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- How do antibiotics work in cats?
- What antibiotics can you give a cat?
- Can I give my cat amoxicillin?
- You cannot give your cat any medication
Cats are susceptible to multiple diseases and many of them of bacterial origin, maybe they are a risk group, since among their main characteristics stands out an independent behavior that translates into a life outside the home, where the owner does not can control any factor that increases the risk of a bacterial infection.
As with humans, cats must receive treatment in case they contract a disease of these characteristics, and treatment in the case of an infection must be done with antibiotic drugs.
But does that mean I can give my cat antibiotics? This is the question we will answer in this PeritoAnimal article.
How do antibiotics work in cats?
Administering an antibiotic drug to a cat is not a trivial matter, as these drugs have a very defined mechanism of action that can damage the animal's body. Next we can see that antibiotics can have two mechanisms of action to treat our cat's pathology:
- bacteriostatic action: The antibiotic works by inhibiting the proliferation of bacteria.
- bactericidal action: The antibiotic works by destroying the bacteria causing the infection.
Depending on the nature of the antibiotic, it is possible that the drug will end up destroying a part of the cat's intestinal flora, formed by beneficial bacteria, but which the antibiotic is not able to distinguish from those causing the pathology.
What antibiotics can you give a cat?
Cats (as well as dogs) are generally given antibiotics approved for human use, the most common being the amoxicillin, although we can also mention other active ingredients such as doxycycline or cephalexin.
However, the first reason why you should not administer any antibiotics to your cat lies in the differences between human physiology and feline physiology. That is, our body metabolizes each antibiotic in a certain way, but the cat metabolizes it in a different way, which necessarily implies an adaptation of the dose..
The second reason you can't give your cat antibiotics is that they don't all work the same way or against the same bacteria, and although many human antibiotics are used on pets, some can be potentially toxic to them.
Can I give my cat amoxicillin?
We have already seen that there are several antibiotics for humans that are commonly used in cats and dogs, one of the most used being amoxicillin. Therefore, it is a frequent mistake to look for dose information. required of amoxicillin for a cat and to proceed with its administration, let's see why:
Amoxicillin is a broad spectrum antibiotic, which indicates that it acts against a large number of bacteria.If your cat has an infection caused by bacteria resistant to amoxicillin, something very serious will happen: the bacteria that are part of your cat's body will be destroyed and the bacteria causing the infection will proliferate without any kind of bacterial competition, aggravating the pathology of a very dangerous way.
Amoxicillin, like any antibiotic drug, should be prescribed by a veterinarian, since if the infection does not resolve with a broad spectrum antibiotic, the veterinary clinic will carry out an antibiogram, a test that determines with which antibiotics the infectious bacteria can be attacked.
You cannot give your cat any medication
Regardless of what has been said about veterinary drugs or drugs indicated for human consumption, it is as common as it is wrong for you to medicate your cat yourself. The only person capable to prescribe a pharmacological treatment to our pets it's the veterinarian.
If you give your cat inappropriate medications, it puts its life at risk and can lead to serious intoxication, in addition, it can mask a serious illness that needs urgent veterinary help.
This article is for information purposes only, at PeritoAnimal.com.br we are not able to prescribe veterinary treatments or perform any type of diagnosis. We suggest that you take your pet to the veterinarian in case it has any type of condition or discomfort.