s now pacing back and forth between two hiding spots and grooming. My vet’s office is closed. This packing back and forth thing is new - I don’t know how concerned I should be.

 

[emiliemeow]

She’s now in my lap happily purring. Maybe she just wanted attention? I’ve been leaving her be more recently because she’s been grumpy about the meds. Hopefully that’s all it was...

 

[FeebysOwner]

I don't have much I can offer, but if she is having digestive upset as in diarrhea and a lack of appetite, which is common side effects with Clavamox, as well as Metronidazole. That might be what is behind the howling when using the litter box.

Are you getting her to eat food now? Those meds should really be given with food in order to help reduce the chances of digestive issues. And, as you already know, she needs to be eating food with her condition.

Purring isn't always a sign of contentment and happiness; sometimes cats purr to console themselves. Hopefully, that is not the case with her and maybe her tummy settled down some making her feel better than she was a bit ago.

 

[emiliemeow]

She is eating. With respect to when she gets the meds - usually a little bit before, some treats right after, then she’ll go back to her bowl and eat the rest. She’s not quite eating everything, but she got some food adversion the vet thinks after I tried so many times to sneak the meds into her food.

 

[emiliemeow]

She has stopped pacing and is just sitting in one of the hiding spots. Hoping that this means her tummy has calmed down a bit from this morning. I’m going to continue to keep an eye on her. My only concern is that earlier she kept going to the litter box, I’m thinking because of her tummy issues. I know sometimes that can mean a UTI blockage but I feel like, given she’s been on meds that often tread that for almost a week now, it’s likely more because of her upset stomach.

Her vet is unfortunately closed this weekend, so I have directions ready to go to the emergency vet, just in case. She’s very stressed though, so really trying to avoid that unless necessary.

 

[emiliemeow]

She didn’t go back to eat the rest of her food this morning after the dose (she ate maybe 1/4 before), so I just gave her a jar of gerber chicken baby food in her little hiding spot. She is lapping it up!