My kitties have giardia :(

Mia (16months) and Mac (4 months) both have tested positive for giardia.The vet gave them flagyl to take once a day, 25mg for 10 days... I have no idea how they got it. The only thing I can think of is we had a boil order several weeks ago that I missed (we live in a very rural community). They have had diarreah for the last 4-5 weeks but act very normal. I was going to change their food thinking maybe that was it but decided to go to the vet first incase they had worms but it turned out it was giardia. They each had their first dose yesterday and one this morning. Therir poop is already getting a little better (not liquid but soft).Have any of you ever had to deal with this? Vet says it can be hard to get rid of and might nead several treatments. I am on disability and mu monthly checks are not much so I am hoping they get over this soon.

Luckily I have a vet that doesnt charge exam fees if they are getting shots (got rabies shots too yesterday. Both needed them.  So I paid $ 8.00 each for them and $25 for the flagyl liguid,thats all. Te flagle is expensive! Thevet did say if they need more I would only have to pay for it. The fecal tests are free.

How long did it take from your experience to get rid of it? Everything is getting washed with bleach today, including bed sheets. Anything else I need to do? I already scoop 2x daily too.

Thanks!

Wipe down all hard surfaces with a bleach solution, rinse well, then wipe down with ammonia solution, and rinse well again.  I know it sounds like a lot, but anything is better than re-infection.  Humans get giardia, too.  The symptoms are the same as c.diff in humans.  I had c.diff last year and ended up in the ICU in isolation for 3 days, followed by 3 days in isolation in a standard room. I came close to being dead.

I have now wiped down everything with bleach water and washed litterbox and bowls in bleach water as well. I will do it all again in 2 days.

I am glad you are ok after your illness. What a horrible experiance to go through!

ilovemia said:

I have now wiped down everything with bleach water and washed litterbox and bowls in bleach water as well. I will do it all again in 2 days.

I am glad you are ok after your illness. What a horrible experiance to go through!

Click to expand...

Just think how much worse it is for our cats, that can't understand what is happening to them.

Sugar had to have a second round of meds for Giardia, but now is bigger than anyone except Sheba.   It may seem like it takes a long time, but it will work out in the end.

I found out on Saturday that my little guy has Giardia.  Today will be his fourth treatment of F[color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]lagyl and I've been bleaching everything to help get rid of it.  He's been way more playful but he's still have very runny stools.  We go back to the vet on Friday. This thread makes me feel better because I was getting very concerned that it still hadn't cleared up after several days of treatment. [/color]

Mia and Macs loose stools cleared up about 4-5 daya of treatment. The vet RXed enough for 10 days each for them but the bottle gave them 12 days. After several days off the meds I found loose stools forming again in the litter. I had them on Purina Kitten Chow at the time as money was hard to come by (still is as I live on SSDI). I decided to look for a new affordable food. I am now giving them Purina One Sensitive Systems For Easy Digestion. Within 2 days the loose stools became solid. Makes me wonder if it was really giardia or if my vet just said it was to make a profit (flagyl is expensive). Maybe I should be more trusting but it seems like to much of a coincidence. He did a smear. I saw him and it took quite awhile for him looking at it. I dont know! It just doesnt add up.

I hope your kitty gets better soon. Its hard to watch them being sick!

Niki has treatment for 5 days and today is day 4.  He's been eating Orijen so I don't think it's a food issue and all of his symptoms are consistent with Giardia.  Hopefully your vet wouldn't do that but I've been reading up on Giardia and it seems it's difficult to detect so sometimes they treat it if there are symptoms to be safe. My tiny man is really bad about walking in it after he goes and then tracking it around.  I've done a lot of bleaching in the last few days. 

I'm glad to hear your furbabies are better!

My experience is that sometimes they need a second round of treatment, but even if the first 5 days of treatment is enough, the stools won't form up until days 4 - 7. Because the detection of giardia is from cysts in the stool, it's best to wait a day or two after the first round of treatment. If the stools start to form up, it's better to take those in for a fecal, as the diarrhea often doesn't "catch" the shedding cysts.

I've been having trouble with my guy going in the bathtub.  He's still goes in the box but then he'll also go in the bathtub. I clean his box at least 2 times a day. Today I filled the tub with water and he used his box. Did anyone else have this problem with Giardia and if so did they stop going in strange places once they were better?

I had a cat growing up who always pooped in the upstairs bath tub only but peed in the litter box. My Mom eventually put her outdoors. It broke my heart.

I think the water in the bath tub was an excellent idea!

He's not going outside, I couldn't handle the worry. I'm surprised he even goes near the bathtub since it's where he gets baths. 

Just wanted to give a quick update. We got a negative test on giardia at the vet today.  We go back again next week just to be sure.  And we've been really good about using our box again (hopefully I didn't just jinx it by bragging). 

Thanks to everyone for your advice and support.