8 Best Natural Antibiotics for Cats

When your cat becomes ill due to a bacterial infection, a wound or an abscess, you’ll probably take her to the vet for checkup and treatment.

Other times, you choose to give her antibiotics for her condition. Unknown to many people, the type of antibiotic you choose really determines the quality of health of your cat going forward.

On one side are synthetic antibiotics, and on the other are the natural ones. Here’s why you should opt to help your feline friend with natural antibiotics.

Best natural antibiotics for cats

Due to these main benefits above, you are better off treating your pets’ bacterial infections with nature’s gifts. Here are 8 best natural antibiotics for cats.

1. Thyme

With antimicrobial, expectorant and antispasmodic properties, thyme works greatly in dealing with cough-related issues such as bronchitis (chronic and acute versions), and asthma. It is also a remedy for slow digestion and stomach ache.

Externally, thyme is a strong antiseptic used widely in treating wounds.

2. Chamomile

This is a herb with various health properties such as being carminative, antispasmodic and sedative. By carminative, it means that it relieves the pain and gas in the stomach.

3. Licorice

Licorice finds use as an anti-inflammatory remedy given its properties. It is also antimicrobial in nature as it inhibits the growth of bacteria and viruses in the body.

Vet officers often recommend licorice as an adaptogen as it aids the body systems to return to their normal states.

4. Yarrow

Yarrow can be used both internally and externally. Internally, the drug helps the body deal with poor digestion, an upset stomach, and the functions of the liver. It also helps in treating viral infections such as those that cause fevers and colds.

Externally, it treats wounds of all kinds by disinfecting the affected area and speeding up the healing process.

5. Bee Propolis

Bee propolis has many different nutrients and useful substances such as polyphenols, amino acids and natural steroids which give it many antibiotic properties.

It finds use in treating tumors, parasitic infections, candidiasis, dermatitis, herpes simplex, skin blemishes, treatment of burns, healing of wounds, respiratory infections, colds and other ailments.

6. Calendula (Calendula officinalis)

This is another antibiotic with a wide array of uses given its properties.

Calendula boasts of having antibacterial, anti-fungal and antiviral properties which make it effective for use in cases involving multiple infections. Besides that, it quickens the healing process of wounds.

Calendula also finds use as a liver stimulant and general tonic in the pet’s body.

7. Manuka honey

Manuka honey comes from the pollen and nectar of the Manuka tree which is native to New Zealand. Like all types of honey, Manuka honey has antibiotic, disinfectant and antiseptic properties that can be easily harnessed.

What makes this type of honey special is the so-called Unique Manuka Factor (UMF).

This is simply the relatively higher antibacterial quality found in this honey compared to the rest. As such, the honey is preferred over others for treating skin conditions, ulcers and abscesses, wound healing and feline diabetes.

8. Goldenseal

Goldenseal has berberine as an ingredient hence the substance has both antibiotic and immunostimulatory qualities. It works against a large number of fungi and bacteria.

It is great for use in cases of inflammation in which the mucous membrane is affected. Besides that, it works great in dealing with liver and gastrointestinal issues.

While buying this product, ensure you go for the organic goldenseal to reap all the right benefits of this drug. It is a product hard to find but closely substituted with the Oregon grape root (Mahonia aquifolium).

Before putting to use any of these substances as natural antibiotics for your cat, you need to have the vet’s approval first. While they have mild or no side effects, they may affect different cats in different ways.

Benefits of going natural for your pet

Before detailing the best natural antibiotics your cat needs, it ought to be known that natural home remedies (antibiotics in this case) have some advantages over their synthetic counterparts due to various reasons. Your choice of natural antibiotics will be based on the following facts:

• First of all, synthetic antibiotics are meant to kill the disease-causing organisms indiscriminately. That means, when used, they will kill off some of the healthy microorganisms in the body. As such, using these antibiotics weakens the body of the cat over time given that their use will also lead to the killing of germ-fighting cells.
• Secondly, drug-resistant disease strains are ever on the rise since the inception of synthetic antibiotics. Most notable is the fact that most of the diseases mutate faster than the science field can produce drugs that kill them off. The result is that, with the continued use of synthetic antibiotics, there is a major possibility that some of the diseases your cat suffers from will not have drugs that are strong enough to treat them in future.
• Thirdly, the continued use of synthetic antibiotics harms the environment in various ways one of which is that once used in treating diseases, the medicines find their way into food and water supplies thus creating more and more drug-resistant pathogens.
• Lastly, natural feline antibiotics can be put to various uses. A single antibiotic, as shall be seen in the following sections, treats an array of diseases hence advantageous when compared to synthetic antibiotics which are mostly single-purpose medicines.