How paranoid do I need to be about giardia in cats?
July 28, 2017 9:21 AM Subscribe
Two days ago my 16 year old cat vomited 4 times and defecated 3 times within a half hour with no obvious cause , so I called the vet and brought him in. Blood tests and X-rays were within normal parameters but giardia was discovered in the stool sample. He was prescribed panacur granules. I have two other cats.
First, I'm under an ENORMOUS amount of stress so I want y'all to be honest but don't scare me unless it's really necessary. I am jobless so I CANNOT PAY FOR ANYTHING UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. No $100 litterboxes, no hiring a cleaning company, none of that.
The vet is an abrupt jerk and his staff is incompetent which is why I'm asking here and not calling him. I will go to a different vet next time.
- Patient Zero is 16. Vet gave him subQ fluids and anti-nausea meds. Since then he has been acting normally - eating and drinking, no vomiting. However, no defecating in or out of litterbox. I fed him the panacur granules with his food, no problems there.
- Middle cat is 12. No problems. Didn't like panacur but ate most of it.
- Jerk Kitten is 2 (?). He is FIV+ and that's the main reason I took PZ to the vet. I do not want to take the risk of anything being passed to him. He seems healthy, very active, no problem eating medication.
I quarantined PZ after returning from the vet. I cleaned the litterboxes immediately and will continue to do so daily or multiple times per day if needed. I washed all their food and water dishes with anti-bacterial soap. Should I do this every day? I used bleach to scrub the places on the floor where he'd vomited/defecated. I wash my hands frequently anyway but will be even more diligent now.
How can I prevent reinfection and reintroduction? All are strictly inside cats, no animal visitors and human visitors only rarely. No vermin spotted in the house ever. I must have introduced it into the environment somehow, right? I have not been sick other than stress related.
- Do I need to quarantine PZ until the panacur is done? I am supposed to give it to all cats once per day for 5 days. Should I avoid touching him? The only place to quarantine him is the bedroom, so I have to sleep with him.
- If I don't have to quarantine him, anything else I should do? I'm at home most of the time (see: unemployed) and can watch them. I can lock him in the bedroom when I leave (he likes to groom the others).
- What am I not thinking of? I am not normally a germaphobe but I can't afford for 3 of them to get sick, plus of course I don't want them to be miserable.
First, I'm under an ENORMOUS amount of stress so I want y'all to be honest but don't scare me unless it's really necessary. I am jobless so I CANNOT PAY FOR ANYTHING UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. No $100 litterboxes, no hiring a cleaning company, none of that.
The vet is an abrupt jerk and his staff is incompetent which is why I'm asking here and not calling him. I will go to a different vet next time.
- Patient Zero is 16. Vet gave him subQ fluids and anti-nausea meds. Since then he has been acting normally - eating and drinking, no vomiting. However, no defecating in or out of litterbox. I fed him the panacur granules with his food, no problems there.
- Middle cat is 12. No problems. Didn't like panacur but ate most of it.
- Jerk Kitten is 2 (?). He is FIV+ and that's the main reason I took PZ to the vet. I do not want to take the risk of anything being passed to him. He seems healthy, very active, no problem eating medication.
I quarantined PZ after returning from the vet. I cleaned the litterboxes immediately and will continue to do so daily or multiple times per day if needed. I washed all their food and water dishes with anti-bacterial soap. Should I do this every day? I used bleach to scrub the places on the floor where he'd vomited/defecated. I wash my hands frequently anyway but will be even more diligent now.
How can I prevent reinfection and reintroduction? All are strictly inside cats, no animal visitors and human visitors only rarely. No vermin spotted in the house ever. I must have introduced it into the environment somehow, right? I have not been sick other than stress related.
- Do I need to quarantine PZ until the panacur is done? I am supposed to give it to all cats once per day for 5 days. Should I avoid touching him? The only place to quarantine him is the bedroom, so I have to sleep with him.
- If I don't have to quarantine him, anything else I should do? I'm at home most of the time (see: unemployed) and can watch them. I can lock him in the bedroom when I leave (he likes to groom the others).
- What am I not thinking of? I am not normally a germaphobe but I can't afford for 3 of them to get sick, plus of course I don't want them to be miserable.
I foster dogs, so I've seen a LOT of giardia, and I've also contracted giardia from a foster dog. I am not a vet.
Most dogs get giardia from unclean water or from giardia in the soil. Also be aware that you can contract it...and you'll know if you do. It causes great intestinal upset in people, and it can linger for quite a while.
Since you could be the source, and it likely came in on your body/shoes/clothes, I would suggest a deep clean of the places and things you and your cats interact with most frequently, including the floors, walls and furniture, and food preparation items, and washing any clothes/shoes/toys/bedding with hot water, bleach (for items that are bleachable), and drying in the dryer on the hottest setting. I wouldn't throw anything away for this...but I would clean everything in stages.
Going forward, when returning to your house from outside/elsewhere, change clothes and remove your shoes in the garage (if you have one) or a laundry room, before you come into the rest of the house. Wash your hands before touching anything else in the house. It's a little extreme, but it's cheap and could help lessen the risk of bringing giardia back into the house.
Going forward, scoop the litter box many times a day, and do a total litter replacement every few days until a few days after the Pancur treatment is over.
posted by answergrape at 10:56 AM on July 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Most dogs get giardia from unclean water or from giardia in the soil. Also be aware that you can contract it...and you'll know if you do. It causes great intestinal upset in people, and it can linger for quite a while.
Since you could be the source, and it likely came in on your body/shoes/clothes, I would suggest a deep clean of the places and things you and your cats interact with most frequently, including the floors, walls and furniture, and food preparation items, and washing any clothes/shoes/toys/bedding with hot water, bleach (for items that are bleachable), and drying in the dryer on the hottest setting. I wouldn't throw anything away for this...but I would clean everything in stages.
Going forward, when returning to your house from outside/elsewhere, change clothes and remove your shoes in the garage (if you have one) or a laundry room, before you come into the rest of the house. Wash your hands before touching anything else in the house. It's a little extreme, but it's cheap and could help lessen the risk of bringing giardia back into the house.
Going forward, scoop the litter box many times a day, and do a total litter replacement every few days until a few days after the Pancur treatment is over.
posted by answergrape at 10:56 AM on July 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Seconding taking off your shoes. That seems the most likely way it came into your house.
posted by MexicanYenta at 10:59 AM on July 28, 2017
posted by MexicanYenta at 10:59 AM on July 28, 2017
Giardia is spread by poop and unclean water, not by saliva. Keep the cats as clean as you can. If they are long-haired cats, I'd be vigilant about inspecting them for "hangers-on" and remove any you see.
posted by answergrape at 11:06 AM on July 28, 2017
posted by answergrape at 11:06 AM on July 28, 2017
We just treated this guy for Giardia a couple months ago. Fun times.
What I learned was that because Giardia is a little parasite what the panacur for five days does is give it a window to eliminate the parasite at the right point in its life cycle - and you don't know what point it is at in your cat(s) right now. So if you're successfully medicating all the cats then you are giving the medicine the best chance of working. Also, it transfers via feces. So don't stress about licking much. The main path is shared litterbox > paws > cat licks own paws. So your regime with box cleaning should be good, but if you have the space having four boxes (simple! cheap!) for three cats would be smart. Additionally there are a few different strains of Giardia and it is pretty unlikely that you gave it to your cats or that they will give it to you. Many cats have Giardia in their systems with no or very mild symptoms for quite some time and then boom, it shows symptoms and a diagnosis occurs.
The number one tip my fabulous vet tech gave me was to wipe my cat's butt with unscented baby wipes while he was having poop problems. If you have trouble affording a pack of these memail me and I will be 100% happy to send some your way via amazon. Just give the cats a swipe after they use the box so there is nothing to lick off when they groom themselves later.
Giardia is annoying but really treatable. Your kitties will be okay.
posted by Mizu at 11:59 AM on July 28, 2017 [6 favorites]
What I learned was that because Giardia is a little parasite what the panacur for five days does is give it a window to eliminate the parasite at the right point in its life cycle - and you don't know what point it is at in your cat(s) right now. So if you're successfully medicating all the cats then you are giving the medicine the best chance of working. Also, it transfers via feces. So don't stress about licking much. The main path is shared litterbox > paws > cat licks own paws. So your regime with box cleaning should be good, but if you have the space having four boxes (simple! cheap!) for three cats would be smart. Additionally there are a few different strains of Giardia and it is pretty unlikely that you gave it to your cats or that they will give it to you. Many cats have Giardia in their systems with no or very mild symptoms for quite some time and then boom, it shows symptoms and a diagnosis occurs.
The number one tip my fabulous vet tech gave me was to wipe my cat's butt with unscented baby wipes while he was having poop problems. If you have trouble affording a pack of these memail me and I will be 100% happy to send some your way via amazon. Just give the cats a swipe after they use the box so there is nothing to lick off when they groom themselves later.
Giardia is annoying but really treatable. Your kitties will be okay.
posted by Mizu at 11:59 AM on July 28, 2017 [6 favorites]
My dog had it when I got him, unbeknownst to both me and the SPCA where he came from. They thought he was unruly and poorly potty trained, and it turned out that the Giardia was to blame. About 48 hours after bringing him home, he was unable to stand on his own (probably a week with it at the shelter) and I was at the emergency vet at 2AM Sunday morning, getting a doctor's bill to make him cost as much as a purebred (for the *emergency* aspect of the treatment).
Giardia spreads by feces and food bowls. I recommend getting it treated before anybody else gets it. It is already in your house and needs to be cleaned as such. Quarantine the one with it in the short term and watch the other two for symptoms. It is Friday and 5 o'clock. Medical treatment for pets is expensive til 9:00 AM on Monday. I recommend cleaning all the dishes, changing out water, and having some Lysol and extra paper towels on hand.
posted by Nanukthedog at 2:01 PM on July 28, 2017
Giardia spreads by feces and food bowls. I recommend getting it treated before anybody else gets it. It is already in your house and needs to be cleaned as such. Quarantine the one with it in the short term and watch the other two for symptoms. It is Friday and 5 o'clock. Medical treatment for pets is expensive til 9:00 AM on Monday. I recommend cleaning all the dishes, changing out water, and having some Lysol and extra paper towels on hand.
posted by Nanukthedog at 2:01 PM on July 28, 2017
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They suggest pet shampoo, which sounds horrible for cats, but there you go. I would discard toys, machine wash bedding, vacuum all furniture and hidey-holes. Maybe dilute vinegar spray on couches? Dunno if that will help.
The site suggests cleaning precautions (and I would quarantine to avoid re-cleaning couch) for a few days after last dose of meds.
posted by crazycanuck at 10:23 AM on July 28, 2017