Possible Giardia and exhausted

[JBMMBJ]

Two weeks ago I got my Ragdoll Kitten (he is now 12 weeks old) and ever since he has been having soft stools. During the first wellness exam he looked great and the clinic did a fecal sample. It came back negative, and they just gave me Proviable to improve his soft stools. Unfortunately, it didn’t work.

That is when I started getting worried, also he has been getting dirty pretty much every time he goes to the litter box, which is very frustrating and exhausting for the both of us. I have to clean him and wash him, he doesn’t like it and gets stressed. I feel very bad but I have no other option.

After another useless visit to the first clinic I went to, I decided to change vet and yesterday they did a fecal culture as they’re quite sure he may have Giardia. They gave me Metronidazole and I have to administer it twice a day for five days. Today I will know the results for sure.

Meanwhile, his diarrhea is really bad and he’s not gaining any weight even though I’m feeding him large portions frequently. I’m immediately cleaning after him every time he goes to the litter box, which means that I cannot sleep at night, even if I want to.

I’m sleeping with him in a separate area and as soon as I feel he’s getting up, I wake up and then have to clean him/after him. I haven’t slept properly in two weeks. And I’m beyond exhausted.

Should I be concerned about the fact that he’s not gaining weight (actually he seems skinnier)? Is there anything I can do about it? Because obviously feeding him more is not helping.

Also, when should I start seeing improvements?

It’s literally a nightmare and having to clean/disinfect the whole apartment after sleeping only a few hours every night is starting to be more and more difficult.

Any advice?

Thank you!

 

[Antonio65]

When my cat had Giardia last year we had to do three courses of Panacur.
The first two didn't work, she had two relapses a few weeks after the end of each treatment, so I asked the vet if we should have added the Metrodinazole as well, and so we did, and it went fine.
So we did 5 days of Panacur and 10 days of Metronidazole.

But Giardia is a hell of a parasite and it can live in the environment for weeks if untreated, so, along with the medical treatment, I also cleaned the whole house every day with a specific detergent for this kind of parasites, Quaternary Ammonium Cations. The name is scary, but it's an easy to find product, I found it in a simple shop, €6 per one-liter bottle.
I would clean the whole house every morning, and the litter box as welll.

I don't know if it worked, what I know is that we got rid of Giardia for good!

 

[JBMMBJ]

When my cat had Giardia last year we had to do three courses of Panacur.
The first two didn't work, she had two relapses a few weeks after the end of each treatment, so I asked the vet if we should have added the Metrodinazole as well, and so we did, and it went fine.
So we did 5 days of Panacur and 10 days of Metronidazole.

But Giardia is a hell of a parasite and it can live in the environment for weeks if untreated, so, along with the medical treatment, I also cleaned the whole house every day with a specific detergent for this kind of parasites, Quaternary Ammonium Cations. The name is scary, but it's an easy to find product, I found it in a simple shop, €6 per one-liter bottle.
I would clean the whole house every morning, and the litter box as welll.

I don't know if it worked, what I know is that we got rid of Giardia for good!

I will try to look up that product and hopefully I’ll find it as well! Did you have any issues with weight loss? I’m worried he may be losing too much weight, especially since he’s just a kitten

 

[Antonio65]

No, I hadn't any issue with her weight. I am still having the habit to weigh her (them) once a week, and in those days I didn't notice any weight loss. What is sure is that loos stolls or diarrhea can dehydrate a pet, so your cat might be losing weight because he's losing liquids, along with nutrients from food that he loses along with the poop.
I'm sure you are able to find a similar product. I'm in Italy, so I can't suggest you what I purchased because you wouldn't find it in your area. But I quick web search might help you. Maybe amazon has something?

 

[Antonio65]

I see that Amazon sells QAC tablets for sanitizing items and surface.

 

[JBMMBJ]

I see that Amazon sells QAC tablets for sanitizing items and surface.

I actually just found this type of disinfectant on Chewy and ordered it, but thank you very much!

 

[Antonio65]

I actually just found this type of disinfectant on Chewy and ordered it, but thank you very much!

I do hope it helps! Be consistent for a few days, along with the therapy, discard all the litter at least once a day, and wash and clean the tray with this product.
I would also clean all the fabrics I could and change/was/clean cat's bed and blanket every day.

 

[JBMMBJ]

I do hope it helps! Be consistent for a few days, along with the therapy, discard all the litter at least once a day, and wash and clean the tray with this product.
I would also clean all the fabrics I could and change/was/clean cat's bed and blanket every day.

Thank you for the advice, that’s what I’m planning on doing! Right now we’re not letting him go to the bedrooms, and are keeping him in the main area only. I will keep washing everything daily, however he goes on the couch and I’m planning on washing what I can in the next couple of days. However I cannot wash the covers of the couch every day as it’s quite delicate fabric, do you have any idea what I could disinfect it with? Lysol Spray maybe?

Also, did you wash your cat’s toys?

 

[Antonio65]

However I cannot wash the covers of the couch every day as it’s quite delicate fabric, do you have any idea what I could disinfect it with? Lysol Spray maybe?

Also, did you wash your cat’s toys?

I used to wash/sanitize some fabrics with a chlorhexidine foam (generally used to disinfect pets' coat and paws). I used to spray this foam on the fabrics and rub.
With this product there wasn't the need for rinsing.

As for the toys (and dishes), yes I washed them all as well, every day. I reduced the number of available toys in order to wash as few items as possible. After all it was just for a few days.

 

[JBMMBJ]

I used to wash/sanitize some fabrics with a chlorhexidine foam (generally used to disinfect pets' coat and paws). I used to spray this foam on the fabrics and rub.
With this product there wasn't the need for rinsing.

As for the toys (and dishes), yes I washed them all as well, every day. I reduced the number of available toys in order to wash as few items as possible. After all it was just for a few days.

Thank you for the reply! The vet called me and apparently my kitten does not have Giardia. I requested to have a PCR panel done, and they should send me the results in a few days I believe. Hopefully as soon as possible. And from there, we’ll see how to move forward I guess!

 

[Antonio65]

Well, if it isn't Giardia it is a good news, but you still have to find out what it is.
It might be that your kitty has issues in her bowels that prevent nutrients from being absorbed. This leads to the weight loss. And this issues is also the cause of the runny poops.
So, either your vet runs an ultrasound to see what's going on in there, if there's an IBD or something, or you can try to add some S. Boulardii to her diet.
This is what I did with both my kitties when they showed poop issues that couldn't be fixed with the usual probiotics. In the case of the older cat (the one with the Giardia that I told you about) it helped a lot post treatments. In the case of the younger cat, who had soft stools from being a feral, it helped her getting regular in a few weeks.

I used S. Boulardii in powder, I added it to the wet food twice a day.

 

[JBMMBJ]

Well, if it isn't Giardia it is a good news, but you still have to find out what it is.
It might be that your kitty has issues in her bowels that prevent nutrients from being absorbed. This leads to the weight loss. And this issues is also the cause of the runny poops.
So, either your vet runs an ultrasound to see what's going on in there, if there's an IBD or something, or you can try to add some S. Boulardii to her diet.
This is what I did with both my kitties when they showed poop issues that couldn't be fixed with the usual probiotics. In the case of the older cat (the one with the Giardia that I told you about) it helped a lot post treatments. In the case of the younger cat, who had soft stools from being a feral, it helped her getting regular in a few weeks.

I used S. Boulardii in powder, I added it to the wet food twice a day.

I’m planning on buying S. Boulardii since it has been recommended to me by many people. Does it usually work better than Probiotics such as Proviable?

With the PCR test I’m hoping I will be able to find some answers, I’m suspecting it may be a case of Trichomanas Foetus. If this tests negative as well, then I would want to have an ultrasound done as you said, and also focus on diet since at that point it may very well be a some food intolerance/sensitivity.

I just really hope this gets solved soon. Meanwhile I’m giving my kitten a lot of food, small portions but frequently and hopefully he will gain some weight!

 

[Antonio65]

S. Boulardii works differently than other probiotics because it isn't a probiotic. I tried different kinds of probiotics with my cat, pet and human grade, but none worked at all, until I was advised to use this Boulardii by someone on this forum and it fixed the problem for good. I kept using it for months to make sure everything was going to be fine.

 

[Antonio65]

As for food intolerance/sensitivity, I also went down this path and ended up with monoproteic wet food, then I tried to slowly introduce new monoproteic wet foods, and now I have three different proteins which I feed her weekly.

 

[JBMMBJ]

S. Boulardii works differently than other probiotics because it isn't a probiotic. I tried different kinds of probiotics with my cat, pet and human grade, but none worked at all, until I was advised to use this Boulardii by someone on this forum and it fixed the problem for good. I kept using it for months to make sure everything was going to be fine.

Wow, amazing! I’m going to try it out! Is the Jarrow the best one? I believe I did read it somewhere!

 

[Antonio65]

Wow, amazing! I’m going to try it out! Is the Jarrow the best one? I believe I did read it somewhere!

I can't help you here because I live in Italy (I'm Italian) and I have different brands available.
What I used were small sachets with 5 billions of Saccharomyces each, I would split the sachet morning and evening in her wet food.
The best way to use it though would be to give the cat this product about half an hour before a meal. So for the second kitten I would put half of the sachet in 2 to 3 ml of water and give her it with a syringe without needle straight in her mouth. She absolutely loved it!

 

[JBMMBJ]

As for food intolerance/sensitivity, I also went down this path and ended up with monoproteic wet food, then I tried to slowly introduce new monoproteic wet foods, and now I have three different proteins which I feed her weekly.

Which protein did you start with? Are there any allergy tests for cats that could be done?
Something unusual is that I found undigested whole kibble in his diarrhea a few days ago. That is when I was feeding him Tiki Cat Dry Kibble Born Carnivore (along with Tiki Cat wet food), so I stopped and from Monday night I have been giving him the food his breeder was feeding him.
Thank you so much for your help!

 

[Antonio65]

I do hope this is what will help your kitty. I would hate it if I'm giving you false hopes

 

[Antonio65]

As for the food, my vet said to try to stop the commercial food and cook for her. The vet suggested to try with the hake, just boiled. So I gave her hake every day for about three months, but I can tell you that I saw a huge difference after a week or so only. And her poop not only was firmer but also less smelly.
Then I tried a commercial food, monoproteic, which was hake as well, mainly because I was getting tired of cooking every second day. I made a slow transition and was really anxious, but all went fine. Then a few months later I slowly introduced a second protein, trout 100%, just in case I had trouble with the first one. Now I have very slowly introduced a monoproteic chicken wet food and things are fine.
So I believe I did a good job.

 

[JBMMBJ]

As for the food, my vet said to try to stop the commercial food and cook for her. The vet suggested to try with the hake, just boiled. So I gave her hake every day for about three months, but I can tell you that I saw a huge difference after a week or so only. And her poop not only was firmer but also less smelly.
Then I tried a commercial food, monoproteic, which was hake as well, mainly because I was getting tired of cooking every second day. I made a slow transition and was really anxious, but all went fine. Then a few months later I slowly introduced a second protein, trout 100%, just in case I had trouble with the first one. Now I have very slowly introduced a monoproteic chicken wet food and things are fine.
So I believe I did a good job.

I know some people say that homemade/raw diets work in case of diarrhea. I’m going to continue for now with the food his breeder was feeding, since she said he did fine on it, but we’ll see how it goes. I’m planning on getting S. Boulardii today or at most tomorrow. Do you know if I can complete the probiotics while using the S. Boulardii as well? Should I ask my vet?