Cat's abnormal reaction to meds - allergy, immune defect, what?

[Skeen]

My cat Slick* has had an unusual reaction to antibiotics twice now.  Last summer we started him on meds prior to a routine teeth cleaning, his first.  He was just shy of 7 at the time.  Within 24 hours and a few doses he had so much fluid in his chest he couldn't walk and could barely breathe.  He had to go to the emergency vet and was put on IV Lasix overnight.  Initially they diagnosed him with CHF and said I would likely need to put him down soon, but he bounced right back.  My vet and I wrote it off as being tainted meds, since she also had another patient's puppy react the same way at the same time and to the same meds.  Sadly, the puppy didn't make it.  She destroyed all of that particular batch or lot number and reordered the meds.  I think it was amoxicillin, something very common anyway.  In the aftermath he now has to take blood pressure meds to mitigate damage to his heart that may or may not have been caused/worsened by this. 

More recently I took him in for an ear infection, and he was given some sort of clindamycin/steroid combo drops, which I used on him for 3 days before he had the same symptoms.  I ran him back to the vet, who put him back on IV Lasix.  He was better within a few hours.  She ran blood tests on him and couldn't find anything obviously wrong.  Now he is on benazepril and Lasix daily, and he is never EVER to receive antibiotics, at least not outside of a 24-hour monitoring environment in the clinic and at extremely low doses.

But the problem is, he still has the ear infection.  I am taking him back on Monday.  He doesn't act like his ears hurt but they seem itchy and he shakes his head a lot.  His hearing is fine though sometimes it looks like his balance is off a bit.  He acts normally otherwise. 

Does anyone else have a pet that has a reaction like this to anything?  The vet now thinks he has some sort of immune deficiency or hyperactivity, though he was able to take antibiotics just fine when he was a young kitten and had a ton of problems.  She says in all her years of practice she has never seen this.  What can she do for his ears if he can't have antibiotics? 





*my BABY, my prince,  my constant companion

[Sukey]

My one kitty reacts to everything- mostly injections, but oral meds, too. He becomes lethargic, painful, and runs a very high fever to injections
- one of the doctors thought he may be allergic to the preservatives in the injections. Oral meds reactions range from severe blowout diarrhea, vomiting to gagging. He is so sensitive- he had a rough start as a kitten. Someone found him along the road when he was only 1 lb and he had a huge abscess on his face. They brought him to the animal hospital where I worked and we all thought he wasn't going to make it- but he did. We fell in love and I took him home 7 years ago. He has tons of problems ranging from diabetes to bladder stones. Recently he had to have 2 major surgeries just so he could pee I was a nervous wreck, because of all his reactions. He is losing weight, but he has been seeming brighter lately. My mom took him to the doctor yesterday and they gave him a vitamin B12 injection which made me nervous. I will have to repeat them two more times. The funny thing is doesn't always react to injections and it really hasn't been a specific injection that he reacts to.

I have never heard of a reaction like your guys before.  I hope your baby doesn't have anymore reactions. Do they think it was Clindamycin both times he reacted?

[kaoskat]

That sounds really weird. I don't know. Maybe you could ask your vet if there is some sort of alcohol or peroxide based cleaner or something like that that might treat his ears without antibiotics? I'm not really sure.

[melodys_angel]

Im not sure  

I hope you can figure it out!

[kellyponyfeathers]

Definitely very unusual.  I agree with Sukey (and I was a vet tech too).

Ummmmmm . . . maybe try a specialist?  Hmm, there are vet dermatology specialists.  They often deal with ear problems too.  (Many mammals have skin and ear problems when they have allergies.  Humans are weird in that we get respiratory problems.)

[Skeen]

There is a dermatology specialist locally.  I'm bringing him back in to my vet tomorrow because his ear infection is still there, so I will ask her.

Last week he got a kitten dose of Convenia, with a massive dose of anti-inflammatory and an equally huge dose of antihistamine.  It didn't do anything for his infection and he was lethargic and weird all week, but he did not have his usual fluid-in-chest reaction.  He's only now getting back to his usual jerk self. 

[Galactica]

I would definitely talk to another vet- poor kitty!  Thank goodness you were able to get him help so quickly!

Cats absolutely have antibiotic reactions- just like people. Can you figure out EXACTLY which antibiotics were used when he had the reaction?

Also- I think that consulting with a dermatologist specialist is absolutely the best idea. Good luck- poor baby!

My cat has a horrible allergic reaction to Frontline flea medicine. She also had respiratory distress and acted like it had burned her. I washed it off and took her to the vet and she was okay thank goodness. She actually has a lot of food allergies too (but those, if she gets them, just result in hurling). 

[shelvesofwhimsy]

This may be a speculation but I believe both clindamycin and amoxicillin are in the same family with penicillin. You kitty may be allergic to penicillin.

[Skeen]

Clindamycin is what they give people who are allergic to penicillin.  I don't know what Convenia is made from (cephalosporin?) but it is what I give to all my cats who need antibiotics for whatever reason.  The ones he's reacted to are clindamycin (I confirmed this is what he took when he was brought to the vet er) and Tresaderm, which is thiabendazole, dexamethasone, and neomycin.  I guess he could be allergic to -mycins.  I don't tolerate any -cyclines, so I can certainly understand that.

When he was younger he was on every antibiotic under the sun for a long time (he was soooooo sick) but I suppose it's possible to develop an intolerance to anything at any point.  I will ask my vet about using a non-mycin on him but only if she can monitor him for a few days afterward.  He can't have steroids either anymore.

And this isn't even the weirdest thing he does!  LOL