Antibiotics are one of the most popular ways to fight infections. While they can help your cat recover from many different ailments, they’re not without their downsides.
What Are Antibiotics?
To understand the effects that antibiotics have on the body means understanding what they do. Antibiotics are designed to stop infections caused by bacteria by killing the germs at fault. They’ll only be prescribed for infections caused by bacteria and won’t affect viral or fungal infections.
They were first discovered in 1928 by a Scottish microbiologist. Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin after accidentally leaving open a petri dish containing Staphylococcus bacteria.
Feline health problems that antibiotics can be used to treat include:
Respiratory infections
Urinary tract infections
Skin infections
Wounds
Gastrointestinal upsets
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Do Antibiotics Make Cats Sleepy?
If you’ve noticed your cat sleeping more during their course of antibiotics, there are three reasons for this.
Fighting infections, with or without the help of antibiotics, is tiring work. We might not be consciously aware of the fight that the body is partaking in, but the signs of battle show themselves in other ways. These signs are often fever or fatigue.
Lethargy can also be caused by the antibiotics themselves. Cats, like people, have varying responses to different drugs. While antibiotics don’t cause fatigue across the board, a few felines can suffer from sleepiness due to the treatment, although it’s one of the rarer side effects. Amoxicillin in particular has been known to cause sleepiness in some cats.
There’s also the fact that cats tend to sleep more whenever they’re unwell. They don’t like showing weakness and will prefer to curl up somewhere out of the way to recover quietly.
What Are the Side Effects of Antibiotics?
Not all cats react to antibiotics in the same way. Depending on your cat and the type of antibiotic that they’re on, the side effects could include any of the following.
Allergic Reaction
As with most things your cat comes into contact with, antibiotics can trigger allergic reactions. If you start a new course of antibiotics, keep an eye on your cat to make sure they don’t react negatively to their treatment. You should inform your veterinarian if they do.
Allergic reactions to antibiotics can result in skin irritation like rashes or hives. There is a possibility of severe allergic reactions too, such as difficulty breathing.
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Antibiotic Resistance
One of the biggest reasons that antibiotics are only prescribed for severe bacterial infections is to reduce the chances of your cat developing resistance to the medication. The more often antibiotics are used, the more the bacteria evolve to resist it. This can mean that when your cat really needs the medication, it will be far less effective.
Interactions With Other Drugs
Before you start a course of antibiotics, it’s important to consider any other medication that your cat may be on for other health conditions. Your veterinarian should be aware of any possible conflicts between drugs.
If you’ve moved recently or changed your clinic, you should inform your new veterinarian of your cat’s existing medications.
Amoxicillin, in particular, can react with:
Neomycin sulfate
Antacids
Aminoglycosides
Bacteriostatics
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Secondary Infections
Antibiotics kill bacteria, and while this works to defeat infections, good bacteria are killed too. The good bacteria help keep us and our cats healthy. This is why it’s recommended to feed probiotic supplements to your cat after they’ve finished a course of antibiotics, to help restore their natural bacteria.
Secondary infections, like yeast infections, can be a frequent side effect of antibiotic treatments.
Stomach Upset
The most common reaction to antibiotics is gastrointestinal issues. Diarrhea and vomiting are the biggest issues. Stomach irritation can also lead to loss of appetite, which can cause more serious issues if your cat refuses to eat at all.
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What Are Alternatives to Antibiotics?
The downsides of antibiotics have led to many cat owners seeking alternative methods of treating infections. These methods might take a little longer to implement than simply offering your cat a pill with their dinner, but they can be useful, especially when your cat is allergic to the prescribed antibiotics.
Antibiotic alternatives include:
Good hygiene practices
Probiotics
Treating the cause of secondary infections (allergies that cause skin infections, for example)
Medicated shampoo
Topical creams
Final Thoughts
Antibiotics might be a good way to give your cat’s immune system a boost when they’re fighting infection, but they do have their downsides. Common side effects include allergic reactions, diarrhea, and vomiting.
While sleepiness is a side effect too, it’s rarer than most other symptoms and depends on how your cat reacts to the medication.
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Christian is the Editor-in-Chief of Excited Cats and one of its original and primary contributors. A lifelong cat lover, now based in South East Asia, Christian and his wife are the proud parents of an 11-year-old son and four rescue cats: Trixie, Chloe, Sparky, and Chopper.
