Introduction
For human beings, antibiotics play an important role in many treatments, but for cats or animals in general, they are doubted of getting bad effects from antibiotics.
Antibiotics have special ability to be a barrier to bacteria development and avoid the infection. However, it does not mean that all of the antibiotics are good and can take effect on any bacteria. For example, antibiotics never work on the flu virus. Using them improperly can make it worse. This article will help give you an insight into antibiotics, and in the end, you can get the answer to the question “Can I give my cat antibiotics?”
Can I Give My Cat Antibiotics?
Why not? Antibiotics are one of the drug which specializes in some diseases related to infection as they help to restrain the development of bacteria. Although they only take effect on some kinds of illnesses, we cannot deny their huge importance.
Imagine if your cat catches an infectious sickness and his body does not have enough strength to against the virus, then this can lead him to the death. Thus, apparently, animals or cats should be given antibiotics (of course, with the right dosage and in the right way), but we must have basic knowledge of antibiotics to get their best effectiveness.
How to Give Cat Antibiotics Properly?
Choose the Right Antibiotics for Your Cat
In any case, it is important to bring your cats to a veterinarian who can check your cats’ health to determine what kinds of antibiotics can be used on them. Sometimes, even sick cats are checked by veterinarians. Please do not pick up antibiotics by yourself. Otherwise, you will put your cat in the very risky situation.
Follow the Vet’s Instruction
A study demonstrates that the side effect of antibiotics can result in some slight colic, and in some cases, it can lead to the death if you use antibiotics improperly. Nevertheless, if you follow veterinarian’s instruction correctly, you can keep your cats safe from antibiotics’ side effects.
Like human beings to take the most advantage of any drug, cats need to take antibiotics at the right time and with the dosage, as well as knowing when they should stop using antibiotics. That’s why your sick cats must be checked by a vet before given any antibiotic.
Help Your Cat Take Antibiotics Properly
Antibiotics are produced in a variety of shapes. Sometimes, it can be an injection, but the most typical form of antibiotics is the pill or ointment. In case you use antibiotics which are in ointments, it can be easily applied on the infected area such as skin or eyes. However, using antibiotics in form of a pill might be quite challenging. You need to open your cat’s mouth wide enough and then place the pill at the position near its throat so that the cat can easily swallow. Also, you need to take a careful and quick action.
Another way is to mix the pill with your cat’s favorite food. This would be a good way to let cat swallow pills without major difficulties.
How to Know If Your Cats Get Side Effects from Antibiotics?
The following is some common symptoms of improper use of antibiotics on cats:
- Allergy
- Slight fever
- Kidney or liver damage
- Lethargy
- Vomiting and other symptoms related to stomach and digestion issues.
- For antibiotics that are injected, an infection can develop at the injection point.
Although antibiotics have both good effects and side effects, it is demonstrated that their good effects completely outweigh their side effects. Serious side effects only happen and get worse when antibiotics are used in a wrong way.
Can You Use Human Antibiotics on Cats?
Normally, veterinarians hardly give us any recommendation to use human antibiotics for cats or other animals. We are human beings and our body is different from the animal’s body. Moreover, human antibiotics contain a high amount of ingredients, so cats should only be given from one-third to one-fourth of a certain amount of human antibiotics. If a cat is given much more than that recommended amount, it is called an overdose and it is very dangerous. Therefore, bear in mind: never give human antibiotics to your cats.
Just for your reference, assumed that your cats cannot reach a vet and you don’t have any idea about antibiotics. Here are typical antibiotics which are usually used for cats.
- Amoxicillin: If your cats catch any infectious disease, Amoxicillin is the most suitable and effective choice.
- Doxycycline: This is a kind of antibiotics, which has the same function as Amoxicillin.
- Cephalexin: Skin infection is common in cats. If your cat has it, then Cephalexin is a suitable choice.
- Clindamycin: If you want to treat oral (such as swollen lip) and dental infections, Clindamycin will be the best choice.
- Orbifloxacin: It can treat many kinds of diseases such as urinary tract infections and infectious skin.
- Clavamox: Like Orbifloxacin, Clavamox can treat urinary tract infections in cats.
- Baytril: This antibiotic can be used to treat urinary tract infections in cats as well.
Conclusion
To sum up, as a cat’s owner, I have tried to learn antibiotics to answer by myself the question “Can I give my cat antibiotics?” But I’m pretty sure that many cat lovers have the same question as me. So, hopefully with this post, you guys can answer this question. Thank you for reading!
