Hi,
I'm looking for help for my 15-yr old female Tortoiseshell. She tested positive for Giardia in August and it is now nearly the end of November. Nothing we have tried has worked and she has lost an awful amount of weight.
First we tried 3 rounds of Metronidazole - increasing in length each time (3 days, 5 days, 10 days)
Then 2 rounds of Pancur (5 days, 8 days)
Then I read that Secnidazole has a near 100% cure rate and has been used by vets and catteries in the US with great results. You can't easily buy it in this country (I'm in the UK) but I managed to find a pigeon dewormer which contains Secnidazole, Rondazole and Diclazuril. I checked all the dosages to make sure it was safe to give to my cat and it was. So she's had 2 rounds of that. (the other ingredients should have cleared up anything else nasty like Trichomoniasis or Coccidiosis)
In the meantime, I have bleached the entire house several times and boil washed any fabric she has sat on, put her on a probiotic, given her 2 baths with Chlorhexidine shampoo, wiped her down with Chlorhexidine wipes, bleached her litter trays twice and switched from kitty litter to newspaper and kitchen roll, which can be easily bagged and discarded - although she goes on the floor more often than not. I clear up all faeces as soon as I can (I'm at home most of the time, so it usually gets done pretty immediately). She doesn't really go outside but I have eliminated all sources of standing water near the house just in case. She is on a diet of plain chicken and good-quality grain free wet food.
Her stool seems to improve on all these treatments, but then goes back to runny either halfway through treatment or as soon as we stop dosing. I know she must still have giardia and it's not just diarrhoea because her poop has that awful characteristic sweet-but-yucky smell.
She has been a healthy cat all her life until the last few years. She tends to get a UTI about once every 2 years since getting older, but meds solve that easily. She developed Hyperthyroidism, which we successfully treated for good with Radioactive Iodine Therapy. She was back to being a happy, healthy cat after treatment. And now a couple of years later, this.
She has lost a lot of weight now and I am so worried. Everything she eats just seems to pass straight through her. What else can I do? I'm worried about going back to the vet because it stresses my cat out so much and I'm scared she'll say the next option is a biopsy, which I don't want to put my cat through.
Obviously I will go back to my vet if I need to. But I think she'll just recommend a biopsy or more meds which don't work and make her lethargic and a bit incontinent.
Can Giardia be untreatable in some cats? Is there a way of helping her put weight back on? I have read up on this extensively, including posts on this forum. But I wondered if anyone had any specific advice in this case?
Many thanks for any help or suggestions.
I'm looking for help for my 15-yr old female Tortoiseshell. She tested positive for Giardia in August and it is now nearly the end of November. Nothing we have tried has worked and she has lost an awful amount of weight.
First we tried 3 rounds of Metronidazole - increasing in length each time (3 days, 5 days, 10 days)
Then 2 rounds of Pancur (5 days, 8 days)
Then I read that Secnidazole has a near 100% cure rate and has been used by vets and catteries in the US with great results. You can't easily buy it in this country (I'm in the UK) but I managed to find a pigeon dewormer which contains Secnidazole, Rondazole and Diclazuril. I checked all the dosages to make sure it was safe to give to my cat and it was. So she's had 2 rounds of that. (the other ingredients should have cleared up anything else nasty like Trichomoniasis or Coccidiosis)
In the meantime, I have bleached the entire house several times and boil washed any fabric she has sat on, put her on a probiotic, given her 2 baths with Chlorhexidine shampoo, wiped her down with Chlorhexidine wipes, bleached her litter trays twice and switched from kitty litter to newspaper and kitchen roll, which can be easily bagged and discarded - although she goes on the floor more often than not. I clear up all faeces as soon as I can (I'm at home most of the time, so it usually gets done pretty immediately). She doesn't really go outside but I have eliminated all sources of standing water near the house just in case. She is on a diet of plain chicken and good-quality grain free wet food.
Her stool seems to improve on all these treatments, but then goes back to runny either halfway through treatment or as soon as we stop dosing. I know she must still have giardia and it's not just diarrhoea because her poop has that awful characteristic sweet-but-yucky smell.
She has been a healthy cat all her life until the last few years. She tends to get a UTI about once every 2 years since getting older, but meds solve that easily. She developed Hyperthyroidism, which we successfully treated for good with Radioactive Iodine Therapy. She was back to being a happy, healthy cat after treatment. And now a couple of years later, this.
She has lost a lot of weight now and I am so worried. Everything she eats just seems to pass straight through her. What else can I do? I'm worried about going back to the vet because it stresses my cat out so much and I'm scared she'll say the next option is a biopsy, which I don't want to put my cat through.
Obviously I will go back to my vet if I need to. But I think she'll just recommend a biopsy or more meds which don't work and make her lethargic and a bit incontinent.
Can Giardia be untreatable in some cats? Is there a way of helping her put weight back on? I have read up on this extensively, including posts on this forum. But I wondered if anyone had any specific advice in this case?
Many thanks for any help or suggestions.