cat diagnosed with giardia - won't eat or drink

Hi,

After 3-4 days of increasing softer stools (plus vomiting in the past 24 hours), I was finally able to get Luna to the doctor. To make the story short, she was diagnosed with giardia. I was told to feed her a certain canned food (to be gentle on her tummy) and some medicine. But I am having trouble with the treatment:

Food - short story: she's not eating or drinking since she got home from the vet. Last time she ate was this morning. Granted, she did get worse at the vet, she had some vomiting/diarrhea incidents during the exam, but I don't want her to go too long without at least getting some fluids.

Medicine - she HATES it when I force stuff into her. I was given a syringe, but she fights it so much. Even with my mother trying to help, she struggled a lot. We were only able to get some of the medicine into her.


I'm stuck now about what to do to encourage her to take something in. I even went to the store to get some organic chicken broth to pour over her food (to make it less bland), but she still won't touch it.

Edit: She's finally drinking some water as I type. Yay!

My guess would be that she's probably somewhat nauseous. If she's still refusing food in the morning call the vet and discuss this with them, they can probably give you something to help if nausea is an issue. Look up "assisted feeding" on here, you may be able to find some good information or links to sites to help you if it gets to that point.

If you can't find anything - I hope some of the members more experienced in that area can leave some helpful suggestions.

What food did they give you or suggest? You can always try boiling her a bit of chicken to eat since that would be gentle on her stomach too.

first it was hills i/d, but petsmart was out of stock so I went back and they prescribed the eukanuba low residue instead. I might try giving her another spoon tonight to see if she wants it.

My cat was diagnosed with Giardia and the vet gave me pills for it. He also gave me appetite stimulants which worked great. I have a hard time pilling my cat so I used pill pockets and that worked like a charm.

Giardia treatment is dumb. Flagyl decreases their appetites.

It is a terribly bitter tasting medicine, I speak from experience. I suggest asking your vet for pill form. It is also possible to treat Giardia with Panacur. I was told be my vet's office that Panacur has a higher rate of clearing up the giardia than Flagyl does.

Coco had Flagyl for ibd and she didnt want eat because of the Med.

Originally Posted by mews2much

Coco had Flagyl for ibd and she didnt want eat because of the Med.

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I have to admit that you hit the nail on the head when it came to this part. About an hour after I fed the flagyl in a bit of wet food this morning - which she readily ate - she woudn't eat much of the other medicine disguised in the wet food (the amoxicillin). But apparently after I left for work, she finished it. Same thing tonight. It took me forever to get her to finish her medicine laced wet food, but a couple of hours later, she appeared to be hungry again and after I put out the rest of her dinner (the bigger portion), she finished it rather quickly.

The only concern I have now is that even though her diarrhea and vomiting seem to have cleared up, she hasn't had a bowel movement since. Some pee, yes, but no poop. How long should I probably give her before I get really worried?

Give her a few days.

starfish, please don't give this kitty anything other than what the vet has told you to. Flagyl is the medication that is routinely prescribed for giardia which is no laughing matter. Untreated, or treated incorrectly, giardia can sap the strength of a cat or kitten and cause great distress. Panacur isn't the normal treatment for this.

If you are feeding a special prescription diet food, the only place you can get this food is at your vet's office. PetSmart, petco etc cannot carry these type of foods so what you are feeding may not help your kitty.

It may not be flagyl that is causing the stomach upset as amoxy is a drug that can also cause kitties to stop eating or to start vomiting.

Was a fecal done to confirm the diagnosis or is your vet just guessing?

On your other issues, please check your PM box as I have sent you some ideas on how to successfully medicate your kitty-

Originally Posted by mews2much

Give her a few days.

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Your kitty shouldn't be given a few days to produce stool. Even with giardia and diarrhea, stool should be forthcoming every day. If not, call your vet- however, be sure you check around the house first (behind the couch or under the bed) are some of the places sick kitties deficate when they can't hold it to get to the pan. But she should be pooping daily. If not CALL your vet and let him know.

Originally Posted by hissy

starfish, please don't give this kitty anything other than what the vet has told you to. Flagyl is the medication that is routinely prescribed for giardia which is no laughing matter. Untreated, or treated incorrectly, giardia can sap the strength of a cat or kitten and cause great distress. Panacur isn't the normal treatment for this.

If you are feeding a special prescription diet food, the only place you can get this food is at your vet's office. PetSmart, petco etc cannot carry these type of foods so what you are feeding may not help your kitty.

It may not be flagyl that is causing the stomach upset as amoxy is a drug that can also cause kitties to stop eating or to start vomiting.

Was a fecal done to confirm the diagnosis or is your vet just guessing?

On your other issues, please check your PM box as I have sent you some ideas on how to successfully medicate your kitty-

Click to expand...

Thanks. I am about to read the PM and I forgot to update you guys that she did poop. She still does eat her food as fast as she used to. She pretty much rejects it at first. Sometimes, she will paw it aside as if to say 'I don't want this crap'.

I can't wait 'till I don't have to give her this medicine anymore. It's exhausting me.

hissy - I forgot to add that she did get a stool sample.

When I have kitties that are sick and not eating well, I boil a chicken tender in water with no seasoning added. Then, I mix in a couple of teaspoons of the broth with the wet food, heat it up in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds to enhance the flavor and it works like a charm. Now, I have one kitty who eats better when her food is warm, so I warm it up all the time.

My kitties aren't on special food, so I take the chicken tender and mash it up, add a few tablespoons of the broth and mix it up like chicken salad. Again, no seasonings added. I feed a bit of this with wet food and they eat it, too.

Stephanie