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- Jun 29, 2013
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Now that we have a definitive diagnosis of Giardia, thought I'd create yet another thread (I'm so sorry Admins/Mods; I know my cat is a ever-evolving slidehow of medical maladies)
The vet has prescribed a pill (I'm assuming Panacur, but I haven't gotten it picked up yet; Will update when I do) to treat the illness itself, but I have several questions, and I figured someone here would have enough experience with Giardia to help me:
The vet has prescribed a pill (I'm assuming Panacur, but I haven't gotten it picked up yet; Will update when I do) to treat the illness itself, but I have several questions, and I figured someone here would have enough experience with Giardia to help me:
- Could this explain the increased hunger? I know with parasites, cats typically have DECREASED appetite but Simon is just RAVENOUS with his wet food, frequently requiring 3 cans a day (I try to make it every 8 hours, but he normally starts letting me know he's hungry again at the 6 hour mark. He gets wet food only, and will soon be transitioning from Fancy Feast to Hills C/D Multicare for crystals/FLUTD issues)
- He's been borderline constipated the last few days, rather than having diarrhea. To be fair, he's had off-and-on stool issues for nearly two years now, but could this be tied to the Giardia as well? Could it be that, this whole time, he's actually been dealing with Giardia and just never had enough of a 'load' to test positive prior to now? (He DID have a fecal flotation last year when we thought he might have had worms, but it came back negative for everything)
- How should I go about sanitizing his water fountain? It's plastic, and can't go through the dishwasher (I'm looking into upgrading to a porcelain fountain, but they're expensive and he's super picky as it is and will absolutely flip his water dish if he doesn't like it). I typically just use hot water and liquid ivory dish soap and never had issues prior to this.
- How should I go about cleaning/sanitizing his crate/crate tray/litterbox? The vet suggested just soap and water should be fine, but idk. Everything I'm reading suggests otherwise and I want to make sure this is GONE asap, so we don't have a flare during the holiday season when many vets are closed or when the snow/ice begins and we can't safely get to the vet's office. We have lysol wipes and I'm sure I could make a bleach/water mixture, if that would be more ideal.