Expert: Charlotte Sherrell, DVM - 3/21/2009

Question
At the end of January, my cat was in a cat fight and had to have eye surgery to repair the damage.  He was on oral anitbiotics - and, of course, had a case of diarrhea.  

After 2 weeks we discontinued the oral antibiotics, but I am unsure if the stools retured to normal as we have another cat.   

In the last 2 weeks I am now sure that the cat has a case of diarrhea - perhaps again.

Could this still be a holdover from the oral anitbiotics?  What should I do, if anything?

Answer
Barry -

After two months, the antibiotic should have cleared the body and should not be causing side effects.  However, there is a slight possibility that the antibiotics have caused the loose stool in that if the medication initially caused diarrhea that was not treated, your cat  might have developed rebound diarrhea.  Rebound diarrhea is caused by the body's attempt to replace fluid deficits in the gastrointestinal tract; the replacement fluid causes the diarrhea and the cycle continues.  Medication is usually necessary to break that cycle and return your cat's GI tract back to normal.

Have your cat examined by a veterinarian to determine the cause of the diarrhea.

Best Regards,

Charlotte Sherrell, DVM