Keep Reading To Get A Better Understanding Of The Antibiotics Available And What Each Of Them Treats
Amoxicillin: A good all-around antibiotic, amoxicillin for cats works to stop bacterial growth and is typically used to treat a variety of infections. Its available in capsule form and is administered orally. Amoxicillin for cats can also be given with food and comes in multiple dosage forms for fussier pets.
Cephalexin: A prescription antibiotic, cephalexin capsules are used for specific bacterial infections, including skin wounds and abscesses, and cat UTI treatment. Cephalexin for cats is available in both capsule and liquid form and is administered orally. It may be given with a small amount of food.
: An antibiotic used for deep skin and mouth infections, including dental and bone bacterial ailments, clindamycin also treats some protozoan infections. Clindamycin for cats is available in capsule or tablet form and is given orally. If you are using the tablet or capsule forms, ensure your pet has some water to wash it down, or it could cause damage to their esophagus.
: Used specifically to combat diseases spread by ticks, doxycycline is a prescription antibiotic that treats infections including Lyme disease, salmon poisoning, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Doxycycline for cats is available in both capsule and tablet forms and is administered orally. It may be given with food and cats should have at least a teaspoon of water.
Ways You Can Help Stray And Feral Cats
From little to big, there are many ways to help stray and feral cats. Here are some, beginning with one you can do at home:
As part of living in a civilized society, it is our obligation to look after those who are weak, sick, or powerless, says Slater. Our responsibility includes our domestic animals, whom we took from the wild and made dependent on us.
Linda P. Case, MS, adjunct assistant professor, University of Illinois, College of Veterinary Medicine author, Canine and Feline Behavior and Training: A Complete Guide to Understanding Our Two Best Friends.
Margaret R. Slater, DVM, PhD, senior director of epidemiology, animal health services, ASPCA, Urbana, Ill author, Community Approaches to Feral Cats: Problems, Alternatives & Recommendations.
Humane Society of the United States: Feral Cats: Frequently Asked Questions and Testimonials Describing the Advantages of Trap-Neuter-Return for Feral Cats.
Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, Kanab Utah: Caring for Feral Cats.
Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project, Seattle: Feeding Stray Cats? Youre Not Alone.
ASPCA: Feral Cats FAQ.
Diseases That Can Be Carried By Cats
There are tons of dangerous bacteria flourishing inside a cats mouth. Cats teeth are sharp and pointy. When they bite you, they are essentially injecting bacteria deep into your skins tissue.
The puncture hole can quickly seal over and trap bacteria from the cats mouth under your skin.
The warm and dark inner layers of your skin are optimal for the growth of the bacteria. Skin infections, known as cellulitis, can occur quickly after a bite.
Here are some of the potential infectious diseases that can happen after a cat bite:
Read Also: Urinary Tract Infection How To Treat Without Antibiotics
Wild In The Streets: The Life And Health Of Stray And Feral Cats
Feral cats often live in vacant lots, dodge cars, and eat from trash cans face infection, disease, and an endless cycle of pregnancy and suffer extremes in treatment and weather. The life of a feral, stray, or abandoned cat is often short, sometimes lasting for just two or three years.
Of course, feral cats also leave issues on the human doorstep — including noisy fights, odor, urinating to mark territory , flea infestations, and the inevitable breeding that creates even more unwanted cats.
Many experts agree that one of the best ways to help feral cats and cat groups — called colonies — is through neutering programs.
Continued
Home Treatments May Be Recommended
If your cats eyes are red, inflamed and obviously bothering him, your veterinarian may recommend an eyewash, ointment or drops to help. If the discharge from the eyes is clear, a saline wash can flush the eyes and the discharge can then be gently cleaned from the fur around the eyes. Sometimes the saline will sting, and in that case, a prescription eye ointment will be prescribed. If the discharge from your cats eyes is no longer clear and becomes yellow, green or thick, talk to your vet as additional treatment will be needed.
Clean your cats nose with a warm, wet paper towel. Be gentle cleaning up the nasal discharge as her nose will be sore. Your cat is still going to be trying to keep herself clean during this, even when she doesnt feel good, so her front legs may get dirty too. A warm paper towel with a drop of baby shampoo will clean the fur on her legs.
If your cat has a stuffy head and is snorting or coughing, steam will help just as it does for you when you have a cold. Heat some water till its steaming and place it on a table or counter. Holding your cat close to you, lean close to the steam and throw a big towel over both of your heads. Let the steam do its work for your cat. Five minutes is good if your cat will cooperate. Doing this several times a day, as you can, will loosen some of the mucus in her head so she can sneeze it out.
Also Check: Which Probiotic Is Best For Antibiotic Diarrhea
Capsule 250mg In Water:
- Take one 500mg Fish Mox, crush it to powder, then add in a medicine cup, add 10ml of water, shake well before each use, and keep in the fridge.
- One way is that take one 250mg capsule and put it into a water gallon, shake it well and then make use of this as your felines only water supply for 7-10 days.
The Problem With Relocation And Eradication
Some people advocate relocating or putting down feral cats instead. Relocation may sound like a humane solution, but it is ultimately ineffective due to the vacuum effect. Feral cats gather where there are resources: food, water, and shelter. When an existing colony is relocated , before long a new flock of feral cats will discover the same resources and move in to fill the vacuum.
Relocation is unappealing for other reasons. Because cats are very territorial, a relocated cat may try to find its way home, suffering accident or death on the way. The relocation area may already have an established colony or it may lack food, water, or shelter. Unless a colonys life is in danger, most experts agree that relocation is almost always a bad solution.
Continued
Most people are not willing to support eradication, either. With a TNR effort, people will give their time, money, and resources, says Slater, author of Community Approaches to Feral Cats. But if youre catching and euthanizing cats, in most cases you just wont get volunteers to do that.
She also sees TNR as a teaching tool. It gets people to think about how we can prevent cats from ending up on the street and how we can manage cat populations.
Recommended Reading: How To Know If I Need Antibiotics
Abbey Cat Gets An Eye Infection
I look after a dwindling feral cat colony. It’s dwindling because I have an active trap-neuter-release program.
Of my original herd only 3 remain the other 2 joined the colony this year.
While feeding the cats. I noticed one of the older cats had dirty eyes. It’s not easy to see because I really cannot get really close to some of them, she is quite wild and because it’s the end of winter they are still quite furry. It looked like a nasty eye infection.
Eye infections is not particularly common in grown cats but tiny kittens often get them when they first open their eyes. When they open their eyes the lids are a bit sensitive and it’s good to check them out when they are about 2 weeks old. In this case Abbey was a fully mature, almost matronly neutered lady cat.
She seemed listless and was squinting. I took a few zoom photos and was lucky to get a shot that clearly showed her eyes running. Most photos were fuzzy since I did not dare use a flash.
Her eyes were dirty and runny and looked very sore.
Although quite wild, Abbey is smart and calm. She had surprised me with kittens a few years back. See
Do We Really Need To Treat This
If your group has an adoption program, youre likely already making medical treatment decisions based on things like long-term prognosis, quality of life and organizational resources.
For feral cats, theres an added layer of complexity. You have to factor in the colony situation, the caretakers ability to provide ongoing care and monitoring, and whether youll be able to retrap the cat if his condition deteriorates. If the treatment will require an extended stay in a shelter or a foster home, youll also need to consider the cats degree of wildness and how well hell tolerate captivity, even though you may not know the answers to these questions until hes been in your care for several days.
There are no cookie-cutter solutions here, but one thing thats well-established is that stress has a huge impact on cats health. For feral cats, medical decisions must balance the potential benefits of intervention with the risk that the stress of captivity and handling will exacerbate the problem.
So the first question you should ask is Do I need to really treat this? says Dr. Heather Kennedy, a veterinarian and director of feline operations at the KC Pet Project in Kansas City, Missouri.
The best thing we can do is to end the stress so the virus goes away and the bacterial infection goes away. We eliminate reproduction stresses by spaying or neutering them, and then we put them back out and we eliminate the stress of captivity, and we have a healthier cat right away.
Recommended Reading: Yeast Infection While On Antibiotics
What To Do If Your Pet Needs Antibiotics
Before giving antibiotics to your pet, its best to first consult with a vet who understands your pets medical history to ensure there are minimal side effects and no interactions with any other medications.
Once you have a prescription, you can usually pick it up at a pet store or your local pharmacybe sure theydont stray from the original prescription in any way unless theyve consulted with the vet. Some medications may have side effects like low appetite, vomiting, and diarrhea. If your dog or cat exhibits any of these symptoms, its a good idea to contact your vet.
Most importantly, its critical that you administer the entire course of antibiotics, even if your pet improves and the infection looks like its resolved. Because animals usually arent eager to take medication and it can be tough on their owners, people sometimes stop pet antibiotics early, leaving your pet at risk for becoming unwell again. Stay the course and your pets health will thank you.
When To Call A Doctor
If a cat bite breaks your skin, you should seek medical attention if:
- you start having any serious symptoms of an infection, such as fever, chills, pus or fluid oozing from the wound, or swollen lymph nodes
- the wound wont stop bleeding
- the wound appears to be deep or large
- the cat thats bitten you appears aggressive or acts strangely
- the cat thats bitten you is unvaccinated against rabies or youre unsure if the cat is vaccinated against rabies
- you havent had a tetanus shot in the last 5 years
Read Also: How Long Will Strep Last Without Antibiotics
Cat With A Swollen Jaw:
It could have been bitten or scratched which has resulted in bacteria deposited under the skin which has festered into the swelling that you may have noticed.
Cat teeth and nails are curved and do not often result in an obvious wound, but infections will often develop if they have been attacked by another cat.
What to do?
Purchase Fish Mox, which is Amoxicillin, sold for use in fish however, it is the exact same antibiotic that is fine for cats.
Safer Dosage:
The dose for the average-sized 1012-pound cat will be 1/2 of a 250 mg capsule twice a day. You will want to pull the capsule apart and divide the granules in half its dose will be one-half in the am and the other 1/2 in the pm.
Hopefully, it will eat the granules mixed in a small amount of canned food but if it does not, then mix the granules with a small amount of water and use a syringe or eye dropper to dribble the mixture into the side of its mouth where there is a gap.
This drug should be administrated with food to avoid stomach disturbance. You need to treat the infection for 7-10 days.
What Does Amoxicillin Do For Cats
As a bactericidal antibiotic, amoxicillin works to kill bacteria associated with upper respiratory infections, urinary tract infections, and more.
As a bactericidal antibiotic, amoxicillin has the ability to kill certain kinds of bacteria causing infections.
In kitties, it may be used most often for upper respiratory infections, urinary tract infections, skin infections, or infections resulting from a bite wound or injury.
Amoxicillin works by binding directly to certain parts of the cell membrane of susceptible bacteria, inhibiting development of the cell wall and making the bacteria unstable, thus killing them.
Its very important to note that amoxicillin is not effective against viral infections, a common cause of upper respiratory conditions in cats. Therefore, its always important for a vet to decide if use of an antibiotic is warranted.
You May Like: What Antibiotics Do You Take For Pneumonia
Why Feral Cat Adoption Is Not An Option
Many experts agree that feral adult cats simply cant be tamed. They are wild animals, like raccoons. They tend to stay away from humans, hide during the day, and when adopted, are very difficult to socialize. Just like you would never try to handle a raccoon, you should never try to pick up a feral cat. Call for assistance from the humane society or other animal welfare center.
The ASPCA advocates adopting the many available domestic cats and kittens rather than trying to tame feral cats.
However, feral kittens — especially those less than 8 weeks old — often can be socialized. Abandoned and lost cats can also be reintroduced to domestic living.
How can you tell a stray from a feral cat? Lost or abandoned felines are usually comfortable around people and will frequently attempt to live near humans — under porches, or in garages, sheds, or backyards.
Still, Slater maintains that TNR is the most humane and effective long-term solution. What weve done historically hasnt gotten us anywhere, she says. We need to try something different. Were not talking about neutering cats and then dumping them. What were really talking about is managed colonies, with a human feeding the cats, caring for them, getting them health care, providing them shelter.
Amoxicillin For Cats Dosage
Follow the dosing instructions provided by your veterinarian. Most vets call for a dose every 8-12 hours.
Interestingly, the labeled dosage for cats for amoxicillin calls for giving it just once a day. However, this dosage is generally no longer considered in veterinary medicine to be effective for most infections.
Most vets are using it off-label at every 8-12 hours, similar to the labeled dosage for dogs. If your vet decides to use amoxicillin for your cat, he or she will decide on a recommended dosage amount and schedule that is most appropriate depending on the type of infection being addressed.
Amoxicillin typically comes in both a liquid form as an oral suspension as well as tablet form. Your veterinarian may have a preference of which form to use, or may leave the dosage form up to you depending on which will be easier to administer.
If your kitty will take a pill mixed with or hidden in food or a treat, this is often easiest and involves the least amount of struggle. However, if your furry friend is the type that will eat everything in the bowl but the tablet and leave it at the bottom, you may need to consider liquid if you are not adept at administering a pill directly into your cats mouth for her to swallow it.
Don’t Miss: Antibiotics For Montezuma’s Revenge
Opting The Best Option:
Take your cat to the veterinarian immediately any time it appears ill or injured. However, there are holistic approaches that can be effective in keeping your cat healthy in the first place.
While it is not advocated using natural alternatives over traditional medications, learning more about supporting your cats immune system can help devise a lifelong healthy strategy.
Because an antibiotic is AN ANTIBIOTIC and can not be played with unless or until emergency and well know-how.
Fish Mox for cats has many benefits, some side effects and should always be taken as directed by a professional vet.
Communicating closely with your veterinarian is the best way to ensure your cats amoxicillin treatment is doing the trick to ensure its path to health and well-being.
Get Rid Of Nasty Pet Odors
As much as you might love your pets, youve got to admit that sometimes they can be stinky. Especially if youve got cats or dogs who like to mark their territory with urine. Well, youll be happy to know that colloidal silver is not just natural antibiotics for dogs and cats but can eliminate pet urine odors too. Simply clean the area/carpet as you would normally, and then spray colloidal silver all over it.
Also Check: Antibiotics For Mucus In Chest
