From:
"sorentabnitz"
Date: 2012-02-15 01:25:29 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] coccidia and giardia
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
I read something someone posted the other day which seemed to say that an animal can have low-level infection by these organisms which can flare up and become clinically significant when triggered by stress. The post seemed to say it was ok for animals to have a low-level infection and only treat if it flared up.
I hope I just misunderstood the post, because in my years as a vet tech I have never heard such a thing and certainly was not taught this in a (very long!) semester of parasitology.
The dormant-until-triggered-by-stress etiology applies to a virus like Herpes. Clostridia are bacteria which may normally be resident in the GI tract in small numbers but have the potential to blossom into pathological overgrowth--which should be addressed. But neither coccidia nor giardia should be found in a healthy pet's gut.
Coccidia and giardia are both difficult to diagnose because a negative result on a fecal test can be false. This is because the organisms are small and may not be present in the tiny bit of feces which is actually inspected under the microscope.
Both should be treated if a positive result is obtained, even if you are not seeing obvious signs like diarrhea. Even without nasty-looking stools, these parasites cause GI discomfort which can lead to ulcers, anorexia, malnutrition, maybe even IBD.
In addition, these parasites are easily spread by fecal-oral transmission and *all* other mammalian pets can host them. Giardia is also a zoonotic--meaning YOU can get it from contact with an infected pet or his housing.
Treatment means treating all the other animals in contact with the infected one, and decontaminating the environment: litterboxes, bedding, cage, play areas, food/water bowls etc. At least a few follow-up fecal tests should be done after treatment because of the possibility of at least one false negative.
Please don't let a positive fecal test go untreated just because you don't see obvious signs of infestation.
--Skyla
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
ferrethealth-digest@yahoogroups.com
ferrethealth-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ferrethealth-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/