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I need a cat expert. My dilema is the diahreah going on with the kittens i rescued. It seemed to have been getting a little better but not completely and it had a very awful smell. Story short my local vet prescribed some Albon or Alabon, ( i'm sure you know what i'm talking about) Since it is a antibiotic, it has made their stool even more water, it seems i just went back to as bad as before. Now.. he also asked for me to give my cats some pro-biotic yougurt (about 1-2cc) every 4 hours. not working as well as i'd like. My question is, when would be the best time to give it to them. Right before the medicine or couple minutes after? The vet also said for me to withold all food and just give them oatmeal. Is this the answere? Oatmeal is a hight fiber and would'nt that make their stool even more runny? Please let me know what you think. I'm going insane and they've had diahreah for 2 weeks.
Optional Information: Pet's Sex: Male Pet's Age: 3 Already Tried: My kittens are both male & female and they are 3 months old.
Hello and welcome to Just Answer
I'm sorry to hear your babies are not feeling well. True certain antibiotics can cause diarrhea as the medication doesn't know the difference between good bacteria and bad, and just kills it all.
The yogurt is a good remedy and take a while to start showing it's effects. So keep that up on that a consistent basis. Sometimes having something on the stomach before taking a medication can help deter the gastric side effects. So feed before or use the yogurt as a means of giving the antibiotic (put it in the yogurt).
As for the oatmeal, I understand your logic about it. Fiber can make one go more often but does help add "bulk" to the stool.
If the oatmeal is not helping, try some infant rice cereal. The same baby cereal you feed human babies. It is a little more gentle on the stomach and can add bulk to the stool without all the added fiber as oatmeal has. Just mix it up with water or unflavored pedialyte (NO MILK).
Pedialyte will help a lot if dehydration is an issue from the diarrhea. Water intake is important with medication to prevent crystals from forming in the urine.
Sincerely, Micki
Dearn Dr. Micki,
Thank you so much for your help and time. I am so glad to have heard back from you.
Thank you for the wonderful idea on the rice cereal without the fiber. When you mentioned it., i heard a "ding" in my head. That is the answere i was praying for to help me through this process. Now..there is something, and i hope i got this right., you mentioned puting a little yougurt along with the med? if so, would'nt the med kill the good bacteria in the yougurt anyway?
That is a very smart question, and the answer is no it will not.
Yogurt contains what we all know is called probiotics. What are probiotics?
They are live microorganisms that restore and balance in the digestive tract by prohibiting the overgrowth of pathogens. Pathogens cause diarrhea.
Antibiotics while doing a good thing in the body unfortunately also allow the overgrowth of these pathogens causing antibiotic associated diarrhea (AAD).
So in short without a lot of boring hard to pronounce words, Probiotics balance the bad effects of antibiotics in the body once digested without impairing the needed effects of the antibiotic.
Dear Dr. Micki,
I need a bit of further info. regarding this topic. First i would like to say.., since their stool is so runny and they are going through this process i thought maybe some probiotics in form of powder rather than yogurt might be helpful. I purchased a probiotic at the health food store for people. I've heard many pet parents go in to buy this for their pets, but, i would like to make sure with you. Some probiotic brand contained numerous amounts and others just a couple.
I purchased the most simple one and it has; L.acidophilus, Bifidubaterium Bifidum and Bifidum bacterium logum. Under the bottle dirrections it states that for infants 1/2 capsule can be sprinkles on food or water. I am not sure if the bacteria normaly found in kittens compares to this and if it would it be ok to give them this? Or, is there one with futher strains that might be even more beneficial?
Also, there was one available pet probiotic via pet pharmacy which only carried one probiotic bacteria strain (the same one found in yougurt) along with digestive enzimes. I was not sure if the digestive enzyme much like the oatmeal might not allow for a more solid stool sooner OR, would the digestive enzyme help?
Lastly i would like to say that i truly appreciate your help and i like the form in which you explain. Sometimes on this web site i am not able to get the same person to respond but would like to receive my answere from you again. How can i make sure i receive your assistance again, even if i must wait a little bit? Well, thank you again so much and hope to hear from you soon.
I received a request from your account asking if i was satisfied with the answere but i had to ask something further about the probiotics and did not receive an answere regarding this same issue and topic. I am not too familiar with how this site works just yet but i hope I'm somewhere on the right track. Maybe my question did not go through, although i do see it on this page right about this reply i am sending. I hope to communicate again with you soon and to know if you received my last question. Thank you for your time and care. ~ Lily
Hello again,
I am so very sorry in the delay getting back with you. My computer actually crashed on Wed. and I just now got the new one up and running.
With kittens it is best to stick with pet formula supplements for the most part. Once they get the antibiotic out of their system, things will get better.
It will pass. Don't go over board over treating it. Cats in general are very sensitive to medications and human OTC drugs and supplements.
Thank you for your time in responding, especialy after your computer issue; I know work can become a bit backed up. Well, even though you did say it would be better to stay away from people supplements; since many vets recommend yogurt, I would still like to know about the following. I could have looked it up, but i am sure that your resources would be better than mine in finding out about the natural or common bacteria found in kittens and if its anything like the following;
I purchased the most simple probiotic i could find and it carries.., L.acidophilus, Bifidubaterium Bifidum and Bifidum bacterium logum. Under the bottle dirrections it states that for infants 1/2 capsule can be sprinkles on food or water. Does the bacteria normaly found in kittens compare to this?
If you are going to use an over the counter supplement for them, use fortiflora or culturelle. This is an all natural safe to use probiotic formula. It is stronger than yogurt by using a different strain of bacteria called Lactobacillus GG.
Terri Riba, another wonderful expert here on Just Answer, advised me with this as the best and only human supplement to use for cats and kittens. As I was saying earlier they are sensitive to OTC products. And you have to sure before giving them anything.
You can give them a 1/4 capsule of this once a day each.
Here is a link to the product:
http://www.culturelle.com/
You can buy it at most drug stores.
Also if the Albon is not working well, ask your vet about Flagyl. It does the some thing as Albon, but some pets handle it better.
Experience: Expert in cat medical and behavior issues.