Should we continue with antibiotics?

Dear Dr. Marie,

I'm writing about my cat who had a skin allergy which started last August. I've written to you before about it and I also asked you a question about her asthma.

So to recap, she got the skin problem last August. She went through a lot of testing biopsy, steroids and it finally went away in October.

It came back again in December but not as strong and that's when I emailed you and you suggested I go to a Dermatologist which is what I did. She was prescribed Clindamycin on Dec. 16 for 2 weeks. She stopped scratching and she was fine until about a month or so later when the scratching started again and again it wasn't very strong but the doctor put her back on the anti-biotic on Feb.12. She was on for 2 weeks again and was supposed to be on longer but for an administrative problem with the hospital which resulted in her stopping on Feb. 27 with a 4 day break.

She started back again on March 3 and has been on it ever since. So since March 3, she's been on it for what will be 6 weeks this Wednesday Apr. 13.

Now the doctor is afraid of stopping the anti-biotic completely and suggests that after the 6 week mark, that she stay on it at a reduced dose for another month - only one dose a day (1ml) in 24 hours instead of 2 doses every 12 hours.

I'm also worried about the scratching coming back but am also worried about her being on the anti-biotic for so long. So I wanted to ask you your opinion on continuing the anti-biotic. Do you think it's a good idea to continue long term on the reduced dose?

Also I should tell you that a few of weeks ago Mar.25, I asked you a question about her asthma which was getting worse and you suggested that she take the steroid inhaler which she'd been prescribed but I hadn't given her. I had only given her the bronchial one up to that point but it wasn't helping. I was holding off giving her the steroidal one because I was afraid it would affect her scratching problem but you said you thought it would be okay.

After 2 doses of the steroid inhaler, she did start scratching again so I stopped giving it to her but her asthma improved anyways and after a few days her scratching also stopped.

Thank you again for your help.

Sincerely,

Corinne

Hi Dr. Marie,

Thanks for your reply. I'm not concerned about the inconvenience of giving her the anti-biotic so much as the impact it is having on her little body. She's been on it almost 8 weeks if I include the first two weeks before the four day break. And I know for humans anti-biotics are hard on the body. I imagine the same is for cats, no? But I will continue on the low dose and see how she does.

Regarding the inhaler, I hope I'm wrong about it cause I may have to give it to her again as her asthma may be getting worse again. But she wasn't scratching the back of her ears for a couple of weeks and after the second dose of inhaler, she started scratching again so I made the connection. After I stopped, she was still scratching for a day or so and then stopped.

Thanks again for your help.

Sincerely,

Corinne

Okay, that puts it into perspective.

Thanks again.

Corinne