Bathing cat to help treat giardia

[Meowmee]

I have never done this before but I wonder if anyone else has? I was reading a website about treatment for Giardia and in addition to keeping everything very clean they suggested bathing the cat. I’m a little concerned about this because Xena has long hair and I’ve noticed a little bits of dried poop that have fallen off onto the Wee pads later after I cleaned up his litter pan etc. The problem is he is not touchable and there is no way I’m going to be able to give him a bath. Any ideas?

We are having some meowy convos now about me feeding him and he will eat with me there now, but he is still scared and hissing, but I see improvement so I am hoping he can be tamed in time. He is on 2x gabapentin now which seems to be helping him relax more. I hope to wean him off of it in time.

 

[gabicards]

I dealt with that for months on end with my cat, who also has long hair. I used to keep an eye on him and whenever he pooped I picked up up from the litter box - I didn't give him the chance to try and cover anything and end up stepping on it (which he often did, and still does as an adult, but now that his poop is dry it's never messy). Then I'd clean it right away.

I did also bathe him often, but I'm under the impression that didn't help much. I also kept pet wipes near his litter box at all times, and always wiped his paws after he used it. Giardia is exhausting, I'm sorry you're dealing with that.

 

[Meowmee]

I dealt with that for months on end with my cat, who also has long hair. I used to keep an eye on him and whenever he pooped I picked up up from the litter box - I didn't give him the chance to try and cover anything and end up stepping on it (which he often did, and still does as an adult, but now that his poop is dry it's never messy). Then I'd clean it right away.

I did also bathe him often, but I'm under the impression that didn't help much. I also kept pet wipes near his litter box at all times, and always wiped his paws after he used it. Giardia is exhausting, I'm sorry you're dealing with that.

Thanks! Zena or Zini as it may become was recently trapped from outside and although he was most likely a dumped tame and sweet cat 2 years ago, he has now become very frightened and semi-feralish, so he is not touchable yet. But I have hope.

So unfortunately I cannot really give him a bath or do the wipes thing etc. Right now he is still in the droptrap and I don’t want to let him out of there until the giardia is cleared because he could contaminate my whole studio and he’s just re-learning how to use the litter box again etc.

I really would love to give him a bath though, his fur is matted and dusty. I should’ve asked the DVM to wash him a bit when they did his neuter while he was sedated.

I ended up giving Merlin my last rescue, now happy indoor only cat, a bath when another DVM sent him home covered in poop when he had C. difficile! But Merlin was already touchable before I took him in although he bit me. I had to hold him down, scruffed on the floor and get water from the sink and just washed him right on the floor and rinsed himit was awful but somehow he tolerated it.

I’m so sorry about your kitty, it is kind of a nightmare. I hope that Xena will be cured sooner rather than later. How long did your kitty take to get better?
Xena is pooping in a pan with a wee pad and a little bit of litter- if he has pooped or peed I just throw all of it away, clean everything out, sterilize with rescue and then put everything in fresh. So hopefully that will help stop any retransmission.

 

[fionasmom]

I bathed my now deceased diabetic cat Stella all the time as the neuropathy made it hard for her to use the litter box at all or to stand up sufficiently. I put her rear end in the bathroom sink and only did that part of her.....but she was a sweet cat and was not able to struggle away from me. I would worry about you trying any of this without some consequence to yourself. If he does go back to the vet, I wonder if you could pay them a little extra to clean him up.

 

[Meowmee]

I bathed my now deceased diabetic cat Stella all the time as the neuropathy made it hard for her to use the litter box at all or to stand up sufficiently. I put her rear end in the bathroom sink and only did that part of her.....but she was a sweet cat and was not able to struggle away from me. I would worry about you trying any of this without some consequence to yourself. If he does go back to the vet, I wonder if you could pay them a little extra to clean him up.

I am bringing Quinn in tomorrow for his vaccines etc. so I will ask about bringing in Zena to bathe him maybe, I don't know if they will sedate just to do that though. If his nose doesn't get better he will need to go in anyway so maybe. I have never bathed Quinn because he is such a high strung kitty even as a kitten but I should have tried to get him used to it. I used to bathe my kitties once per year to stop fleas but they howled so much I ended up stopping it because they hated it. I only did Quinn's bum a few times like you described and that was it, he hated it!

 

[fionasmom]

I never bathe my cats. They are indoor only, are brushed, but never bathed. I had a very affectionate male years ago who would poop in his carrier if we went to the vet and then sit in it so he had to be bathed, but even with him it was chaos trying to do his whole body.

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

I bathed Juno twice when she had giardia-- once at the end of each round of treatment (the first one being unsuccessful).

The only way I could do it was to trap her in my walk-in shower. She screamed like a banshee and threw herself against the walls. I was wearing thick socks, running tights, a thick jacket, gardening gloves, and goggles, and she still managed to scratch me when she freaked out and climbed the length of my body using her claws.

Never again. It was traumatic for both of us. And luckily, the second treatment worked and her poops firmed up enough that they stopped being messy. I think she just needed time for her immune system and gut to get stronger, really.

 

[Meowmee]

I bathed Juno twice when she had giardia-- once at the end of each round of treatment (the first one being unsuccessful).

The only way I could do it was to trap her in my walk-in shower. She screamed like a banshee and threw herself against the walls. I was wearing thick socks, running tights, a thick jacket, gardening gloves, and goggles, and she still managed to scratch me when she freaked out and climbed the length of my body using her claws.

Never again. It was traumatic for both of us. And luckily, the second treatment worked and her poops firmed up enough that they stopped being messy. I think she just needed time for her immune system and gut to get stronger, really.

Omg sounds traumatic I have usually gotten my kitties used to it enough to be able to by doing first when they were kittens or younger, but at some point my last four started hating it, I think it was Sybil who started it and they had a chain reaction. But I could still do it without any of us getting injured fortunately. Once Sybil tried to climb my leg in the bath tub, I got in with them, and I had forgotten to clip her claws so she got caught on me and I got a puncture- but she was so gentle and not meaning to hurt me, she was just scared like your kitty.

My angel Tess I bathed when she was a little kitten, she loved it, she even love being dried with the hairdryer so although I didn’t bathe her that often she could have a bath if needed. I think it’s good if they can do it because they are going to be times when you do have to do it like now.

I am hoping maybe Zena will firm up more soon too and is on the way to being clear of giardia.