Giardia---the chief culprit of obstinate diarrhea in dogs and cats 1
Many people may have this experience. Their cats and dogs can eat and drink, and their spirits are good, but they cannot gain weight and have stomach upsets from time to time. , I can feel better after taking some medicine for a few days, but after a few days I start to have diarrhea again. It's not serious to say it's serious, it's not serious to say it's serious, but it's simply a headache. Giardia is one of the chief culprits.
When animals with giardiasis defecate, they may retain oocysts containing parasites in their stools. When these feces come into contact with other animals, they may be sensed. Many times, if these egg sacs are added to water, other animals will feel it if they drink the water. And this disease can also affect people, causing diarrhea and even liver disease.
Giardiasis is more common in dogs, but occasionally occurs in cats. Clinical symptoms include mild to severe diarrhea, which may be persistent, intermittent or self-limiting. Diarrhea is often "cow dung-like" without blood or mucus; however, sometimes there are great changes. Some animals will experience a decrease in body weight, while others will have no change in body weight.
Giardia is a parasite that is not visible to the naked eye. Laboratory testing is required to confirm the diagnosis. Motile trophic bodies can be found in fresh feces or duodenal cleansing fluid, oocysts can be found through the saline flow of feces, or Giardia proteins can be found in feces through special test strips (ELISA). If Giardia infection is suspected, stool examinations should be conducted at least three times within 7 to 10 days of onset. In many cases, one examination may not be able to detect oocysts. When Giardia cannot be detected by other methods, clean the duodenum lumen (endoscopic examination or surgical infusion of physiological saline, and then absorb 5~10ml from the duodenum lumen) and For duodenal mucosa held cytological analysis occasionally appears Giardia.
Because the worms of Giardia are difficult to detect, diagnosis can often be made based on treatment results, although this method has many flaws and limitations. Adiping is effective for this disease, but it has been temporarily discontinued. Metronidazole has less side effects and better efficacy (within 7 days of treatment, the cure rate is around 85%). The regulatory effect of metronidazole may be through the drug's anaerobic activity and/or its effect on the immune system. The efficacy of furazolidone (used for 5 days) is similar to that of metronidazole. Suspension is often used clinically, which is easier to adjust.Feel the kittens. Albendazole (for dogs for 3 days and cats for 5 days) and fenbendazole (for dogs and cats for 5 days) are both effective in treating this disease. Recently, there is data showing that oral neomycin can also help treat this disease. However, none of these drugs are 100% effective, and they may not be able to eliminate Giardia.
There are several reasons why Giardia is difficult to eradicate. First, Giardia may be resistant to certain drugs, and if the same drugs are used repeatedly, their effectiveness will become worse and worse. Second, immune defects (such as igA deficiency) or host complications from other diseases will make it more difficult to eliminate Giardia. Third, the disease is easy to be re-infected because Giardia oocysts are highly resistant to the external environment, and a small amount of Giardia oocysts can re-infect dogs, cats or humans. Quaternary ammonium compounds and pine tar can be used for environmental disinfection. Fourth, occasionally other parasites (such as Trichomonas in cats) will be mistaken for Giardia, but the treatment methods are normal.
Giardia is very stubborn and difficult to eliminate, but it will not have serious consequences on the animal body. If you pay attention to environmental hygiene, clean up animal poop immediately. Let your pet develop good habits and not lick food casually. Regular internal and external deworming can effectively control the occurrence of giardiasis.
The recommended internal deworming for dogs is Baichongqing (taken once every 3 months) or Quanxinbao (which has the most deworming varieties. In addition to intestinal parasites, it can also deworm heart parasites. Please ask for a Eat it once a month), recommend Fulian for external deworming, do it once a month in summer and autumn, and do it once every three months in winter and spring.
Cat Chongqing is recommended for routine internal deworming of cats (taken once every 3 months). External deworming recommends Fulian or Dafa. If it is a free-range cat, it is recommended to do external deworming once a month. If it is a domestic cat, external deworming should be done once every three months.
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