From:
leese10ferts
Date: 2002-02-01 02:35:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Giardia from baby ferret
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "miamiferret" <mjanke@m...> wrote:
> Is it possible they really got ECE from the baby? Was the giardia
> diagnoses confirmed by examination? I've never had to deal with
this
> disease, but I believe a fecal exam would reveal giardia. I'm no
vet,
> so I'm not 100% sure on that.
When we suspected that one of our other pets (nonferret) had giardia,
I called my vet about just bringing in a stool sample for her to
examine for me under her microscope. I didn't want to stress the
animal out anymore than he already was from being so sick. She told
me that Giardia is VERY tough to detect and the sample has to be
extremely fresh - like from that instant. I had to bring the animal
in and was lucky in that he pooped right on the exam table when I
took him out of his carrier. He was treated with metronidazole - two
rounds of it and luckily hasn't had a problem since.
I wasn't aware that Giardia would hang around forever. If that was
the case, I don't see how vets can check to be sure that they didn't
need treatment anymore. I thought that Giardia could be there with
no signs and then stress can bring about the diarrehea and symptoms -
but once it's treated properly, it's done.
Just so you know, it's spread through fecal/oral contact. So you'll
need to make sure you're diligent about sanitizing his cage, bedding,
food/water bowls and litter pans - like daily. It's a tough organism
to get rid of - especially if you have multiple pets living in one
cage. My vet recommended treating everyone in his group since they
share everything, they most likely all had it. They can be "cured"
and then get it again if you don't properly sanitize their cage
during/after treatment though.
Lisa