Definition of smelly diarrhea with Giardia infection

[Xiaosong]

So I've been reading the forums about Giardia and trying to figure out what to watch for in my chinchillas to try and catch things early. I'm a medical student at NYU and I remember in our host defense class that the professor said that NYC water is not filtered and we have trace amounts of Giardia and Cryptosporidium in our drinking water and when tested levels of these organisms reach a certain level, people with compromised immunosystems are not supposed to drink the tap water in the city. You can actually go to the NYC DEP website and it will list the amount of giardia and cryptosporidium per 50L at each test site.

Anyway, both of my 3 month old chinchillas were on NYC tap water before I adopted them and switched them to PUR filtered water so I figured it would be good to know what the symptoms of giardia are.

However, some of the symptoms of Giardia (smelly diarrhea with mucous) is a bit vague on the forums.

When we are talking about diarrhea, are we talking about poop that you can squish between your fingers or is it less well formed then that? Does anyone have a good picture to share of what is considered diarrhea in chinchillas? I understand from what I read that this is not necessarily what we consider diarrhea in humans.

Also, as to the smell of the poop... it's been described as smelly. But how smelly is it? Like I can smell the poop when I approach the cage or when I pick up the poop and hold it under my nose to smell?

I was hoping someone could enlighten me and be a little bit more descriptive with the symptoms.

Thanks!

 

[CerLynn]

Diarrhea in chins is essentially considered anything less than a well-formed poo... if it's to the point of what we would consider diarrhea for ourselves, the chin is in trouble. One our boys gets periodic stress-induced diarrhea, and it gets fairly gross - wetter, soft lumps that don't stay together, sticking to the fur, occasionally a little mucous-covered. Unfortunately we've never thought to take pictures. As far as the smell, for us it's only when you get close to it, like sticking your head in the cage - it doesn't smell up the whole room or anything - though I don't know if diarrhea from Giardia would smell worse. Hope this helps and hopefully your girls won't have to deal with any of it!

 

[Xiaosong]

So if the poop comes out looking normal but I can squish it between my fingers and it pretty much stays together except it is flatter, than that isn't considered diarrhea right? I don't know if its because I've been checking fresher poop lately versus before when I would just pick up a few pieces that had fallen on the ground but the poop seemed to be harder in the past. I guess it could also have just dried out overnight and seemed harder that way.

I guess the poop only smells when I bring it up under my nose and take a whiff. I don't think I usually smell it when I'm around their cage.

I think I'm just worrying to much after reading about Giardia and diarrhea and probably just paying too much attention to their poop. Thanks for the response!

 

[CerLynn]

Squishable fresh poo is perfectly fine - it's when it starts getting wet and sticky that you start running into problems. You're probably used to dried poo, which is rock hard. Sounds like your girls are doing just fine! )