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Hopefully this thread can be a "go to" and be an all encompassing source for questions regarding Giardia.
How long does it take for a cat to catch Giardia after ingesting a Giardia cyst(s)?
Can healthy adult cats catch Giardia? And if so, is it because of multiple exposures, stress that causes a weakened immune system, just bad luck, etc?
If a healthy cat does ingest Giardia cysts does the immune system handle it and remove them if cysts are somehow not ingested again or are those cysts always going to be in the cat if left untreated? Does it depend if the cysts burts and release the cells or not?
How long do Giardia cysts and cells live in a dry environment (hardwood floor, carpeting, tile, etc)?
What are the long term health risks to a cat that has Giardia (if untreated)?
Since some vet tests do not always catch Giardia and a cat may not show symptoms a cat may be living in households around the world without the owners knowing it. In this environment is there a reasonable risk of the owners catching Giardia? I would assume long term exposure does increase the risk but is it still rare?
Can Giardia cysts and cells become airborne if disturbed by scooping litter, a cat grooming themselves, petting the cat, etc?
Does the risk of reinfection differ if the cat is having diarrhea vs having solid stools? Is there a statistically significant difference in the reinfection rate given these different stool consistencies?
How does Panacur (a common treatment for combating Giardia) work? Does it kill the Giardia cysts and cells in the body or does it just cause them to loosen their attachment to the intestines and pass in the feces?
How long does the Panacur work after the last dose?
How often should the litter be removed and the litter box be bleach cleaned during and after treatment with Panacur?
How often should the area a cat with Giardia is living in is be wiped down with bleach? After every bowel movement?
Where do the Giardia cysts and cells reside after a bowel movement? What percent (approximately) of cysts and cells remain in the stool and what percent separate and end up in the litter? (I ask this as it is recommended to remove all litter after a bowel movement so there must be some separation risk). Are the Giardia cysts and cells that are passed in the stool still alive and able to infect others?
What is the real risk of carrying Giardia cysts and cells on your clothes into other areas of the home if you have not been exposed to the cat's stool? How can this be avoided as clothes or your body will always be exposed in some way to the area that may have Giardia contamination? Even if you change your clothes your hands may have cysts or cells on them and while changing to new clothes the new clothes may not be contaminated.
If the cat is not able to be bathed how does the owner clean the fur in order to remove any Giardia that may reside in their fur?
How can one really be certain if the area that a cat infected with Giardia is free of Giardia? No matter how much one scrubs with bleach, disinfects with steam etc it seems like Giardia will always "slip through the cracks" and reside in the area where the infected cat was held? The Giardia may be on the cats fur, on their feet, on the owners feet, etc?
How many times after treatment does the cat stool need to be tested to make sure the cat is free of Giardia? It seems to me that since Giardia is not always passed in the stool multiple tests should be conducted to be confident that the cat is free of Giardia?
Can the cat after treatment with Panacur really be totally free of any Giardia cysts given the risk of high reinfection?
Is it close to a "miracle" for a new addition cat infected with Giardia not to pass the Giardia along to any existing cats in the house even with proper quarantine, throwing out litter, cleaning, etc? Not being able to bath the cat would increase the risk of this I would assume, any guess as to how much?
Can a multiple cat household infected with Giardia really be eradicated and if so what is the best way to rid the family of that mass infection given not all use only their litter box, they don't always take their medicine etc?
Given that Giardia seems to be everywhere, if a person has ferals in their yard and Giardia and worms etc can live in soil for long periods of time, how does one really prevent bringing these issues into the house and infecting the indoor cats? Even if one changes shoes any contamination could be on the entryway floor and constant bleaching (which maybe is the answer) is time consuming.
Is Giardia really as bad as my questions suggest? I am guessing that there are more cats than one would think (given some test are not great at finding Giardia) that are living in households around the world that have undiagnosed Giardia and it doesn't seem to be a huge problem for the cats and/or the owners. Or is it?
Hopefully we can find answers to these questions and hopefully others will add additional questions that I have not thought of so that this can be a helpful go to thread for future cat owners dealing with a cat or cats with Giardia and that their experience with Giardia is shortened and less stressful. There are so many great threads on this site about Giardia but there is no centralized source and hopefully this can bring answers all together.
Thank you for all your help.
How long does it take for a cat to catch Giardia after ingesting a Giardia cyst(s)?
Can healthy adult cats catch Giardia? And if so, is it because of multiple exposures, stress that causes a weakened immune system, just bad luck, etc?
If a healthy cat does ingest Giardia cysts does the immune system handle it and remove them if cysts are somehow not ingested again or are those cysts always going to be in the cat if left untreated? Does it depend if the cysts burts and release the cells or not?
How long do Giardia cysts and cells live in a dry environment (hardwood floor, carpeting, tile, etc)?
What are the long term health risks to a cat that has Giardia (if untreated)?
Since some vet tests do not always catch Giardia and a cat may not show symptoms a cat may be living in households around the world without the owners knowing it. In this environment is there a reasonable risk of the owners catching Giardia? I would assume long term exposure does increase the risk but is it still rare?
Can Giardia cysts and cells become airborne if disturbed by scooping litter, a cat grooming themselves, petting the cat, etc?
Does the risk of reinfection differ if the cat is having diarrhea vs having solid stools? Is there a statistically significant difference in the reinfection rate given these different stool consistencies?
How does Panacur (a common treatment for combating Giardia) work? Does it kill the Giardia cysts and cells in the body or does it just cause them to loosen their attachment to the intestines and pass in the feces?
How long does the Panacur work after the last dose?
How often should the litter be removed and the litter box be bleach cleaned during and after treatment with Panacur?
How often should the area a cat with Giardia is living in is be wiped down with bleach? After every bowel movement?
Where do the Giardia cysts and cells reside after a bowel movement? What percent (approximately) of cysts and cells remain in the stool and what percent separate and end up in the litter? (I ask this as it is recommended to remove all litter after a bowel movement so there must be some separation risk). Are the Giardia cysts and cells that are passed in the stool still alive and able to infect others?
What is the real risk of carrying Giardia cysts and cells on your clothes into other areas of the home if you have not been exposed to the cat's stool? How can this be avoided as clothes or your body will always be exposed in some way to the area that may have Giardia contamination? Even if you change your clothes your hands may have cysts or cells on them and while changing to new clothes the new clothes may not be contaminated.
If the cat is not able to be bathed how does the owner clean the fur in order to remove any Giardia that may reside in their fur?
How can one really be certain if the area that a cat infected with Giardia is free of Giardia? No matter how much one scrubs with bleach, disinfects with steam etc it seems like Giardia will always "slip through the cracks" and reside in the area where the infected cat was held? The Giardia may be on the cats fur, on their feet, on the owners feet, etc?
How many times after treatment does the cat stool need to be tested to make sure the cat is free of Giardia? It seems to me that since Giardia is not always passed in the stool multiple tests should be conducted to be confident that the cat is free of Giardia?
Can the cat after treatment with Panacur really be totally free of any Giardia cysts given the risk of high reinfection?
Is it close to a "miracle" for a new addition cat infected with Giardia not to pass the Giardia along to any existing cats in the house even with proper quarantine, throwing out litter, cleaning, etc? Not being able to bath the cat would increase the risk of this I would assume, any guess as to how much?
Can a multiple cat household infected with Giardia really be eradicated and if so what is the best way to rid the family of that mass infection given not all use only their litter box, they don't always take their medicine etc?
Given that Giardia seems to be everywhere, if a person has ferals in their yard and Giardia and worms etc can live in soil for long periods of time, how does one really prevent bringing these issues into the house and infecting the indoor cats? Even if one changes shoes any contamination could be on the entryway floor and constant bleaching (which maybe is the answer) is time consuming.
Is Giardia really as bad as my questions suggest? I am guessing that there are more cats than one would think (given some test are not great at finding Giardia) that are living in households around the world that have undiagnosed Giardia and it doesn't seem to be a huge problem for the cats and/or the owners. Or is it?
Hopefully we can find answers to these questions and hopefully others will add additional questions that I have not thought of so that this can be a helpful go to thread for future cat owners dealing with a cat or cats with Giardia and that their experience with Giardia is shortened and less stressful. There are so many great threads on this site about Giardia but there is no centralized source and hopefully this can bring answers all together.
Thank you for all your help.