Possible illness as a result of salmon consumption

[apocalypse910]

Some friends of ours got a large quantity of Alaskan salmon recently - they gave us some of the scraps to share with Loki. He absolutely loved the salmon - He had about 2 1/2 meals of it during the week. I did not cook the salmon - I knew the salmon had been transported frozen and I mistakenly believed that would eliminate any potential parasites.

Loki got diarrhea a few days later - He's not going to the bathroom frequently so it is difficult to track down exactly what meal caused the issue. Runny stools are very rare for him, but they have happened before so I wasn't too alarmed the first time it happened. I believe this started mid last week and he's had two fully runny bowel movements, plus a small accident today. He's not been showing any other signs of distress - his mood has been fine, he's eating, and doesn't seem unduly lethargic.

I started doing more research and came across information on salmon poisoning in dogs (which is something I wasn't aware of). I know actual salmon poisoning is pretty much restricted to canids - but one of the causative agents (Nanophyetus salmincola) is not. I know it can cause nausea and diarrhea in humans - and can sometimes affect cats via lizards so I assume they can become infected as well.

I may be making an mountain out of a molehill but I can't really find any information on this sort of infection in lizards in terms of symptoms or severity. Does anyone have any knowledge of this? I'm going to schedule a vet appointment Monday (hopefully I can get a sample) - but I'd like to do my research ahead of time. There isn't much literature about this infection in lizards so I'm guessing the vet won't have much to go on.

I may just be freaking out about nothing again - but I'm very scared I made a mistake by giving him that salmon.

 

[KritterKeeper]

Not sure if this will make you feel better or not but i gave my columbian beef a couple times one week which was something new i had ordered from hare-today and it gave him major runny poo. It was disgusting and once i noticed it i stopped feeding him the beef but it took like 2wks for things to go back to normal. He never showed any bad signs otherwise but clearly the beef was not working for him so that is off the menu now. Perhaps thats whats happening with your guy and he just needs alittle longer to get back to normal.
Good luck and i hope the vet is able to sort things out for you.

 

[apocalypse910]

Thanks!

Quick Update: The vet said that his health looks excellent. I was unable to get a stool sample yet but I'll need to bring one in once he goes again. She said it is possible that frozen salmon still had viable parasites but I won't know until she's able to run some tests.

 

[laurarfl]

Awesome news!