# Kitten has diarrhea after Clavamox



## pinkrobot (Jul 14, 2011)

Tuesday night, I gave my 6 mo. old kitten his last dose of a week-long treatment of Clavamox (for a respiratory infection). During the treatment, he had diarrhea on a couple of occasions but since it wasn't occurring very often I didn't think it was caused by the Clavamox.

However, ever since his last dose on Tuesday he's had diarrhea every day. I'm not sure how long Clavamox stays in a cat's system after the last dose, but I'm assuming the two are related since he didn't seem to have this problem before he started the medicine.

Should I be concerned? Other than the diarrhea, he's his normal self--eating and drinking plenty, still playful as ever. Can Clavamox cause permanent problems or is this likely due to the medicine still filtering out of his system?


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## laurief (Jun 22, 2008)

Clavamox, like most antibiotics, will kill off the good digestive bacteria. This is what causes diarrhea. The remedy is to give a probiotic for a week or so during and following antibiotic use to repopulate the good gut bacteria and normalize the digestive tract. I use acidophilus for this purpose (purchased as a powder or capsules from a health food store), though there are probiotics available at most pet stores, too. If you use acidophilus, just open a capsule and sprinkle a tiny amount (about 1/10 of a capsule worth) into the kitten's food once a day for a week. If you buy a probiotic product at a pet store, dose according to package instructions.

Laurie


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## pinkrobot (Jul 14, 2011)

Thanks Laurie, I'll give that a try!


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