Giardia?

I just took Persil to the vet for a check following her surgery and because it was time to get her other shots, which were postponed while she was ill. Over the last few days I have noticed that her stools were loose, but I thought maybe this was because I am trying to get her to eat IAMS kitten food. However last night I saw that her motion had mucous and a faint pink tinge to it, so I took a faecal sample with me to the vet. He was non-committal, but is sending it to the lab for a parasite check. If she has something then I am sure the others probably have too, so I will try and check and grab samples before they bury them! What a nice job!

But I have been looking up the symptoms and it could be giardia, though there has been no vomiting yet. Anyone have any experience, or any other suggestions? I can't bear it that she might be sick again, though I am sure this is easily treatable. She is eating well and behaving normally in all other ways, and the vet says she seems OK in herself.

" Giardiasis is an intestinal infection of man and animals. It is caused by a protozoal parasite called Giardia intestinalis. It is widely known as the source of ‘travelerâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s diarrhea." These single-celled parasites are not to be confused with the common intestinal parasites: roundworms, hookworms, and tapeworms.

Giardiasis is an important cause of illness in animals and man. Fortunately, even though the infection rate is high in cats and dogs, clinical disease is less common.

Which cats are likely to get giardiasis?

Infection is relatively rare in healthy cats. It is more common in densely-populated groups of animals, such as in a cattery, pet store, or animal shelter. Also, kittens have been shown to shed more Giardia cysts in their feces than older cats.

What are the clinical signs?

These microscopic parasites attach themselves to the intestinal wall and cause an acute (sudden-onset) foul-smelling diarrhea. The stool may range from soft to watery, and occasionally contains blood. Infected cats tend to have excess mucus in the feces. Sometimes, vomiting can occur.

How do cats get infected with giardia?

Ingestion of the cyst stage of the parasite leads to infection. Once inside the cat's intestine, the cyst goes through several stages of maturation. Eventually, the cat is able to pass infective cysts in the stool, where they can contaminate the environment and infect other cats.

Infection can also occur from drinking water which has been contaminated with the cysts."

Hopefully it is just the diet. Sending Persil lots of get well vibes!

Poor Persil, she's really had a tough time of it lately. Hope she gets well soon

Oh Jenny poor Persil! I hope it's nothing.

She's come through a lot lately so i'm sure she can get through this as well

Thanks. I looked it up too, Yayi, and it is treatable, though there remain a number of questions over which treatment is best. Anyway, I don't know yet, I am jumping the gun. The results will not be here till Monday. I think Ellie may be showing the same signs, so I will try and get a sample from her over the weekend. But if anyone else can suggest other explanations for the blood-tinged mucous on the stools I would be grateful. The vet will do nothing till he sees the report, and they are both eating and are not de-hydrated so there is I think no emergency as yet.

where/how did you look up the symptoms? just a regular search engine, or is there a special one for cat health problems?

There are a couple of sites - www.animed.org/cats is one and another is www.catcare. A Google search of symptoms led me to a number of giardia sites in both cats and people. But I am no expert - I am just looking for clues so that I can ask the vet intelligent questions. After Persil's diaphragm hernia, I feel if I had been more armed with info on her symptoms then, we might have saved her a lot of suffering time.

Jenny, I don't have any personal experience with giardia, but I was just reading about it on a German cat forum, and it appears to be quite common, even among indoor cats. The drug of choice here in Germany seems to be "Panacur" (fenbendazol), which is given for 5 days, not given for 3, and then resumed for another 5 days. Sometimes a certain drug isn't effective, and another has to be tried: metrondazol (often rejected because of the taste), glycobiarsol ("Milibris"), quinacrinhydrochloride ("Atabrine"), tinadazol ("Simplotan") or nimorazol ("Esclama") were the ones named. All of them are given for 5 - 10 days. Most disinfectants won't kill off giardia, so everything has to be sterilized with boiling water. One member of that forum caught giardia from her cat, too.

Oh my, I hope they are all ok. I will keep you all in my thoughts and I am so sorry to hear of their illness. Good luck with the test results, maybe it will be something less serious..

Thanks for that info - it will help tomorrow if the tests are positive. Persil seems a bit better today - her stools are firmer, but Ellie has a lot of mucus and it seems there is a bit of blood. I am being very careful myself with hygiene, just in case!

Well, they think there is no giardia, though of course that can test negative the first time. But she has got round worms, toxicara, though not a heavy infestation. It surprises me, since she was treated for those in December, but I have pills for all three cats and we will see if they get better after a few days. If not, then I will have to ask for another giardia test. But at least I feel that something has been achieved and I hope that is all it is.

Did they test for any other internal parasites? Jamie and his buddy (the neighbors' dog) both got typhoid fever from drinking out of our pond (weird, but that's what the Elisa tests showed). Jamie and Aki both developed bloody diarrhea within 24 hours after drinking the water, and ran fevers. The vets thought giardia, and were surprised at the results. Both pets got antibiotic shots (I don't remember what it was, but could probably find the receipt) for 5 days, and recovered quickly. I hope the kitties get well soon!

They tested for the parasites that are common here, but giardia of course does notr always show up at first. ANyway, we will see how things progress over hte next few day - I have given them all the tablets as prescribed this evening. Persil fought hardest, Ellie scratched then gave in, and Dushka swallowed the tablet like a lamb.