# Giardia, please share your stories



## usviteacher (Feb 8, 2010)

Greetings all, my poodle boy is having re-occurring issues with Giardia. 

Our vet prescribed Albon 500mg 1 and 1/4 tab a day and Panacur for the next 5 days. I have to bring in a dog stool sample in 3 weeks. 

I wonder if my boy is re affecting himself within the backyard. He is trained to eliminate in one spot. I wonder if that's a source? I use to clean the area every other day. But since the re-occurrance, I cleaning as soon as he eliminates. 

I've seen our boy licking up the remains of bird droppings. Finally, when we are away for a good part of the day, i drop him off to his pet sitter. Maybe that could be a source.

Anyhow, please share your stories on how you and your vet finally got rid of the Giardia. thank you


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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

_I have not experienced Giardia with any of my dogs. I guess I have been very lucky in that respect. Wish I had some thing to offer you to help.

I am concerned that he is licking up bird waste. I have not done any research on it, but I would imagine that it cannot be healthy.

My spoos do eat horse droppings when they get the chance to. Horse droppings can be full of parasites even though they are on a worming program. My dogs are on a worming program to keep them free from contracting parasites.

I'm interested to see what others have done to deal with Giardia. You can't know what the future will bring and it is good to be prepared.
_


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## cavon (Aug 10, 2010)

Hi again! I told you aobut the probiotics/enzymes and food in the other thread, but I did want to share about the medication and other things that might help here.

Our vet put Finnegan on a combination of Panacur and Flagyl and I have a friend with two Keeshonds who also had giardia and her vet prescribed the same thing. I will go to my file tonight and pull the dosage info for you.

I don't know how Finn caught it, but he did go to a doggy daycare at the time and as I understand it, if a dog had it and Finn sniffed his butt and there was some poop there that had an active parasite in it, he could have caught it there. 

I also had a birdbath in my garden at the time and while I try to monitor Finnegan at all times - my sister refers to him as the big red poodle that has to live in a bubble because his mother is paranoid - one day I did catch him taking a lick of the water, so maybe he picked it up there.

oh, as well as the mediction specifically for the giardia, the vet also gave us something to help settle Finnegan's tummy and help stop the diahrrea. The name & dosage will be in my file too!

Now as for the backyard. Finnegan only poops on his walks, so I am lucky that way, but my friend with the Kees used GSE

Grapefruit Seed Extract

This is supposed to kill the parasite, but it will not harm your grass. you can also use it in the house, so that will be good around your children!


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## usviteacher (Feb 8, 2010)

I'm starting to put two and two together. 

Last week, Winston stayed with the pet sitter for 3 full days. She told me how much he enjoyed playing in her doggie pool with the other dogs. Don't mean to sound gross....but i can see how a shared doogie pool can turn into a toliet bowl.

Winston is also licking up bird poop. I caught him again this am. He licked it up and immediately started marking the spot. Don't know if this contributes to giardia.

thanks for your feedback.


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## cavon (Aug 10, 2010)

Bird poop -absolutely! Also rabbit poop, skunk poop, raccoon poop, standing water!

it is an insideous intestinal parasite,very sneaky and hard to detect. When you are taking the stool sample in for testing, it is best to gather stool from three different bowel movements - but all from a relatively short time span if you can get him to go, not samples from 2 or 3 different days. It can be present in one but not another, so by taking in several samples they have a better chance of detecting it. Also it is not always picked up by the usual stool flotation test the vet does, I would ask your vet about the antigen test to check for it. it is a bit more expensive for me it was $50 instead of $30, but it gave me better peace of mind.


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## FozziesMom (Jun 23, 2010)

there is a sub clinical presentation of giardia too, one where a dog can be infected but show absolutely no signs of it. So once he looks "clear" he could still be a carrier for it, or his other doggie friends too.

I'd ask the dog sitter when the last time was that the other dogs were checked. He may well be likely getting reinfected there.


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## bigpoodleperson (Jul 14, 2009)

If he were mine and getting constintly reinfected then I would talk to your vet about just doing routine dewormings every month/every other month with panacur weather he presents with symptoms or not to keep on top of things (wow, that was a long sentence!).


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## Bella's Momma (Jul 26, 2009)

I am glad you have found the source of his tummy troubles and that it's easier to fix than allergies. My dog hasn't had it, but my mom did a couple of years ago (we never found the source as her dog didn't have it either!). It was so awful, she felt so sick and it was cyclical, as you know. She went several weeks before we found a doctor who didn't dismiss her as having stomach flu. 

My sympathies to little Winston. I will bet you are right about the pet sitter...does she have any other ill dog reports?


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## Beach girl (Aug 5, 2010)

Makes sense to me too.

Casey actually came to us with giardia when he was 14 weeks old. The breeder had done a check on a random sample of the litter. Those checks came back clear. Unfortunately, Casey was sick when we got him, which was picked up at the "well puppy" exam at our vets. 

Also unfortunately, we only treated Casey, but in the meantime he had passed it to Pippin. So then we treated Pippin, who passed it back to Casey! AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!

Finally treated them both at the same time (with Panacur C) and that solved it.

This spring, just about a week ago, Pippin was diagnosed with it at his routine annual exam. He had shown NO symptoms at all. However Casey, who had a clear fecal exam, had had two incidences of throwing up brown bile.

So cutting right to the chase this time, we treated both of them. They both seem fine now.

A good annual exam is imperative; it will pick up things that you might not have noticed.

USVITeacher, it sounds like you are getting to the bottom (ha!) of things. Bird poop - definite problem. Pet sitter - certainly a possible problem area. Feces in back yard - most definitely a problem. 

Sounds like you have plans in mind to address all three things, so that should clear things up. Then Winston can be a house-dog again, is that the plan? 

Scrupulous cleanliness, keeping him away from stagnant water, wild animal feces, all those things should keep it under control.

Do you do any of your own grooming? I got started doing some very simple grooming, just clipping of the sanitary areas, plus belly and feet, just because of this. I want to keep his bum-hole area clean at all times.

I now do more overall grooming (not that I am an expert, by any means) but it does help, I think, to keep good sanitation by keeping the fur in those areas clipped short.


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## usviteacher (Feb 8, 2010)

cavon said:


> Bird poop -absolutely! Also rabbit poop, skunk poop, raccoon poop, standing water!
> 
> it is an insideous intestinal parasite,very sneaky and hard to detect. When you are taking the stool sample in for testing, it is best to gather stool from three different bowel movements - but all from a relatively short time span if you can get him to go, not samples from 2 or 3 different days. It can be present in one but not another, so by taking in several samples they have a better chance of detecting it. Also it is not always picked up by the usual stool flotation test the vet does, I would ask your vet about the antigen test to check for it. it is a bit more expensive for me it was $50 instead of $30, but it gave me better peace of mind.


Thank you for your suggestion. I will collect 2 or 3 separate samples. I have to collect another sample in 3 weeks. Winston eliminates soon after eating. It will be easy to collect.


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## usviteacher (Feb 8, 2010)

FozziesMom said:


> there is a sub clinical presentation of giardia too, one where a dog can be infected but show absolutely no signs of it. So once he looks "clear" he could still be a carrier for it, or his other doggie friends too.
> 
> I'd ask the dog sitter when the last time was that the other dogs were checked. He may well be likely getting reinfected there.


Yeah, i think there may be a lot going on at the sitter. She has four dogs of her own. I may look into hiring a teenager from church that i can trust to come in and let out Winston, feed him etc. If i'm gone for an extended period of time.


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## usviteacher (Feb 8, 2010)

spoospirit said:


> _I have not experienced Giardia with any of my dogs. I guess I have been very lucky in that respect. Wish I had some thing to offer you to help.
> 
> I am concerned that he is licking up bird waste. I have not done any research on it, but I would imagine that it cannot be healthy.
> 
> ...


Thank you. I will question the vet about starting a worming program. I'm sure it would be helpful for my boy.


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## usviteacher (Feb 8, 2010)

cavon said:


> Hi again! I told you aobut the probiotics/enzymes and food in the other thread, but I did want to share about the medication and other things that might help here.
> 
> Our vet put Finnegan on a combination of Panacur and Flagyl and I have a friend with two Keeshonds who also had giardia and her vet prescribed the same thing. I will go to my file tonight and pull the dosage info for you.
> 
> ...


Thanks for sharing your story. I've heard about GSE and human use.Cool to know that it is pet friendly.


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## usviteacher (Feb 8, 2010)

cavon said:


> Bird poop -absolutely! Also rabbit poop, skunk poop, raccoon poop, standing water!
> 
> it is an insideous intestinal parasite,very sneaky and hard to detect. When you are taking the stool sample in for testing, it is best to gather stool from three different bowel movements - but all from a relatively short time span if you can get him to go, not samples from 2 or 3 different days. It can be present in one but not another, so by taking in several samples they have a better chance of detecting it. Also it is not always picked up by the usual stool flotation test the vet does, I would ask your vet about the antigen test to check for it. it is a bit more expensive for me it was $50 instead of $30, but it gave me better peace of mind.


thank you. i will ask vet about the antigen test. I have a nice list running already.


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## usviteacher (Feb 8, 2010)

FozziesMom said:


> there is a sub clinical presentation of giardia too, one where a dog can be infected but show absolutely no signs of it. So once he looks "clear" he could still be a carrier for it, or his other doggie friends too.
> 
> I'd ask the dog sitter when the last time was that the other dogs were checked. He may well be likely getting reinfected there.


Thank you for your reply . Last time i spoke to the sitter. she was quit to say that her dogs don't have the parasite. I plan on looking into another pet sitter. Maybe someone that will just come to our home and check on him. Let him out, feed him, play etc. I've realized that i have to interview a pet sitter same way i would interview a baby sitter.


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## usviteacher (Feb 8, 2010)

Beach girl said:


> Makes sense to me too.
> 
> Casey actually came to us with giardia when he was 14 weeks old. The breeder had done a check on a random sample of the litter. Those checks came back clear. Unfortunately, Casey was sick when we got him, which was picked up at the "well puppy" exam at our vets.
> 
> ...


Thank you for your reply. Winston was a sickly puppy. He had tummy problems from day one. 

I'm devising a plan of how to keep the back yard a clean as possible. I know that the bird one will be a tuffy. As for the stagnant water. I just thought of another source. Winston sometimes slurps the water that pools around an area of our grass (leaky sprinkler head/hubby has fixed it a gazillon times). I never thought of this one until now. 

I have considered trying to start grooming Winston. 

Finally, yes. Winston is back in the house. I have to give him another bath. He is not back to roaming around freely. I gated an area for him. He has a few more day's on his meds. I think he is okay for now. so far so good.


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## spoofly (Jan 20, 2010)

I don't have much to say as far as dogs with Giardia, but I do believe I contracted the parasite last year. It was after I had visited the "breeder/kennel" that I got my Fly from. The place was a mess...
Anyways, It was horrible. I lived on the toilet off and on for about 2 weeks. Desperate, and very ill I went to the E.R and was givine a multitude of tests EXCEPT for giardia. It wasn't until I started on a parasite cleanse and some anti biotics/pro biotics that I got myself back to normal. This is coming from somebody with a compromised immune system (type 1 diabetic here). 
All I can say is keep the yard clean of feces and make sure you steralize your home an anywhere Winston has been. Make sure there is no sitting water that Winston has access to either.
Just my 2 cents. Hope your pup feels better.


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## Beach girl (Aug 5, 2010)

Sounds like you're making progress.

My vet gave me two packets of "Dermalyte" shampoo to use, one for the start of treatment and one to be used at the end. I dunno if there is anything special in this stuff or not, but you might ask your vet (or maybe pet store?) about it. Contents are "Coconut oil, safflower oil, sodium lactate, and glycerin." 

Re the grooming, you don't have to be an expert to just do the sanitary groom once every couple weeks or so. Good clippers can do it. You need to be careful around the anus; if Winston has long hair there, it might be helpful to scissor it off before using the clippers. It's important to never, ever touch the anus directly with the clippers. You just clip around it. But you need to see where it is, and sometimes if it's been a long time between professional grooming, it's necessary to clip out the hair with scissors so you can see the geography there.

If you're at all nervous, there are grooming shears with a rounded tip, sort of like children's kindergarten scissors. You can use those to clip the hair away around the backside, and also near the eyes, rather than use a sharp-pointed scissor on a wriggly young dog.


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## FozziesMom (Jun 23, 2010)

Beach girl said:


> Re the grooming, you don't have to be an expert to just do the sanitary groom once every couple weeks or so.


This may also be a good time to do a short trim for awhile, just to make sanitation easy. I keep Fozzie short (1/4 inch after groom) with legs just a touch longer for just that reason. I also shave feet and face every 3 weeks, and bathe him regularly, every two weeks. 

We have a lot of nasty stuff in big cities, and keeping him clean is healthy for everyone. There are wipes you can use on paws too after being outside to keep him clean for you and your family.


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## Beach girl (Aug 5, 2010)

Just checking in again, wondering how Winston is doing. Did the treatment help?


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## jas (Apr 1, 2011)

*Giardia -- It was a nightmare for both of us*

I managed to contract a bad case of Giardia. Please forgive me for this description, but it's important to know for health reasons, especially for children or people with weakened immune systems. I landed in the Emergency Room with an IV because of Giardia. For humans, one of the symptoms is medically called "explosive diarrhea" -- which is not to be confused with simple diarrhea with excessive gas; "E.D" is similiar to projectile vomit in it's violent force. :afraid: Enough said. Please be extremely careful about cleaning and even sterilizing any infected areas. My vet said not to bring our puppy in the same place where she did her business as this would re-infect her since Giardia can survive pretty well. We were running out of places to take her to potty. What a nightmare! Good luck and keep the Purell handy at all times.


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