From:
dr_bruce_williams
Date: 2002-02-27 19:10:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Giardia/Antibiotic Questions
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "cw1046" <Cw1046@a...> wrote:
I have a hard time believing that, since she never had
> diarrhea and was the picture of health until the weekend she died,
> and I did not think giardia was something that could kill. She was
> being treated with antibiotics (valbazen and flagyl -- not both at
> once, but alternating valbazen for one period and flagyl for
> another). For the better part of the three months I had her, she
was
> on one antibiotic or the other. She died very suddenly and
> unexpectedly -- she got sick on Friday and died Sunday night/Monday
> morning.
The veterinarian
> who treated her said it must be treated since it causes severe
> diarrhea and is transmissible to humans and other pets. Another
> veterinarian I spoke with was of the opinion that giardia is very
> common in both humans and animals where I live and is usually
benign,
> causing no real harm to the host, and does not require treatment
> unless it is causing symptoms or someone in the home has a
suppressed
> immune system. I am also wondering about whether long-term use of
> antibiotics can actually do harm and possibly cause death. The
> treating veterinarian said no.
>
> I'd just like to get a clearer idea of what may have happened. A
> necropsy was performed, but it was only a basic one and no
> pathological studies were done. Cause of death could not be
> determined. There was no blockage or any other problem other than
> some small ulcers probably caused by my ferret's refusal to
> eat.
Dear CW1046:
There are a couple of points here that bear comment.
#1. Giardia is not generally considered to be life-threatening - it
may be debilitating in some animals, but does not kill, and not
quickly like this.
#2. A feret that never showed diarrhea is really not a suspect for
Giardia.
#3. Giardia isn't generally transmitted between animals and human
directly - usually it is picked up by ingesting contaminated water,
such as creek water, lake water, etc.
#4. While flagyl is generally considered safe - its wretched taste
may indeed cause stress ulcers. Valbazen (albendazole) is considered
to be a good treatment in dogs with Giardia, but I am unaware of
toxicity studies in ferrets - I tend to doubt however, that these
drugs resulted in toxicosis.
#5. When the putative cause of death is a microorganism, it would
seem obvious that confirmation would require microscopic analysis of
the intestine..... as I so often say - GROSS POSTS ARE NOT GOOD
ENOUGH!
As a pathologist now with 12 years experience in ferrets, I know that
if you took my scope away, and required me to diagnose simply on
gross examinatin - I would come up empty at least half the time - and
it's my area of specialty! I would submit that the gross post from
the average clinician without pathology training or ferret experience
would yield far less....
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM, DACVP