Indy: It Is Probably Giardiasis

Is there good news today?  I don’t really know.

There is still blood-tinged soft stools. Once, yesterday at 12.30pm and again today, at 8.20am. But it isn’t as frequent as before, though, and there is no shooting diarrhoea anymore.

It looks like Indy can retain the raw chicken fillet. I also begun adding back some Cubgrub since yesterday and he has been able to retain it so far.

Currently, Indy is on raw chicken fillet with Cubgrub (smaller meals) and still on the Slippery Elm and S. Boulardii treatment. He remains active and alert as before and there has been no weight loss so far.

In fact, he has very good appetite and keeps asking for more food. I know the smaller meals isn’t enough to satiate his appetite but I try to ensure that in a day, he gets whatever amount of food he needs, only divided into smaller meals. I don’t want him to vomit or shoot diarrhoea, as far as possible.

Since I was at the vet’s with Bunny today, we discussed Indy’s case again. I also wasn’t present at the clinic when Indy was first brought for examination two weeks ago. The vet said she did find “something moving very fast” in his stool examination under the microscope. It could be giardia or trichomonas (both of which are protozoan parasites). This why Indy was put on antibiotics (Clavamox because the loose stools was already a chronic problem) and during that one week, the stools firmed up. After we finished the antibiotics, the problem returned. He had loose stools again.

The vet suspects it is highly possible that Indy has Giardiasis. His symptoms fit. But since I’ve started on the S.Boulardii, she says we could wait for another 4 days to see if it works. If not, we could start Indy on another antibiotic, Metronidazole, which is more specific for Giardiasis.

Since the loose stools have been a chronic problem, there is probably quite a bit of bad bacteria in his gut, so perhaps the Clavamox took care of that during that one week and his stools firmed up.

For Giardiasis, the problem might resolve itself after sometime, or it might not. It might be a long-term problem in some cats. It also depends on the cat’s own immunity to combat the disease. That is why the vet put Indy on Vetri DMG a few days ago. Indy is also on B12 every alternate day.

About Giardiasis in cats: https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/giardia-in-cats 

These microscopic parasites attach themselves to the intestinal wall and the damage causes an acute, sudden-onset, of foul-smelling diarrhea. Giardia infection in cats may lead to weight loss, chronic intermittent diarrhea and fatty stool. The stool may range from soft to watery, often has a greenish tinge to it, and occasionally contains blood. Infected cats tend to have excess mucus in the feces. Vomiting may occur in some cases. The signs may persist for several weeks and gradual weight loss may become apparent. The diarrhea may be intermittent. Most cats do not have a fever but may be less active. The disease is not usually life threatening but can be more serious in kittens or older cats or in cats with an immune system that has been damaged by Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) or Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) infections or other serious illness.

Indy does have some of the symptoms, but not all. The ones he has are: Foul-smelling stools, chronic diarrhoea, soft stools that contain blood and mucus and the occasional vomiting. There has been no fever and no weight loss so far (thank goodness), but he definitely is NOT less active! Indy is also not FIV+, so I really hope his own immunity can fight this off, if at all it is this disease.

I will probably wait for 4 days before starting him on the Metronidazole. At least, that is the plan for now.

Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2019/10/28/indy-it-is-probably-giar..

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