? anyone's cat taking metronidazole daily long term?

I know this med has been mentioned here several times but I don't recall if anyone had a cat on it daily long term. Leo's vet mentioned possibly having him take this in a low dose longer than 5 days and maybe even long term to keep his IBD in check in lieu of budesonide since his IBD is a mild case. Was just wondering if anyone has seen any adverse effects from this med.

 

Metronidazole is the anti-diarrhea?

 

Metronidazole is okay taken short-term but it can begin to have some neurological effects if taken long-term. My vet doesn't really like my cat to be on it longer than two or three weeks at a time. S.boulardii and Slippery Elm Bark (SEB) work really well for diarrhea - I adopted a cat with IBD, it has taken me over a year to finally find the right mix of food and meds to stop her diarrhea and keep it stopped! - although you don't really want to use the SEB long-term, either and it shouldn't be given within 2 hours of any other meds as it coats the intestines and stomach and will inhibit the absorption of other meds.

ETA: Metronidazole tastes really, really nasty; I ended up wearing more of it than I got down the cat, lol!

 

Oh good I was going to tag you anyways, Lucy

This is good to know I thought Maury would be getting it for a while. I will stop that one next

 

Lol, beat ya' to it!

 

Yes it is usually used for diarrhea in cats but it also has some anti inflammatory and immune modulating effects. (or some believe it does anyway) for cats with IBD. I believe my vet meant longer than 5 days as a longer term solution at a very low dose. We're trying desperately to find something other than pred or budesonide that will control Leo's mild IBD that won't push him back into a diabetic state.
I thought I had found the perfect canned food for Leo that he wouldn't throw up but now after a year he suddenly is losing interest in it and wants his dry food back. I did order some Young Again limited ingredient - it's a new one they have without chicken meal but I don't want him back on dry food as a regular meal. He was (is) a dry food junkie and it took me months to get him eating canned food.
He is on a probiotic and he does get the pumpkin puree daily. Maybe I'm expecting too much with this condition.

 

I used, at the same time, both metronidazole and budesonide for at least two of my cats for long term (end of life and > year)
At the end for one I switched from the budesonide to prednesolone

 

Did you notice any severe side effects from the long term use of the metro?

 

Jones has been on it since day 1 almost which is almost a year now. We have tried to reduce it a couple of times to end up with diarrhea. The IM he is currently seeing did say that if he needs it for the anti inflammatory affect than that is what he needs. We did take the dose down to 1/2 tab BID (50mg) a day then went back up to 1-1/2 tab a day. The issue with Jones is - not enough metro - the runs! Then too much metro and he is constipated. So, I have been doing 1-1/2 tab day for 3 days and then a 1/2 tab on the fourth. That seems to be working. I have just got some S.boulardii along with the probiotic he is getting, so I have just started using incorporating that slowly as well and hope I can just go back down to the 1/2 tab BID or even drop it. The problem I have with Jones - as soon as I mix it into the food he will not eat. Regardless of what I do, so anything I do is by capsule. Hope to replace meds with the supplements

I had 1 vet say it was bad long term and another say it was ok. So like any drug - the goal is to get to your lowest effective dose. And with a IBD kitty slow going is the mode of operandi.

Jones is on prednisolone and the IM just bumped it up to 5mg (1/2 tab BID). It is killing his BG numbers and I wish we could go back down. We did try the budesonide but that did not seem to control his IBD at all and we ended switching back to the prednisolone.

We have successfully taken the Cerenia away as a consistent medication and now just use if he looks nauseated and will not eat.

 

Chicken flavored metro solves this issue. Smells good, tastes good, no drooling or salivating.

 

Thank you both for your info. If Leo needs the metro more frequently or longer term at a low dose I will be getting the compounding done in a flavor in the medi melts from Wedgewood pet pharmacy. I'm lucky though that Leo doesn't seem to have many bitter taste buds. He never foams or spits no matter what I give him. The hard part is just getting his mouth open! His duck wet food is so smelly and aromatic that it would cover up any taste on the planet so when he's eating he never tastes medication.
I'm guessing that Jones has not had any adverse effects from the long term metro?

 

Yes, that's what they gave me for my cat. Lol, have you tasted it? Trust me, it's nasty!

 

They're all so different- aren't they? My previous cat would run around the house foaming, spitting, gagging, etc. like I had just poisoned her with something while my current cat Leo just gives me a funny look and walks away after the med.

 

Not so far, outside I can't seem to get him off of it. IBD can be very complicated and a bang head here type of disease. I am more concerned about the steroid to be honest.

 

Leo's specialist also felt that the metro even if longer term at a low dose would be better than the pred. long term on his system. Yeah- the IBD condition can make you crazy. One day they're normal and the next day there's a flare up and you have no idea what caused it. It's a hard disease to treat consistently. My previous kitty was on pred for almost a year for her intestinal lymphoma. Amazingly enough she never had any problems with her heart or glucose levels. She did though come down with a UTI that she was unable to totally clear due to her immune system being compromised by the pred. It's hard to know what to do sometimes with these meds.

 

I had two cats with IBD/small cell lymphoma. Around here, the initial solution vets suggest is metronidazole, as long as it works. My civie was on that for about a year with no side effects. But he had to go on pred after. Not all pred cats get diabetes, he didn't. Neko had to go on budesonide instead of pred because of her heart condition.

For food, have you ever tried raw food? Some dry food junkies will like it over canned. If you haven't seen it yet, check out http://www.ibdkitties.net/

 

I know the raw food would most probably be the best diet for Leo but since there is so much contaminated people food nowadays with recalls I'm too afraid to use anything raw. Do you remember what dosage of metro your civie was on?

 

Metro dose was 50 mg/day. I was lucky he would take tablets in a pill pocket. He was 13 lbs.

I make my own raw, starting with organic not medicated meat and the FoodFurLife premix which was created with IBD kitties in mind, I also fed some manufactured raw from a local company that also used organic, non medicated meat, and I had a tour of the plant. There have been more recalls with dry food than raw.

 

I think the metro has got him back eating more of his duck canned food now. I may just have to periodically use this as it seems to have worked. Thanks for sharing the info about the raw food. It still makes me nervous though!

 

Me too! That is why I have gone to home cooked - at least I can control ingredients and don't have to use gums. So far so good. Liked the beef. Looking at doing some chicken up this weekend and some more chicken broth - that has been a big wonder for both my CKD and Jones. If they are not interested in anything I unthaw a chicken broth ice cube and heat it up a bit and give it to them. They always drink some, it has flavour and some nutrients and usually they will go and eat in about 20 minutes. I wonder if it soothes the tummy without being heavy and helps them out a bit.

 

Tracey, is this bone broth that you make? I know it's good for people too

 

Bone broth has a lot of minerals and supposedly is good for digestion and the immune system. I made my own once and simmered the bones for 12 hours. The smell was awful and I couldn't drink it. Ha Something happens after so many hours of simmering and the aroma changes. It's a good thought though to make it for Leo but I would need to use a duck. He might really like it as the smellier and the more potent something is the more he likes it.

 

You're kitchen will probably smell wonderful after that (sarcasm)

 

I forgot about that! Will need to use the slow cooker with a tight lid and leave for the day.

 

It is. I have done chicken and beef broth for them. The chicken is the favourite, was thinking of doing some pork??

Recipe is on the ibdkitties.net

 

I think the uglier it smells cooking the more the cats like it. I used the slow cooker - set it and forget it.

 

I have a feeling the duck bones will be quite aromatic. I'm just not sure what I'm going to do with the duck meat as Leo does not like people food but does like his duck canned cat food.

 

I'm laughing here. The first time I made the broth, in the slow cooker, after 14 hrs I had to turn it off. The smell was horrendous and I couldn't stand it anymore, but don't you know Smokey was laying in the kitchen in front of the counter for hours waiting for it. And he loved it. Gave it daily to him.

Next I tried cooked chicken gizzards and heart (started slow to home cooked food). He would sit on my feet while I was prepping it. Sometimes he would reach up and steal a piece (he was tall, big cat) Of course I would give one or two pieces raw to him. He loved those gizzards. I still have some frozen, PJ likes it, I give as a treat to her.

 

I tried some dehydrated beef bone broth that you add hot water to and I couldn't drink that either. I'll see if Leo wants it.

 

Another question if anyone is around- Has anyone noticed that their cat's appetite increases on the metro and they eat more? Every time Leo takes the metro he seems to be more interested in food, which for him is a good thing but I'm wondering if it's just coincidental.

 

I have noticed with Jones - the metro seems to have an impact. Not as much as the appy stims. But if he isn't having a good tummy day, which he had when we dropped his dose of metro, then he didn't eat as well. So I don't think it is a direct link - but if your tummy feels bad you don't wan to eat.

 

So I'm guessing then that the metro is making his stomach and intestines feel better so he wants to eat more. Makes sense. I have a feeling he will be taking the metro as needed more frequently now.