shihtzulover

Be careful of the Ghiardia, and make sure you wash your hands with soap and water. Ghiardia CAN be passed on they humans as well as other animals that you may have. It is passed through their feces. You may have to treat all of your animals (if you have any). GOOD LUCK!

Jamiestitcher62

Thanks all. She has been to the vet, she's on Flagyl as well as the DE and my other cat is getting DE in her food as well just in case. They share two large litter boxes, but my older cat won't go into the one where the new kitty pooped. I scoop up the clumping litter as soon as she's done, she has no manners and won't cover it, that's why my older cat won't go near it. I do need to steam clean the concrete floor this weekend around the litter boxes because she did have the runs last weekend which prompted me to take her to the vet in the first place. I just cleaned it up with vet strength pet cleaner, which may not have been enough.

Basically, if any of us are going to get this, we probably already have since we've had her a month and she's had diarrhea since we got her, which we attributed to feeding her different food. She came from a cat rescue.

The vet says it's actually harder to get than you think, because the parasites don't always appear in every stool. That's why when testing you might need to provide 3 or more different samples at different times just to find it and what are the odds that my other cat stepped in the poop that actually had parasites in it and being that my older cat is very particular about her litter box habits, she might be fine.

I have been washing my hands, but there is no real good link or nonlink between animal Giardia and the one that humans get. All studies say be safe not sorry.

Both my cats sleep with me too, so there you go.

Lynda in TN

I don't usually post, have sent some PMs to members, but read the posts daily. This one has certainly caught my eye. Even googling it, I can't find an answer, so will ask you ladies who seem to have had experience with this.

I have an older poodle. The poor thing has scratched and chewed his entire life. Nothing seems to help. He does not have worms. He will turn round and round out on the rough concrete to "scratch", I assume. In the past few months he does a "stretch" move where he actually looks kind of like he is hunching the bed, but I think he is either stretching his rear legs or somehow soothing an itch. Does this condition cause itching? Assuming he could "feel" something happening inside, it would make sense to me that he might. What do you who have had experience with this thing? Thanks so much for your replies.

Lynda in tn/GA/fl

flowerjoy

No, but my puggle had giardia also... can be a hazard of kennels... can also come from geese and/or ducks... it is not difficult to treat... I rely on the veterinarian's advice for what to use for treatment.

flowerjoy

Please dont treat your pet with both... more is often not best and can be fatal... please see your vet or call for advice... pets can be expensive just like everything these days. We rescued a beagle from the humane society... she was 9 years old, had bronchitis, and needed dental work ($2500)... but she is the sweetest girl in the world... giving your pets medicine you are not certain of may only mean a trip to the emergency animal clinic where the bills are even higher.

thrums

Diatomaeous earth is a very useful product. I used it on the farm for my garden. I would sprinkle it at the base of the plants. I would use it as intestinal worm control with my livestock. I would mix just a bit of it on sweet feed and it would help control intestinal worms. I used one teaspoon per pound for the amount I was feed that day. The particles would adhere to the molasses. I did this once a month during the summer in TN where the worm load is higher.

More info found here. Look under Pest Control:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth

I purchased mine from http://hoeggergoatsupply.com

Note: Make sure you know the grade you have and how to use it properly. You can find Diatomaeous earth in swimming pool supply stores for pool filters. This product is finer than food grade and was not suggested for farm use because it can be more easily inhaled.

kso

I feed my horses DE daily, mixed in their grain. Annually, I have the vet perform a fecal exam and it always comes back "clean".

It can also be used to kill ants but needs to be reapplied almost daily.

arimuse

I bought some online, maybe Amazon, not sure. It feels finer than flour. I put it on the cats for keeping fleas off, I trust it more than all the chemicals they sell. even people can eat it (food grade, that is you must make sure its food grade - they use it in pool filters I think and that stuff nothing can eat) Its some kind of ancient microscopic marine creature w/ a shell all ground up, and the shell cuts up parasites and fleas when it gets to them. I think most flea powders is made of this earth w/ other stuff added. I think I read somewhere the White Cliffs of Dover was made of this - not sure. sharet

Cheryl

You're talking about that clay like powder stuff that you can spread around and it's natural . well we used it and it didn't do anything. We paid $40. for a bag and it's still sitting in the can . The only thing it did do was after awhile of vaccuming it clogged my filter on my sweeper. what a waste of money .. I don't have cats and I know you have to be careful with them and at that age there has to be some kind of natural stuff. what about that skin so soft? I hope you get them under control .

Jingle

I thought it was dirt to grow plants in.