Bad reaction to Doxycycline

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Mitzelplik's Mom

Mitzelplik's Mom

Member Since 2015
Hi Everyone,
I haven't posted in quite a while. Mitz has generally been pretty good but we're fighting a UTI again. This one is an enterococcus bacteria and we're on the 2nd round of antibiotics. This time, it's doxycycline. At some point during the previous one, Mitz stopped accepting Pill Pockets. For a while it worked to coat the pill pockets in freeze-dried Primal Turkey, but after the first few days on the Doxy, she'd only eat about ½ the dose (I had to split the pill into 8 or 10 pieces to get them small enough). None of the other food-hiding tricks worked so I had to start manually pilling her. After the 2nd time using this method, she threw up 30 minutes after the pill. Two days later, it happened again. Our vet said to give her a break for a day and got us a compounded liquid version of Doxy as well as a liquid Pepcid and metaclopramide to treat nausea. So, last night we started again. I gave her a dose of metaclopramide, then 45 minutes later, a dose of the liquid Doxy. 40 minutes after that, she threw up again. The vet suggested another 24 hour break and then give both Pepcid and metaclopramide 1 hour before Doxy. So that's the plan for tomorrow morning. She doesn't think it's an allergic reaction since Mitz didn't vomit at all for the first week.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? We have almost 2 weeks worth of this med to go and feel so awful giving her something that makes her feel so sick! Fortunately, her appetite is coming back pretty quickly each time.

Thanks (and sorry for the long post!)

Joan
 
Have you talked to your vet about this? Loss of appetite is considered problematic with this drug and it can cause esophageal scarring. There's likely to be a different antibiotic that will make her feel less crummy. Also, none of the meds the vet gave you are particularly good at treating nausea. Cerenia or ondansatron are much better at addressing nausea. They are also available as an injection if Mitz is vomiting. (FYI: the Cerenia stings as an injection whereas the ondansatron doesn't.) Both can be injected exactly the same way as you'd inject insulin.
 
Hi Joan,

Sorry to hear that Mitzelplik's under the weather. :(

Mitzelplik's Mom said:
metaclopramide to treat nausea ...
Click to expand...

AS Sienne has already advised, metoclopramide isn't a good solution for feline nausea (cats don't have many of the receptors targeted by metoclopramide - discussed in this IDEXX document about pancreatitis treatments). Ask your vet about generic ondansetron or Cerenia (the latter may be better as an anti-nausea treatment when vomiting's a problem).


Mogs
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Hi,
I have often used for my own cats-rescues and myself a product called D-Mannose (I prefer without cranberry)
It works great especially for prevention and has very little if any taste (a touch sweet)-you can get it in a health food store or online-it has no negative effects that I have ever heard of (I have worked with holistic vets who use it often)
It comes in powder or capsule form-
if your cat already has a infection (which in your case does) you can use it even with the antibiotic-(sounds like a different anti biotic would be much better for you baby.)
The bacteria that normally causes a UTI is ecoli-for some reason the ecoli would rather stick to the D-Mannose on the walls of the bladder and flush out when urination occurs. 1 issue is 'will my cat drink enough to flush it out?" so an option is to give SQ fluids for a week or so while using the D-Mannose
If your cat is prone to these I personally would use it 3-4 times a week -- there are no side effects so no worries-
You will need a way to get enough into your cat to be able to flush the infection out…. If you google it you will find more info…. hope Mitz is feeling good soon.
 
Thanks all for responding! So far, so good this week with Pepcid & metaclopromide 1 hour prior to a slightly smaller dose of Doxy. I've been in regular communication with the vet thru all of this and if the current regimen stops working, we'll look at other meds. I'll definitely ask her about ondansetron & Cerenia if necessary. It's good to know there are injectable options!

Mitz has been on a daily maintenance dose of D-Mannose for several months. Unfortunately, it is not effective against enterococcus bacteria strains. She's not too happy about all the oral syringes but I've almost perfected my technique and the liquids are much easier than pills, so it's over quickly and she's getting lots of treats. Luckily, her appetite is good right now and she's usually eager to eat. Only 11 more days of this! :cat:

Happy New Year!

Joan
 
Things are looking up :)
FYI--cerenia injection works great but it usually has a little sting--if you keep in refrigerator it helps lessen the sting ;)
 
Hi Joan, and happy New Year to you both. I'm glad to hear that Mitz is doing better. :)

A few things about metoclopramide: It made Saoirse pee a good bit more than usual so you might want to keep an eye on Mitz's hydration; and it can interfere with the dopamine system so keep an eye out for any unusual twitches. Thirdly (and my vet says the risk is minimal) it can affect the seizure threshold so maybe be extra vigilant if Mitz goes into lower BG numbers.


Mogs
.
 
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