At our kittens first wellness check after adopting them, George's stool sample came back positive for roundworms. Dory's was clear. Not a big deal and their vet had us treat them both with Drontal - two pills to be given two weeks apart. We just took in samples for the recheck, and now George is coming up positive for giardia. Dory was again clear. The vet is treating George only this time, with Panacur granules for 5 days. We're to do another recheck on both cats in 2 to 3 weeks time.
Neither cat has had any big digestive issues since we adopted them, and I always thought chronic diarrhea was a given with giardia? Both have formed stool, and if anything George's tends to be a bit firmer than Dory's most of the time. When I mentioned this to the vet, he said that he doesn't treat asymptomatic healthy adult cats...only those adults with symptoms. But that he treats all kittens and seniors who test positive. George is 8 months old.
Is it common/normal for a cat with giardia to be asymptomatic? Or are perhaps false positives common? I'm also really wondering why the giardia didn't show up on his first stool check about a month ago when the roundworms were discovered. To me that just seems strange. They are both strictly indoors and we have no other pets/animals. Is it standard to not treat both cats for this? I thought giardia was highly contagious.
And speaking of contagious... any advice for cleaning & hygiene? This is our first experience with giardia in any of the pets we've had over the years. We of course wash our hands after scooping the boxes, which is done twice per day. We do a total breakdown and disinfect of the boxes once per week. Oh, and I've also been using a Clorox wipe on the kitchen counters before doing any type of food prep, because we have busted George up there a couple times. Anything I should add or change to what we already do?
Thank you for any tips & advice. I thought if they were going to test positive for anything again, it would be the roundworms because I know some cats simply just need another round of treatment. Being told we're now looking at giardia really threw me for a loop!
Neither cat has had any big digestive issues since we adopted them, and I always thought chronic diarrhea was a given with giardia? Both have formed stool, and if anything George's tends to be a bit firmer than Dory's most of the time. When I mentioned this to the vet, he said that he doesn't treat asymptomatic healthy adult cats...only those adults with symptoms. But that he treats all kittens and seniors who test positive. George is 8 months old.
Is it common/normal for a cat with giardia to be asymptomatic? Or are perhaps false positives common? I'm also really wondering why the giardia didn't show up on his first stool check about a month ago when the roundworms were discovered. To me that just seems strange. They are both strictly indoors and we have no other pets/animals. Is it standard to not treat both cats for this? I thought giardia was highly contagious.
And speaking of contagious... any advice for cleaning & hygiene? This is our first experience with giardia in any of the pets we've had over the years. We of course wash our hands after scooping the boxes, which is done twice per day. We do a total breakdown and disinfect of the boxes once per week. Oh, and I've also been using a Clorox wipe on the kitchen counters before doing any type of food prep, because we have busted George up there a couple times. Anything I should add or change to what we already do?
Thank you for any tips & advice. I thought if they were going to test positive for anything again, it would be the roundworms because I know some cats simply just need another round of treatment. Being told we're now looking at giardia really threw me for a loop!
