Expert: Charlotte Sherrell, DVM - 2/17/2009

Question
My kitty has been recently diagnosed with a UTI  and was prescribed
clavovox and my vet  told me to continue giving it to him 2x a day for 2 more
weeks! A total of 3 weeks and that seems like a long time on antibiotics. We
took him to the vet right away when he started acting odd. It seems like he
was feeling better in a few days after. The urine culture came back negative
also. Is 3 weeks necessary??

Answer
Christina -

Three weeks is the recommended time interval for antibiotic therapy for many antibiotic regiments in veterinary medicine.  If the medication is not given for the allotted time, there is a great possibility that there will be recurrence of the UTI.  Recurrence occurs quite often if the medication is not given for the designated time period.  

Try to prevent another UTI by feeding a high quality diet and providing fresh drinking water at all times.  I often recommend that cat owners feed a diet that includes lots of canned (wet) food.  Cats are natural meat eaters and often will appreciate a canned food diet. You may see an increase in activity when feeding a diet that consists mainly of canned food.

Best Regards,

Charlotte Sherrell, DVM