Giardia??

[mellieanne]

Hi all! I recently posted yesterday about my cat, Jesse, and his recent dental surgery. Well now I was just told today that his fecal test came back and he has giardia. 

He is 3 years old and not showing any symptoms of this. His stools are firm and dark brown...nothing out of the ordinary. I will be picking up medication to treat him this evening. I'm not sure what meds as of yet. And I'm not even sure HOW he got this being an indoor cat. He was adopted about a month ago, so I'm assuming from the shelter.

I've been reading a lot about this on this forum as well as elsewhere and I guess I'm just massively confused about what I should be doing. Some things I've been reading seem very drastic to me (constant cleaning...like bleaching the litter box each day, mopping floors every day, and even bathing the cat) to not really doing anything at all (I've read asymptomatic adult cats are sometimes not even treated). What should I be doing?? I really do not want to do those drastic things. I mean of course I want him to be well, but the thought of trying to bathe him scares the crap out of me. He really does not like being handled. I can definitely clean the environment, dump his litter, clean the box well and refill with clean litter (when should I do this? I've read towards the end of treatment would be best). Will also clean his food bowls well or maybe even use disposables for a few weeks.

Any suggestions? Thank you!

 

[handsome kitty]

Was your cat showing any symptoms?  Why was he tested?  One of my kittens was put on meds for this 'just in case' it was what she had.  The vet listed 3 or 4 things (she had the runs and threw up) it could have been.  One was eating bad food which was likely the reason since I had the flu the week before and wasn't great about picking up the wet food in a timely manner.  This is also an indoor cat.

The meds were a nightmare.  One was for stomach acid, one was an antibiotic that could cause brain damage if overdosed and the third was also for stomach fluids.  They smelled soooooo bad.  The vet mixed them himself because the dose was so small.  I was hiding them in anything I could think of - baby food, covered w/ fresh treats (smelly) shredded cheese.  I now avoid this vet.  My other cat wound up seeing him for something and OMG!

If you have more than one cat you need to quarentine this one as well.  If this is what you cat has I would wait and sterilize the boxes 4 days after meds start that's about when they kick in and he shouldn't be contagious anymore.

Giardia is nasty.  My husband had it twice, runs, throwing up, just bad news.  If your cat isn't showing any symptoms I would question this,

 

[mellieanne]

Nope no symptoms. All new cats brought into my vet's office are required to have a fecal test, and his turned up positive for giardia.

Luckily he is the only cat. I am usually not good about picking up wet food...mainly because he kind of picks at it throughout the day instead of eating all at once. Do you think that could be how he got it? I feel terrible!

Those meds sounds awful! I'm hoping whatever he has to take is not as bad, especially as he's still on painkillers from his dental. He's picky so giving him meds is going to be a challenge as well.

 

[handsome kitty]

Can they retest?  I would think a cat with this would be showing some sigh of distress.

 

[mellieanne]

I've actually read quite a bit online most cats are asymptomatic? I think he gets retested 2 weeks after the meds are completed.

 

[AbbysMom]

My cat also tested positive a few years ago during a routine exam. I was told that eating a fly is a common way for an indoor to get it.

I think you need to thoroughly clean the litterbox at the end of treatment, but ask at the vet when you pick up the meds. I think there is a concern they can get reinfected if you don't clean it.

 

[mellieanne]

Thanks!

I just picked up the medicine (liquid panacur) and asked the receptionists some questions but they weren't really sure of anything (the doctors had left for the day). I'm not sure if this medicine is flavored but I hope he is tolerable of it. Since he just had 8 teeth extracted yesterday, I don't really want to be touching his mouth or prying it open right now. I'll add some to some canned food and hopefully he'll eat it...=/

 

[stewball]

What is this illness? I've never heard of it.

 

[handsome kitty]

What is this illness? I've never heard of it.

A parasite that lives in the intestinal track.  Mostly picked up from another animal's scat, which explains the fly - they'll eat anything. 

 

[stewball]

Thank you. I'd never heard of it. Is your kitty ok now?