Antibiotics may resolve feline diarrhoea but the veterinarian has to do extensive tests in order to diagnose antibiotic-responsive diarrhoea. The veterinarian has to rule out all other possible causes of the diarrhoea first.
Apparently, it is not uncommon for cat owners to ask if antibiotics can cure their cat’s diarrhoea but antibiotics are only useful if a specific bacterial cause is found in faecal cultures. In fact, in most cases of diarrhoea, we are told that antibiotics are not helpful and they can even make matters worse.
When antibiotics are effective to treat diarrhoea, it is believed that cause of the diarrhoea is a “small intestine bacterial overgrowth” (pet MD website).
The source of this information is Dr Bruce Fogle.
P.S. The most common cause of diarrhoea is a sudden change in diet. Some cats develop lactose intolerance causing diarrhoea. Lactose-free milk should be used. If diarrhoea has been caused by scavenging it will normally clear up quite quickly. Adding an appropriate probiotic supplement to a cat’s diet will help diarrhoea clear up faster. Other causes of diarrhoea include: medicines, poisons, intestine problems including inflammatory bowel disease, worms and tumours, intestinal infections caused by viruses, single celled parasites and bacteria, metabolic diseases such as diabetes and hyperthyroidism and gastrointestinal infections.
Click on this link to see a list of articles on this website about feline diarrhoea.
That’s wonderful, and of course one of the benefits of Gabriel being able to go out. That’s the best raw food for any cat!
I do know that some pet stores and online companies sell frozen mice, so that’s an alternative for indoor cats. I might consider it if I had freezer space. But I don’t know how I’d actually feel about it. I have watched Mitzy kill a mouse that she found under a storage unit outside a few years ago. Maybe a good question for readers, to see if they’d consider buying frozen mice, or if they do. (Of course, not as much fun for the cat, but we’re talking nutrition here.)
Good nutrition really is key to healing. That she is more affectionate is a good sign that she made a full recovery. Usually floxed animals remain distant and fearful, even if they had been affectionate beforehand. The probiotic yogurt is good– it might be as good as the probiotics your vet gave you. I’ve found that naturally probiotic foods are a powerful way to improve gut health.
It is truly horrible that a bet gave her such a strong antibiotic without confirming an infection. Luckily, she did not go outside around that time. Cats can be blinded after being given Baytril if they go outside on a sunny day.
That mouse was good for him, Michael! A cat’s natural food. I also would like to be able to feed Monty a higher quality food. If he does catch a mouse he does not eat it, he just licks it. He is literally too lazy to tear meat from the bones of his kills– but if I would just cut it up for him and put it in his dish? Not gonna happen. Ew.
I envy your ability to be able to pop to a local place to get raw cat food. I would love to be able to do that. That said, this morning as on many mornings, Gabriel, came in with a mouse and ate it, lock stock and barrel. I can’t find a single trace of the mouse in the flat. He then ate commercially prepared cat food.