Update on sick kitten, She has Giardia

sphynxkitten · Apr 27, 2006

Just wanted to thank everyone for their replies about my sick little girl. The vet finally got back to me yesterday. He said I should bring in another stool sample for a fecal exam. Not sure if they tested for Giardia last week when she had her fecal, but this time it came back positive! She is on metronidazole, for 5 days. The virus is a seperate issue, and she is still on antibiotics for that. Does anyone have experience with Giardia? I have read(I always forget to ask questions at the vets office, and they never offer info!)that Giardia can infect humans. Does anyone know if this is true? I have children(youngest is 3)and I'm worried they can get this. What I have read about it is, that it is mostly due to contaminated water, food etc..from fecal matter. Is this spread at all from saliva? I'm wondering if my children or myself can get this from touching the toys my kitten plays with? This could be a huge problem also because she has a problem with stepping in her poo after going(box is cleaned as soon as I know she has pooed)and tracking it all over my house! Anyone have suggestions about how to make sure my family, and my kitten don't get reinfected? I have a bottle of Clorox Everywhere that I will disinfect her litterbox, and food/water dishes with. Should I just throw out her toys and get new ones? Has anyone had a problem getting rid of this after being on meds? Any input is appreciated!
Thanks to everyone that replied to my orginal post a few days ago!

sharky · Apr 27, 2006

Buy a new litter box and then another when treatment is done... I know humans can get it but not sure how...
Did you get ahold of the breeder>>>??

white cat lover · Apr 27, 2006

Giardia pops up at the humane society very often. We treat cats/kittens by keeping them in their case 24/7 while they are being treated. The metronidazole is also know as Flagyl(I think). It is what is used at the HS. The cages teh cats are in get completely disenfected every 2 days. Their bedding gets changed & washed daily. They get a clean litterbox or box flat(basically, the bottom of a cardboard box) 2x a day. The box flats are what are used for all cats except for the ones that shred them. When the treatmetn is done, another stool smaple is taken in & tested. They always test for both Giardia & Coccidia anytime a cat has either of them(I don't know why for sure).

I don't know if any of that will help you or not. I don't know about people getting it. I didn't know they could.

sphynxkitten · Apr 27, 2006

Originally Posted by sharky

Buy a new litter box and then another when treatment is done... I know humans can get it but not sure how...
Did you get ahold of the breeder>>>??

I did get ahold of the breeder, she e-mailed to ask me my address(which is on the signed contract that she has, and also on the copy of the health certificate for shipping)so she could send the vet records, reg papers etc...then she e-mailed last night saying that the rabies certificate was "attached" to the health cert she was flown with(todays e-mail said her vet usually writes the rabies info ON the health cert, so one day it's attached to it, the next it's written on it??) Wrong. I have told her since April 3rd that there were absolutley no vaccine records (or any other papers for that matter) flown with my little girl. I e-mailed her 3 more times asking if she were going to send the rabies tag (didn't know they don't give tags for cats)and certificate when she sent all the other papers, with no response about it. A bit frustrating since I specifically mentioned the rabies 3 times, which I would not have done if I had the report. Now she has to get a copy from the vet, who she says is a bit of a drive from her, and will mail that to me. Who knows if it will come or not. She also said some of her kittens were having soft stools (this was a few weeks ago when I told her my baby was sick) but none of the other symptoms my kitten is having. I imagine that is because her kittens don't have the virus my baby does, but they most likely have the Giardia. I e-mailed her today to let her know, that she should get her cats/kittens, and dogs checked. My little girl came to me with symptoms of this, gas, eating but no weight gain, loose stools, sometimes diarrhea, along with the virus, so I hope her entire cattery does not get infected. From what I read, it can be hard to get rid of. I'mm going to do my best though! Thanks for your reply.

sphynxkitten · Apr 27, 2006

white cat lover said:
Giardia pops up at the humane society very often. We treat cats/kittens by keeping them in their case 24/7 while they are being treated.

Do you think I should confine her to one room(or huge crate)until she is done with her meds? I hate to do it, but if that is what needs to be done so this does not get spread throughout(especially since she steps in her poo!)my house and reinfect her, or my family.
I have to rush to work. I'll check the board later. Thanks for your help!

kai bengals · Apr 27, 2006

Originally Posted by sphynxkitten

I did get ahold of the breeder, she e-mailed to ask me my address(which is on the signed contract that she has, and also on the copy of the health certificate for shipping)so she could send the vet records, reg papers etc...then she e-mailed last night saying that the rabies certificate was "attached" to the health cert she was flown with(todays e-mail said her vet usually writes the rabies info ON the health cert, so one day it's attached to it, the next it's written on it??) Wrong. I have told her since April 3rd that there were absolutley no vaccine records (or any other papers for that matter) flown with my little girl. I e-mailed her 3 more times asking if she were going to send the rabies tag (didn't know they don't give tags for cats)and certificate when she sent all the other papers, with no response about it. A bit frustrating since I specifically mentioned the rabies 3 times, which I would not have done if I had the report. Now she has to get a copy from the vet, who she says is a bit of a drive from her, and will mail that to me. Who knows if it will come or not. She also said some of her kittens were having soft stools (this was a few weeks ago when I told her my baby was sick) but none of the other symptoms my kitten is having. I imagine that is because her kittens don't have the virus my baby does, but they most likely have the Giardia. I e-mailed her today to let her know, that she should get her cats/kittens, and dogs checked. My little girl came to me with symptoms of this, gas, eating but no weight gain, loose stools, sometimes diarrhea, along with the virus, so I hope her entire cattery does not get infected. From what I read, it can be hard to get rid of. I'mm going to do my best though! Thanks for your reply.

I ship kittens occasionally. My vet does write the rabies information on the health certificate itself, so I won't give the airlines the actual rabies certificate, because they end up keeping it for their files. If they need to physically see it, I show it to them and they can make a copy if they like, but I mail the original to the new owner the same day their kitten ships out.
Your breeder may have made the mistake of giving the rabies cert. to the airlines.
The state I live in also issues rabies tags for cats....I thought all states did this?
As for the giardia, yes humans can contract it, but not easily unless they are consumming contaminated water. Sounds like you are doing the right thing, by erring on the side of caution and keeping things extra clean.
You could try to isolate your new kitten to one room that is easy to keep clean, until you've gotten the all clear signal from your vet.
I know most cats hate the taste of metronidazole, so I hope your kitty will tolerate it.
Best of luck to you!

laureen227 · Apr 27, 2006

Originally Posted by sphynxkitten

(didn't know they don't give tags for cats)

my cats all get rabies tags when they get their shots at the vets. maybe it's different depending on the state?

miamispartan · Apr 27, 2006

Originally Posted by sharky

Buy a new litter box and then another when treatment is done... I know humans can get it but not sure how...
Did you get ahold of the breeder>>>??

I'm told it's common if travelling to 3rd World countries, or if you have adopted a child from that area. A good friend is recovering from it currently, and most likely caught it from his new son from Ukraine...

sphynxkitten · Apr 27, 2006

Kai Bengals said:
I know most cats hate the taste of metronidazole, so I hope your kitty will tolerate it.

I found that out the hard way. I have a pretty good gash on my finger from an extremely sharp kitten tooth. She wouldn't eat it for anything! I tried to disguise it in a soft treat, but she was too smart for that. After a couple other attempts I tried to get it in myself, and rub the throat, but got bit instead. Hope it will be ok, I don't think she got the full dose.
The thing about the rabies is, I told her 3 seperate times that I had no rabies info at all. Yesterday she said the certificate was attached to the health cert, but today, she said it was written on it. Either way, I still have no info on the rabies, and I told her that. I have been waiting since April 3rd when I notified her that she forgot to send vet records, copy of contract, and reg papers. She finally mailed them yesterday, she says. The original reason for not sending these things to me immediately(besides forgetting to ship them with her)was that she had the CFA papers, but TICA hadn't come yet, but when they did, she would send everything to me. She never told me that these papers weren't ready prior to shipping, as she states that everything is shipped with the kitten. I e-mailed her telling her I wasn't worried about the reg papers, but I wanted the vet records because she was sick, still no papers. Even after she told me she had the TICA papers(2 weeks ago)she then said she was so busy, that she would send them when she "found some time." IMO, if you have time to get on the computer, log into your e-mail, read e-mails, and reply to them (although after shipping the kitten replies to my e-mails were few and far between) then you should have time to put a name, address, and stamp on an envelope, and slip it in the mailbox. I asked the vet tech about the rabies tag, and I guess my state doesn't issue tags for cats either, so I guess it does depend on the state.
I think it may be time to find a new vet also. They (didn't even see the vet, just the vet tech) sent me home with the instructions to give her the pills for 5 days, and that's it. I had to do a search on the net to find out what this Giardia was all about. I'm glad to get more advice and opinions from everyone here also.
Thank you for your reply!

kai bengals · Apr 27, 2006

Ask your Vet (or new Vet), if there is a compounding pharmacy around that they can use to mix a powdered form of metronidazole with fish oil/paste. Then you can use a syringe to administer the liquid form of this medicine.

The cats don't like the taste much better, but you won't get bit and you won't traumatize your new kitten so bad, that she'll never trust you with a pill ever again.

Don't worry, you'll get through this. Congrats on your new kitten, btw.

Update on sick kitten, She has Giardia

sphynxkitten

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sharky

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white cat lover

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kai bengals

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laureen227

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