Dragonflye
Well-known member
I have a chin that recently chewed the heck out of his tail, like chewed it really bloody. He has a history of fur chewing in his old home, but has rarely chewed in the years he has been with me. I took him to the vet and was given antibiotics and pain meds. He is all healed up now. I thought he chewed because one of the 2 females in the room were in heat and it made him crazy...who knows?
When I took him in for a recheck, a week later, the vet had done a bit of research and found that some chins who self mutilate have been shown to have giardia and treatment MAY help to reduce/prevent chewing. So we decided to test him and he indeed has giardia. I am treating with Panacur for 5 days now and again in 3 weeks. I have tested five other chins in my "herd of 18", including this guy's former cagemate. Everyone else has tested negative ( I do know that giardia can shed in cycles). I believe this chin has been giardia positive for quite a while and has never exhibited any symptoms.
I guess I am just throwing this out there for comments and to share. I want to find out if anyone else with fur chewers has found that they had giardia and whether treatment has helped the fur chewing at all. I am skeptical, but you never know...I am going to ask the vet for the articles she found and I can share if people are interested.
When I took him in for a recheck, a week later, the vet had done a bit of research and found that some chins who self mutilate have been shown to have giardia and treatment MAY help to reduce/prevent chewing. So we decided to test him and he indeed has giardia. I am treating with Panacur for 5 days now and again in 3 weeks. I have tested five other chins in my "herd of 18", including this guy's former cagemate. Everyone else has tested negative ( I do know that giardia can shed in cycles). I believe this chin has been giardia positive for quite a while and has never exhibited any symptoms.
I guess I am just throwing this out there for comments and to share. I want to find out if anyone else with fur chewers has found that they had giardia and whether treatment has helped the fur chewing at all. I am skeptical, but you never know...I am going to ask the vet for the articles she found and I can share if people are interested.
