My kitten went through 2 rounds of giardia treatment. I did everything the vet recommended the first time (wipe her booty after going potty, administer panacur, clean her litter box daily, steam clean/lysol everything at the end), but that didn't work.
Since I was so stressed out trying to figure out what to do when I found out she still had it after the first round, I wanted to share my experience and what worked for me in hopes that it could help someone else. I couldn't find a ton of help when I looked before.
The second time, we got metronidazole and panacur together. Here's what we did:
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Kitten got metro at morning and night and panacur in the middle of the day. She hated the metro as liquid no matter how I administered it (in wet food, in pill treats, straight in her mouth) so I recommend asking for a pill form. It was like torture giving it to her. She totally didn't mind the panacur in any form, but she didn't like me forcing her mouth open to put it in her mouth. She was totally fine with me mixing it in wet food.
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Probiotics! I gave her probios because fortiflora is so dang expensive, but who knows how effective probios was. (Now I just give her fortiflora - why to be discussed at the end). I found online that there is a particular probiotic strain that is believed to be effective against giardia and help the kitty's immune system fight it. (L. bacillus and/or L. casei I think?)
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Used those aluminum baking dishes and a little bit of litter so I could toss it every time she pooped. I tried shredded paper to be cheap, but the pan was too light so my kitten pushed it over :( it seemed to be very upsetting to her to fall over when she was trying to potty.
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Confined her to a bathroom and removed any textiles (like rug, shower curtain, my towels). I put some old towels in there and a bed that could be thrown in the laundry/dryer once a day. I cleaned the whole house once (not really as strictly as I did the first time - I only really steamed the carpets and lysoled/put in dishwasher or laundry things that she would put in her mouth or touch a lot, like toys, cat blankets, and scratching posts). I used a 10:1 water:bleach solution in the bathroom each day. I wasn't super diligent in cleaning every inch - but I made sure to clean around the litter box and her food/water. I steam cleaned in there only a couple of times. I put toys in there that could easily be cleaned. I replaced her toys once or twice per day, I can't recall. I sprayed the cardboard scratching post thing with the bleach solution each day. I recommend buying a steam mop to steam carpets frequently if you plan on letting them roam in carpet areas. They're not that expensive and way less uncomfortable than a steam vacuum.
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Plastic dishes. I replaced her food/water dish twice a day. I bleached the surrounding area when cleaning each day.
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Thoroughly wiped her butt after potty. I used a dry shampoo spray and spray that on a paper towel. I got it slightly damp then rubbed on her butt pretty strongly. With her long fur, I couldn't get all of the poop off, but somehow it was enough.
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She had gotten surgery, so she had a cone of shame on. I think this really helped with minimizing her ability to lick her butt before I could run over to clean her up. Not a bad idea to buy a cone for this treatment.
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Because of #7, I couldn't bathe her until the end of her treatment. I wanted to bathe her a few times, as others recommended. Seemed to be fine.
I want to thank the OP of this link since I got most cleaning ideas from them: https://www.reddit.com/r/cats/comments/l2e84n/giardia_for_the_third_time_help/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Unfortunately, my kitty still has some soft poop. She had a full panel done on her stool and she doesn't have any other parasites or problematic bacteria, so the vet just thinks she has a sensitive tummy (common for her breed) or has continuing effects from the giardia early on. She still gets probiotics almost daily. Hopefully this doesn't happen to your cat, but I just wanted to warn you all.
Good luck with your pet giardia journey! You can do this if I can!
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/r4jjtw/my_kitten_beat_giardia/
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