Darn It - Should Have Went to the Vet Sooner - Probably Giardia

Which chin? Diamond you stated always had soft poo from the time she got to you, the other one came up after you got her, that chin being with a new cage mate and new home and coming from a pet store could have stressed out finally. One of the reasons we stress quarantine is so new chins can adapt to their new enviroment in as little stress as possible and if they have something they can't pass it on and their eating, drinking and poo habits can be observed as a single chin.

Diamond had the soft poo the entire time, and was the one who had bad diarrhea with no real trigger. Pearl was fine the entire time until last week. Her poop is almost back to normal. It's back to normal size and getting harder every time I check. Still just barely soft.

Sorry, I feel like I keep rehashing the same things over and over. I think I'm just trying to straighten things out in my head to figure out if Diamond has truly been stressed the ENTIRE time I've had her, or if she came to me with something medically wrong. The first bout of smeary diarrhea is what keeps eating at me, because I can't figure out the actual cause.

I hear Ya!

Angelyco said:

I think I'm just trying to straighten things out in my head to figure out if Diamond has truly been stressed the ENTIRE time I've had her, .

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Unlikely. If she was stressed at the pet store, that could have caused the bacteria in her gut to get out of whack and it is still out of whack to this day. Food changes could have also caused this.
Or there could be an infectious organism present (clostridium, staph, salmonella) that Diamond got from the pet store or the breeder = not caused by stress or diet.

I am thinking this is a bacterial thing not Giardia. I have treated Giardia on a couple occasions. The most severe case with active cysts, my chin's poop was not as mushy as you describe. It was a little soft and pretty slimy.

I forgot to ask, does the poo have any odor?

The first time the smeary diarrhea happened, it smelled awful. The few times after that that were pellet-related, I don't remember it smelling. That's why I got concerned in the first place when it smelled.

I picked up the Panacur over my lunch break but I'm not going to start it quite yet. I did something smart though, I printed out a copy of the time line I made here and left it for my vet. Hopefully it will help him.

She could have little pockets of inflammation in her intestinal tract. I've dealt with chins that have no parasites and no other cause for diarrhea have abnormal droppings for months just to have them go to normal droppings - these were rescue chins that came with diarrhea from very neglectful and often very dirty homes. It definitely could be from stress or from something that she had while she was at the petstore or before that even.

Keep giving her lots of the probiotic, that can't hurt and will help eventually in one way or another (especially if she is given any antibiotics or even any antiparasite meds). I like to give the chins Life Line when they have this problem because it helps to soothe the digestive tract. The Albon will not hurt at all. Even when the fecals come back showing nothing I will give Albon and it normally helps a great deal.

Thanks Susan, that really helps to know that others have been through it for long periods of time as well.

I was planning on putting in an order for some charcoal shreddies (to have on hand), I think I'll get some Life Line and Albon while I'm at it since it's all the same store.

I'm still trying to decide whether to give the Panacur or not - it would only be once a day for a week, which is much much better than what they were going through for the Pectillin and metronidazole.

ticklechin said:

Do you know what test you paid for to detect parasites? A fecal float or ELISA or both?

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I just checked the invoice as I was sorting through some papers - it says "Fecal Exam (Parasitic Ova & Giardia)."

You should ask about that. The vet could have just looked at a sample on a slide under a microscope. A floatation would be good because you have to bring in a larger sample and it increases the chances of finding if there is a parasite. Of course, it can be a little more expensive.

I had quite a few poos with me when I went in, but he didn't ask for it and only took 2 (fresher ones) out of the carrier. I thought it was a small sample, but figured that was all he needed.

I did start the Panacur after reading some more about Flagyl, which apparently only works in 50-67% of chins? Last night my hubby said Diamond's poop is starting to feel a little harder, I'm going to check myself tonight. I would be overjoyed if the Panacur actually works.