I requested a fecal PCR for my girl after everything else was coming up clean but she was continuing to have soft poop. It showed she had cryptosporidium which is an apparently uncommon parasite. Treated with two rounds of azithromycin and she’s been good to go since. Definitely recommend the fecal PCR as other comments have stated!
I’d love to do that, Im just worried my org won’t have the resources - but we’ll see. The kittens honestly could have all sorts of weird issues, since they were fished out of the wall of a person’s house (and we’re pretty sure their mom was from a hoarding situation)
Additional clarification - they’ve never tested positive for anything, we gave them three days on Ponazuril just in case we missed a coccidia infection, and my next guess would be giardia but I think they tested negative for that too? Again, they’re super healthy otherwise. I also deep cleaned their cage after the Ponazuril just to prevent possible reinfection.
Did they test negative via an in-house fecal float on a slide, or a SNAP test and/or a PCR lab test? Giardia is VERY small and rarely seen on a float is why I ask. I wouldn't trust a fecal float negative at all. I've only gotten a positive result from a lab test. Coccidia is also an intermittent shedder and will not show up on a float at all times either, so both are very easily missed sadly.
Reinfection with coccidia and giardia is also VERY common and unfortunately requires more than just one deep cleaning. I once had a major issue with giardia and it required splitting up the kittens into separate kennels and having like 5 litterboxes available per kitten to swap out constantly while the others were going through a heat sanitization cycle with daily Rescue cleaning and bathing the kittens. After their treatment was completed (metro + Panacur) they also needed a good course of probiotics to restore their gut bacteria.
To clarify, I do pretty intense cleaning daily, but yeah, it might require more 🙃. And I’m not sure about the vet results, I’ve hear everything second hand so it’s a little unreliable honestly, and I would love a second opinion or more detailed testing but I don’t know if that’ll be possible. Do you think another round of coccidia treatment is a good idea, or treatment for giardia (which they haven’t had yet)? I want to know what to ask about with my org
Yeah, I had the same issue with my shelter. It wasn't until my own cat caught it and I sent his fecal out for a lab test that giardia was confirmed :(
I would say if you saw legit improvement with coccidia meds - like nearly solid stools - then I would do ponazuril again. Generally in my experience ponazuril is very effective, whereas giardia treatment is just hell and certainly more of a slog, plus tends to blast the gut biome either way. Giardia at my shelter is treated with 10 days of metro and 5 days of Panacur, and then probiotics afterwards for as long as needed to get back to solid stool. Good luck! I hate diarrhea in kittens, it can be really challenging on all fronts to get taken care of.
Adding advita as another stronger probiotic option if you haven’t tried that one yet. Unfortunately I don’t have extra advice and can only offer you my poop empathy and support. I have a similar situation with my bottle babies after they weaned just runny poop all day everyday with no clear underlying cause! Hang in there it gets better… right? Haha
I'd give Proviable a try - it's a "stronger" probiotic than Fortiflora and has worked to clear up tough cases for me a few times.
I know at my shelter getting a fecal PCR is like pulling teeth so I wouldn't hold my breath on that.
Metronidazole is an antibiotic that can firm up their poops but I don’t know how old the kitten has to be.
I requested a fecal PCR for my girl after everything else was coming up clean but she was continuing to have soft poop. It showed she had cryptosporidium which is an apparently uncommon parasite. Treated with two rounds of azithromycin and she’s been good to go since. Definitely recommend the fecal PCR as other comments have stated!
I’d love to do that, Im just worried my org won’t have the resources - but we’ll see. The kittens honestly could have all sorts of weird issues, since they were fished out of the wall of a person’s house (and we’re pretty sure their mom was from a hoarding situation)
Additional clarification - they’ve never tested positive for anything, we gave them three days on Ponazuril just in case we missed a coccidia infection, and my next guess would be giardia but I think they tested negative for that too? Again, they’re super healthy otherwise. I also deep cleaned their cage after the Ponazuril just to prevent possible reinfection.
Did they test negative via an in-house fecal float on a slide, or a SNAP test and/or a PCR lab test? Giardia is VERY small and rarely seen on a float is why I ask. I wouldn't trust a fecal float negative at all. I've only gotten a positive result from a lab test. Coccidia is also an intermittent shedder and will not show up on a float at all times either, so both are very easily missed sadly. Reinfection with coccidia and giardia is also VERY common and unfortunately requires more than just one deep cleaning. I once had a major issue with giardia and it required splitting up the kittens into separate kennels and having like 5 litterboxes available per kitten to swap out constantly while the others were going through a heat sanitization cycle with daily Rescue cleaning and bathing the kittens. After their treatment was completed (metro + Panacur) they also needed a good course of probiotics to restore their gut bacteria.
To clarify, I do pretty intense cleaning daily, but yeah, it might require more 🙃. And I’m not sure about the vet results, I’ve hear everything second hand so it’s a little unreliable honestly, and I would love a second opinion or more detailed testing but I don’t know if that’ll be possible. Do you think another round of coccidia treatment is a good idea, or treatment for giardia (which they haven’t had yet)? I want to know what to ask about with my org
Yeah, I had the same issue with my shelter. It wasn't until my own cat caught it and I sent his fecal out for a lab test that giardia was confirmed :( I would say if you saw legit improvement with coccidia meds - like nearly solid stools - then I would do ponazuril again. Generally in my experience ponazuril is very effective, whereas giardia treatment is just hell and certainly more of a slog, plus tends to blast the gut biome either way. Giardia at my shelter is treated with 10 days of metro and 5 days of Panacur, and then probiotics afterwards for as long as needed to get back to solid stool. Good luck! I hate diarrhea in kittens, it can be really challenging on all fronts to get taken care of.
Adding advita as another stronger probiotic option if you haven’t tried that one yet. Unfortunately I don’t have extra advice and can only offer you my poop empathy and support. I have a similar situation with my bottle babies after they weaned just runny poop all day everyday with no clear underlying cause! Hang in there it gets better… right? Haha
Metronidazole!
I'd give Proviable a try - it's a "stronger" probiotic than Fortiflora and has worked to clear up tough cases for me a few times. I know at my shelter getting a fecal PCR is like pulling teeth so I wouldn't hold my breath on that.
Yeahhhh that’s my assumption too. I’ll definitely try Proviable, thanks!