How long for antibiotics to kick in?

I posted last week about my 17-year-old civvie, Sophie, who has had a croaky voice for a week now. The vet gave her an antibiotic shot on Wednesday and told me to take her back after the weekend if she was no better - which she isn't. I'm wondering though if antibiotics take a bit longer than that to take effect - maybe I should wait till a week's up maybe and see if there's any change? If there isn't, do vets sometimes give a second shot if they still think it's an infection? I've heard of another dose being needed to clear things up.

It's so hard to know what to think, as other than this hoarseness, Sophie is fine - alert, playful, eating as usual etc. HyperT was suggested here as a possibility so I will talk to the vet when we go back about that - although she said that Sophie didn't look HyperT. It could be something as straightforward as simple laryngitis, but I'm worried too about other throat and thyroid issues, especially if they mean anaesthesia to investigate. At Sophie's age, surely that can't be a good thing - but if the vet suggests it I suppose I will have to decide whether to go ahead or not.

Any thoughts please?

Diana

 

Oh Diana - the AB shot - was it covenia? There has been a lot of discussion about this AB and why it needs to be used very carefully.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/r ... ?8,1905168

There are also more recent discussion on the new board about this, just do a quick search and you can find it.

Covenia actually lasts longer than one week in a cat's system and it's supposed to be used for skin issues. A croaky throat isn't a skin infection. and how do they know what's wrong with her? Is she coughing? sneezing? having discharge?

The way to determine hyper T is through 2 blood tests - a T4 and a Free T4. Until you get these tests done, I wouldn't be putting her under anesthesia to do what? explore and look for what?

 

OMG, now I'm even more panicked than I was. Yes, it was Convenia. I looked at your link, Hilary - I had no idea this was going on. I just trusted the vet to be doing the right thing - for what they thought was some kind of infection. No sneezing/coughing/discharge, just the raspy, hoarse "meow". Vet said if she doesn't respond to the antibiotic they would want to look inside her throat area, hence the anaesthetic.

What do I do now????
:shock:

 

Now, you don't panic. What is done is done. Give her time to get the AB out of her system.

If you want to rule out hyper t - ask for the blood tests - those are minimally invasive.

How old is she? Typically hyper t shows up in middle aged cats (over 10 yrs) and there are other symptoms, such as excessive drinking, mood changes - aggressiveness, etc.

Some cats don't show these symptoms which is why the blood test is important.

Here is a link I found on hyper T and cats that you may find helpful: http://www.felineoutreach.org/Education ... idism.html

Do a search and look up hyper t and cats and you can read more about this.

The sore throat could be anything or nothing. But at this point, it's hard to know what is really going on, and with the drugs in her system, it will mask anything else that could be happening.

You may want to seek out a different vet for a different opinion and one that won't be so ready to throw drugs or surgery at the situation.

Where are you located? We may have members local to you who could recommend a vet. Of course, you can always contact Dr. Lisa for a consult, she will need the cats records to review. I don't know her fees, but I'm sure it's on her website or send her an email and ask.

 

First, Diana, breathe. I spoke to a vet about the covenia and was told that the information about problems is anecdotal, not based on controlled studies, and that he has never had any trouble with it. Now you know about problems, you can ask for it not to be used going forward, but don't second guess your trust in the vet or Sophie's health at this point because of the shot. Talk with you vet about it when you next see him/her.

As for how long it takes for any ABX to have effect, I would say that from Wednesday to Monday, they should be showing some improvement by now if they are going to change the hoarseness.

PS for Hillary. Diana is in England.

 

You should be seeing some improvement by now. If I remember correctly the vet was unsure if the antibiotic would help and I guess it is not helping.

 

Thank you for all replies. Yes, I'm in England, thanks Venita.

I've put a call in to the vet and waiting for her to call me back - I will tell her that Sophie's no better after 5 days of the antibiotic and ask when she suggests we go back. I'm expecting her to say soon, and that she'll discuss either further blood tests (even tho she doesn't think Sophie's hyperT) or giving anaesthesia to look down Sophie's throat and/or do x-rays :YMSIGH:

 

Did the vet do a culture?

Antibiotics are not necessarily effective against everything -- so doing a culture to determine what the illness is will allow the most effective antibiotic to be used.

Also -- diabetics typically have a hard time fighting off infection because the excess sugar feeds the nasty blighters. It is not uncommon to need 3 to 4 weeks of oral antibiotics to kill off an infection in a diabetic cat.
Oh, I see it is your civvie that is sick -- could still take a week or more - especially if the antibiotic is not killing the infection.

 

Thanks again everyone, really appreciate your comments. I spoke to the vet last night - didn't mention the Convenia, as Hillary said, what's done is done and I didn't want to upset what is otherwise a good relationship. The vet is extremely kind and I need people like that around, not ones who are cooler or suspicious of me. We concluded that we'd see how Sophie goes this week - it's still possible the ABs might kick in - and I'll take her back early next for another check and a thyroid test. Vet agrees with me that we don't want to do anything invasive, including anaesthesia, unless absolutely necessary. It's just not fair on Sophie.
I'm trying really hard to be rational but am still worried sick and can't think of anything else. She is such a little sweetheart and we have looked after each other since we lost Tom - two and a half years ago tomorrow :cry:

Diana

 

I know its hard not to worry but watching her and frettong doesn't solve anuything.

It sounds like you have a plan in place and juist take it a day at a time. Keep us posted on how she does.

 

Thanks Hillary and you're right, fretting doesn't solve anything but I'm nevertheless watching her closely in case any other symptoms develop, or in case I can get more of a feel for what might be wrong. A friend of mine told me yesterday that she knew of another cat with the same symptoms and the problem went away after a few weeks. I'm even wondering about allergies or asthma - we have so many potential pollutants in our homes these days and I have been using a new air freshener in the room the litterbox is in, so who knows...

I will keep you posted, many thanks.

Diana

 

oooh asthma is always a possibility. of course the definitive test for that is a tracheal wash (which I didn't put my sydney through) - rather she had breathing issues and an xray showed over inflated lungs - i put her on the inhaled meds (flovent/flixotide) and the aerokat inhaler mask/tube - and it seems to help.

If you think it could be an asthma like issue, using the inhaled meds - won't hurt her at all, even though it's a steroid it's an inhaled steroid which is vastly different from injection.

the big investment is the aerokat - and many of us purchase the meds online from 4 corners pharmacy - they ship worldwide.