Giardia

[Lorgirl]

We recently got a 4 month old kitten that was dewormed, etc. We introduced her to our 7 year old cat faster than we should have because our existing cat was depressed because her brother recently passed. So, we did not get the kitten checked at the vet and quickly found out she had Giardia and had infected our 7 year old who got very sick. Long story short, they are getting medication and are both separated in different parts of the house. I have cleaned exhaustively everything. Now that her diarreaha is gone, we let our 7 year old out of her play pen to have a little more room to roam around in the basement. The basement is carpeted. My question is this..........we don't want to get the carpet steam cleaned before we get the all clear from retesting. The carpeted room is a large rec room type of room. What are the chances she can pick it up again before we get it cleaned? I find it hard to believe that she would happen to sit on a parasite or lick a spot on the rug that is invested. Am I wrong? I have read how easy it is to get reinvested. The kitten that is upstairs is able to roam around upstairs and I clean the floor daily and have all of the furniture covered. Any tips would be appreciated. I have been so stressed with all of the cleaning and with my 7 year old being so sick. She is finally feeling better. I just don't want to go through another round of this. We have also had a really hard time with the cats taking their liquid meds. I felt like they did not get as much as they should have in their mouths, so the vet is giving us 5 more days of it and then waiting a week to retest. I feel so bad that they are separated and somewhat isolated. : (

 

[Kris107]

I'd always err on the side of caution. A week or so alone is nothing in terms of their whole life. It's better to be healthy and alone than sick and together. Plus, if they're spreading it back and forth and all over your house - that's no good. In regards to cleaning, again, err on the side of caution in my book. It sounds like you're thinking about cleaning the carpet, so if you feel like maybe you should, then probably should. The ol' Google says giardia can live on surfaces for a week at room temp. So that's a week from the last time either cat was on it.