Hi all,

I have an 8 month old Ragdoll cat.

He has been ill since a catery visit back in September where he came home with diarrhoea and vomiting.

The vomiting stopped after a course of antibiotic tablets and injection from the vets and changes to his food but they couldn't seem to cure the diarrhoea so I ended up switching to another vets recommended by a friend who has seen him twice a week and done numerous blood and fecal tests which apparently came back with positive result for GARDIA CYSTS so I was recommended the below course of action :

5 days of Panicure sachets
Daily bathing in cat shampoo and changing cat litter after every visit to the toilet

This showed some improvements but the problem returned 7-10 days later so

5 days of Panicure paste
Daily bathing in cat shampoo and changing cat litter after every visit to the toilet

Which again showed some improvement but the problem returned so I was then told this next antibiotic would defiantly cure the issue but was a harsher drug so I needed to keep an eye on him over the course.

7 days of Metonidazole
Daily bathing in cat shampoo and changing cat litter after every visit to the toilet

This drug caused frothing at the mouth, worse diarrhoea and him generally being poorly.

Now a week or so on, we still have the issue with his diarrhoea and as of last night there is now blood in his fecal samples.

I am starting to get disillusioned with my vets ability to deal with the situation and in the meantime my cat is suffering so I was after some advise on what you would recommend ?

Hi and welcome to the forums

Just to clarify has the vomitting resolved and his only issue now is the diarrhea? Is he perfectly normal in himself, eating, happy, playing etc? Were the blood tests all fine and have the vets given him a thorough examination in addition to the tests?

Do you know what he was tested for exactly (faecal tests)? If not the first thing I would do is ask the vets for a copy of the lab results so you can see for yourself. There will be no problem with this, I request a copy of all tests for my own records.

Has he been re-tested after the Panacur / Metronidazole treatments?

I know it's a lot of questions but it will help people give some more relevant advice.

Hi and thank you for the reply !

Yes the vomiting stopped quickly, it's just the diarrhea.

It's been constantly bad for months now and he visits his litter tray 4+ times a day....I clear it as soon as I get up, when I get home from work and before I goto bed.

I also try to bath him once a day or every other day and have often to wipe his bum to remove fecal matter from his fur/bum.....what a great job that is !!!

The vets asked me to get another sample as they're scratching their heads after the Metronidazole course. Last night he had an 'accident' on my bed while we were watching TV and there was traces of blood in it.

I scooped up a sample and dropped it off at the vets to be tested first thing this morning.

The vets do two tests a sepcific one and a 'test for everything' so I've always had the later one to make sure we get a proper result. I've never seen the actual lab report though, they just informed me of the Gardia cycts on the phone last time.

He was checked over last week and they said he seems healthy.

He seems fine in himself, he's a normal, friendly, lairy, kitten who's testosterone level has started to soar (I dont want to neuter him until we sort his diarrhea out).....he was a bit quiet last night, wanted lots of cuddles and slept on my chest but was tearing round the living room this morning while I was having breakfast.

If he still has Giardia, the only thing that I can think of is that he's picking it up from the environment. I knew of someone who had this problem and she went through what you have. She ended up having everything deep cleaned though, carpets and all soft furnishings that the cat had access to were steamed, and all hard surfaces were wiped down with a 1 part bleach to 5 parts water solution (I think that's the strength needed to kill Giardia, but please don't trust my memory on that and do some research). While all this was going on, the cat was confined to a bathroom where all the surfaces were hard surfaces. She gave him a week in there to ensure that the rest of the house had been cleaned thoroughly. All of her own clothes were washed, and her shoes, after being disinfected, were left outside the house so there was no possibility of bringing anything back in with her. After a week, the cat was allowed out of the bathroom, then banned from there for a further week while it was bleached. When she had to enter the bathroom, she put on a pair of slippers to walk around on the floor in there which were left inside the bathroom and never exitted it. They were binned at the end of the week.

I personally couldn't have coped with doing all of that, as she was bathing her cat in between as well, and had about 6 litter trays on the go. Every time he used one, she'd bin the litter, then let the tray stand in bleach for 12 hours before drying it and re-using it. He was on metranidazole whilst in the bathroom to kill off any remaining bugs. It was an expensive, exhausting operation for her, but she got rid of the Giardia.

Hi,

I have recently had one of my cat's treated successfully for Giardia. There could be other issues going on for your cat though, so I can't say that what worked for mine will work for yours.

Before Giardia was diagnosed, the vet thought the symptoms might be diet related but gave me a 5 day course of Stormagyl (Metronidazole) 2 1/2 tablets a day to give him anyway - as well as other precautionary general medications. He is an adult cat.

His 'dire rear' got much worse and when Giardia was diagnosed about 4 days after the first course of Stormagyl finished, he was given a 7 day course of Stomorgyl + 5 days of Panacur granules to be given at the same time. A couple of days after starting that his poop started getting better. His poop was normal by the end of this treatment, but he was then given another 7 days of Stormagyl (the last 4 days at a reduced dose) as the vet said it may try to come back.

That all finished end of November last year and he's been fine since but I have read on here that it can take a few goes to clear it and that a pulsed method of 3 days on 3 days off may work better.

As my cat may also have some digestive issues and because antibiotics in themselves can cause dire rear by killing good bacteria, I was also giving him a probiotic (Protexin Enterogenic) which I bought online to replace what the antibiotics were killing - which I think has done wonders for him.

Also, I read on this forum that there is a very similar thing to Giardia called TTF or T. Foetus (?) which needs a different treatment. You may want to find out more about that.

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What food did the Vet change him onto???

Have you tried prokolin due to all the antibiotics killing off all the good bacteria in his gut.

Could it also be stress now, if he is acting normal otherwise?

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As has been said above, Giardia can sometimes be a bit of a swine to treat. Panacur is an effective treatment (moreso than metronidazole) but because the cysts can live for long times in the environment, cats can keep re-infecting themselves hence the need for regular litter changes etc.

Hopefully the results of the tests will tell you more. If everything comes back clear this time then as LDK has pointed out I would ask whether a PCR test was done for Tritrichomonas (depending on the lab your vet uses this is often not done routinely). This is becoming an increasingly common cause of diarrhea particularly in young pedigree cats but due to it being a relatively new problem many vets still aren't particularly clued up on it. Thinking about it even if the tests come back positive for Giardia again I would still ask what test was used as on visual examination Giardia can easily be mistaken for Tritrichomonas. By saying that they found Giardia cysts that makes me think it may have been identified from a smear.

It is such great stuff, isn't it??!! Glad to hear that all is sorted now.

Has he been tested for Tri-foetus/Tritrichomonas foetus ? If he has I would still get him retested as it can be hard to diagnose, but this could be a possibility.

I got that 'stuff' because whilst searching for Giardia info. on the forum, I saw that you had recommended it to someone in an old post. I thought, if it's good enough for you, it must be good - and it is!

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