The Dreaded Giardia

Hi all -

I'm a first-time cat owner, and my poor little kitten tested positive for Giardia. The vet gave me Panacur to treat with for 10 days, which is all fine and okay. What should I be doing in terms of the overall environment? We're good about keeping the litter box scooped, but how often should we be disinfecting it? How often should I wash her?

Is it okay if she stays on my bed at night? We live in an apartment, so there's not much space to really "quarantine" her, so to speak (other than the bathroom, but I'm not sure I feel okay with leaving her in such a small space with no window all day while I'm at work, or through the night). I'm planning on washing my bedding at least twice during the whole ten day process. Is there anything else I should be doing to make sure I or my roommate don't get infected (beyond the obvious hand washing, hand washing, hand washing)?

We have one other cat in the apartment. We asked the vet if we should be treating him as well, but the vet said to bring him in for testing once my cat is done with her regimen. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Shouldn't we be treating both of them just to be safe? I really don't want her to be okay, then get reinfected from him.

Any advice is appreciated.

If you're washing your bedding and theirs, and scooping a lot, the only other thing you might want to consider is bleaching the boxes weekly. That's what we did when we had to break a cycle of round worm.

The panacur SHOULD do it.

Don't worry about this too much. Giardia is stubborn, but not terribly serious. In fact, 10 days of meds sounds excessive to me (if you consider that the Panacure is very strong, and will not be pleasant for your cat). Compare it to chemothereapy! My cat had it when I got him, and the vet gave me Flagyl (similar type drug), but told me to discontinue the meds as soon as symptoms improve, hopefully before the full course.

I have three other cats and none of them got it. I keep the litter boxes clean, but nothing unusual. I never use bleach! If you do, please rinse the boxes extra well, as chlorine bleach is highly poisonous.

Finally, start him on a high quality diet!