Case 9

Charlie and Tupper are discharged after four days of hospitalization, and they are both doing well. Tupper continued to eat his low-residue diet during hospitalization. Charlie started receiving a high-quality commercial cat food while in the hospital and is eating it well, so this will become his new diet at home.

Although an infrequent occurrence, pets can become ill from pathogens in commercial diets as well, so hand washing and keeping food bowls out of reach of youngsters is important regardless of the type of diet fed.

The owners are instructed to continue the enrofloxacin orally for 10 more days and to return with Charlie and Tupper one week after finishing the antibiotics for repeat bacterial cultures.

At their follow-up visit, Charlie and Tupper are doing well. Their temperatures are normal, and neither has had any vomiting or diarrhea. Stool bacterial culture results for both pets are negative, but cultures will be rechecked in two to three weeks to verify that the infection has resolved.

Note on raw food diets: The majority of purported nutritional advantages to feeding raw diets remain unproven, but potential health risks exist. If a client would still like to consider this option, however, the following websites offer some guidelines that may be helpful:

• http://www.acvn.org/about-us/faq/

• http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/Transparency/Basics/ucm206814.htm

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