Parasites?

[Mark]

Does any one on here know if internal parasites could be to blame for a decreased appetite? Kiwi has been leaving about 1/3 of the food on his plate and his stool smells kind of.... bad/different than it usually does (don't even ask how i know the dif in his poo ;D) so i think i'll get a fecal done any way but i was just wondering. And by the way, Willemsmom, could you suggest any thing I should talk to the vet aoubt if Kiwi needs dewormer so i dont get into the situation Willem was in recently? Thanks in advance everyone!

Mark

[Marie]

It definitely is a possibility. Especially the smell. When I first got Huff his had an awful smell--not the normal bad smell. He had parasites.

Marie

[Tesa]

It definately sounds like a fecal is in order.
My doc uses Panacur....and probiotics will be needed after the treatment.

[WillemsMom]

Hi Mark, Willie clearly lost his appetite from his worms. And he had almost no appetite due to overzealous deworming, by a vet who should have known better.
I could see the dead worms in his poop after his first dose of medication. They looked like short, blonde eyelashes.

I'll try to get more information from Willie's good vet tomorrow and let you know.

I love Kiwi's name.

[SurvivorSteph]

Panacur is what Gil took back when he was an iglet; back then I didn't know I should give probiotics, but he's done rather well anyway.

[WillemsMom]

Okay, Mark,

I found out what you DO NOT want to use.

Willie was given .3 mgms of ALBENDAZOLE. Seemed fine after the first dose. Many dead worms in his poop. The second dose was given two weeks later and this is what caused all the trouble. It seems that vet must have realized his error because there is no mention in his file of the amount of the second dose.. only that it was 11.36 % suspension.

This was much too strong for Will, killed off everything good and bad in his sytem, overloaded his kidney's and created a lot of toxicity in his body. Probiotics wasn't helpful immediately afterwards. Because Will was so anorexic by this time, he didn't get much from eating so I made a gel of his probiotic (upon the advise of it's manufacturer) gave it to him by syringe and poor, already depleted Will developed a serious case of diarrhea.(sp) So BAD! I believe in the benefits of a probiotic, but I think a caution should be issued, with it's use.... that overly hopeful dosing can cause diarrhea. I hope you can learn from what happened with Willie. He was the innocent little fellow of poor veterinarian care and poor aftercare advise.

[Mark]

Thanks everyone for your quick and informative replies! I am going to try to take in a fecal tomorrow and see what unfolds. Also thank you very much Willemsmom for the name of that med, i'll write it down and make sure Kiwi isn't treated with it.

Thanks, Mark

P.S. I think Kiwi is a very unique and fitting name for my baby considering his bright colors(they still dont match will's, lol, he's beautiful!!)

[Mark]

Well, i called the vet this morning and they said that I could drop it off at eleven, but Kiwi doesn't usually "go" untill 11:00-12:00, so I am going to take in the fecal on Monday, I think he should be fine untill then. Also i was looking through the parasite area on Green Ig Society and found that another simptom is going to the bathroom more often and not in the usual spot which i origanally thought was from breeding season (which is almost over for us) but now im almost positive that he has bugs. Again thanks for all the helpful advise.

Mark

[Mark]

Well, the results came back and were negative for parasites. I am almost disapointed, because now i dont know what is going on. I will try to keep the humidity higher (yeah, that'll be easy ;D) and keep the temps up, mabe he is still coming out of season...
Thanks everyone

Mark