# Rufus ate cat poo and now has diarrhea



## lulubel (Apr 28, 2011)

A couple of weeks ago, I took in a stray cat that I had been feeding for a while, and immediately discovered (when he started using a litter tray) that he had very bad diarrhea. I'd already wormed him once, when I started feeding him, but wormed him again - this is about 10 days ago now - but it didn't help. I'm now working with my vet to collect samples and get them tested to find out what's wrong.

In the mean time, Rufus managed to "collect" one of the samples before I got to it - about 5 days ago - and I realised yesterday that he now has bad diarrhea as well. I think he's had it for at least a couple of days because I've been finding runny poos in odd places, but I'd put that down to Jimmy, who has been on antibiotics for an unrelated problem.

So, I assume there's something in the cat's poo that Rufus has picked up by eating it, and this should give us a head start in determining what's wrong. Can anyone tell me what - other than normal worms - a cat can pass in its poo that a dog can pick up?


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

lulubel said:


> A couple of weeks ago, I took in a stray cat that I had been feeding for a while, and immediately discovered (when he started using a litter tray) that he had very bad diarrhea. I'd already wormed him once, when I started feeding him, but wormed him again - this is about 10 days ago now - but it didn't help. I'm now working with my vet to collect samples and get them tested to find out what's wrong.
> 
> In the mean time, Rufus managed to "collect" one of the samples before I got to it - about 5 days ago - and I realised yesterday that he now has bad diarrhea as well. I think he's had it for at least a couple of days because I've been finding runny poos in odd places, but I'd put that down to Jimmy, who has been on antibiotics for an unrelated problem.
> 
> So, I assume there's something in the cat's poo that Rufus has picked up by eating it, and this should give us a head start in determining what's wrong. Can anyone tell me what - other than normal worms - a cat can pass in its poo that a dog can pick up?


There could be several culprits that are quite common and can be found both in dogs and cats. There are protozoan parasites that will cause ongoing diarrhoea and loose stools giardia and coccidia, another explanation may be a persistent bacteria infection, campylobacter is one and usually needs a long course and/or specific antibiotics.

Normal wormers don't do coccidia or Giardia, the only one I know that will do Giardia is panacur which does normal worms and some common form of tapeworm too, but for giardia you have to use it longer and different course to treat giardia then you do for just worms.

If it is any of these they should find it in the poop samples, a three day fecal is usually best, three samples from 3 different poops on 3 consequetive days as there is less chance anything can be missed usually.


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## lulubel (Apr 28, 2011)

Thanks. That's what we're doing, although it is a challenge. I didn't mention in the first post because I didn't want to confuse things, that there are actually 2 cats and both have stomach problems, although one (I think) is worse than the other. I assumed the cause was likely the same since the two cats go round joined at the hip, so I've been trying to collect samples from the one that's worse, but it isn't always easy to work out who did what! (I'm seriously broke at the moment, so hoping to get away with only testing one!)

Now that Rufus seems to have picked it up too, that's pretty much confirmed it's something that's passed on through contact with contaminated poo, and one cat has probably caught it from the other by digging in the same place and washing paws. So, once we know what it is, my vet should agree to treat all the animals showing symptoms without needing to test them all.

Hopefully, we'll be able to get it sorted fairly quickly, and then I can get them all neutered!


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

lulubel said:


> Thanks. That's what we're doing, although it is a challenge. I didn't mention in the first post because I didn't want to confuse things, that there are actually 2 cats and both have stomach problems, although one (I think) is worse than the other. I assumed the cause was likely the same since the two cats go round joined at the hip, so I've been trying to collect samples from the one that's worse, but it isn't always easy to work out who did what! (I'm seriously broke at the moment, so hoping to get away with only testing one!)
> 
> Now that Rufus seems to have picked it up too, that's pretty much confirmed it's something that's passed on through contact with contaminated poo, and one cat has probably caught it from the other by digging in the same place and washing paws. So, once we know what it is, my vet should agree to treat all the animals showing symptoms without needing to test them all.
> 
> Hopefully, we'll be able to get it sorted fairly quickly, and then I can get them all neutered!


Its a good chance its one of those I mentioned, and once ones got it on the property which ever one often the others will get it, if you can identify it in one set of samples then it could well be enough and then treat the lot of them and take it from there, but chances are once they are all treated effectively and at the same time and you up the clean ups and general hygine too then hopefully it will be sorted.


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## lulubel (Apr 28, 2011)

Sled dog hotel said:


> If it is any of these they should find it in the poop samples, a three day fecal is usually best, three samples from 3 different poops on 3 consequetive days as there is less chance anything can be missed usually.


Do you know anything about the tests they do and how they're usually charged? I'm wondering if it's possible to save a bit of money by asking them to ONLY test for things that can be passed from one animal to another by ingesting some of the poo. (I've done similar before by specifying which blood tests I wanted my vet to do, rather than letting him decide what he was going to charge me for!)


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

lulubel said:


> Do you know anything about the tests they do and how they're usually charged? I'm wondering if it's possible to save a bit of money by asking them to ONLY test for things that can be passed from one animal to another by ingesting some of the poo. (I've done similar before by specifying which blood tests I wanted my vet to do, rather than letting him decide what he was going to charge me for!)


I think its a pretty standard test, to look for parasites which include worms and the protozoan parasites mentioned and then culture to check for any persistent bacteria that may be present. Its a long time since I last had one in fact it was on Kobi as a pup and he was 7 in May. Nanuq before I got her while in the RSPCA had one too as the rescue litter she came from all had diarrhoea when they came in, and she was found to have roundworms and coccidia but that was all done and treated before I got her.


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## lulubel (Apr 28, 2011)

A little update.

I've finally got to the bottom of this, after spending money pointlessly, and have found out it's giardia I'm dealing with (which is what my research online had led me to suspect in the first place).

I got the result of the 3-day fecal test this morning, and they confirmed there was giardia in at least one of the samples.

Interestingly, and before I had done much research, I went to another vet (the one I've used for the last 3 years, but was in the process of moving away from because I wasn't happy with his pricing policy), and he said the only way to detect giardia was to examine the animal at the surgery and take a sample direct from the rectum because giardia only lives for a few minutes outside the body. I took Rufus to the surgery, the vet did the tests, said there was no sign of giardia or any other parasite, and said it was a viral infection. When I said Rufus and Jimmy appeared to have picked it up after eating cat poo, he looked nonplussed for a moment, then said some viruses can pass between species that way. Needless to say, he will not be getting any more of my money.

(For anyone reading this who doesn't know, giardia cysts can survive outside the body for months, and ingesting the cysts directly, or drinking water that has been contaminated with giardia, are the most common methods of infection.

So, at least I know what we're dealing with now. I'm going up to the surgery this afternoon to get the drugs I need to treat it.


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

lulubel said:


> A little update.
> 
> I've finally got to the bottom of this, after spending money pointlessly, and have found out it's giardia I'm dealing with (which is what my research online had led me to suspect in the first place).
> 
> ...


You can get a kit from Worm Count | Wormcount.com

I asked if they checked for Giardia and coccidia. They said if i wrote on the form they would test for them as part of the screen. £15 for all roundworms, lungworm, tapeworm and some protozoa.


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

lulubel said:


> A little update.
> 
> I've finally got to the bottom of this, after spending money pointlessly, and have found out it's giardia I'm dealing with (which is what my research online had led me to suspect in the first place).
> 
> ...


Glad you got to the bottom of it and it is Giardia which is not uncommon.
Its absolute rot about having to take a direct sample, three day fecals find it all the time for the reasons you have already found out about. A 3 day fecal is always best as there is less chance of missing anything which can and does sometimes happen on one solitary sample.


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