# My new mini pup has giardia. Advice??



## ParrotMomWantsPoodle (Apr 17, 2018)

My Lily Blossom came home with me last Wed, 4/25. She's 15 weeks old. Had a vet check scheduled for today, but her stools were loose Saturday and she didn't want to eat. So was able to get her in to the vet Saturday; and she tested positive for giardia. (Negative for parvo, thank God!)

Vet prescribed Flagyl for two weeks, and Panacur for 5 days. And a probiotic paste and powder.

She still has diarrhea. Is very playful and happy. Threw up her chicken & rice breakfast this morning; but I was able to get her to eat a nice meal about an hour later (chicken & rice mixed with chicken broth and some canned chicken "stew".

I've been reading the forum about giardia and I'm worried she'll have a long recovery time. Is that true?

Is it safe for her to be around other people? My neighbor wants her to come over and play with her teenage girls today. I told her about the giardia and she say she doesn't care. But...

I know this is an important time for socializing... so I'm worrying. Just a worried new mom in general.

Thanks for listening.


----------



## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

If your neighbor doesn’t care, you should. No contact with other dogs for a while. Ask your vet when it is safe to do doggie play.

I’m sure you don’t want the whole neighborhood to have dogs with giardia...

https://www.vetinfo.com/is-giardia-in-dogs-contagious.html


----------



## ParrotMomWantsPoodle (Apr 17, 2018)

Dechi said:


> If your neighbor doesn’t care, you should. No contact with other dogs for a while. Ask your vet when it is safe to do doggie play.
> 
> I’m sure you don’t want the whole neighborhood to have dogs with giardia...
> 
> https://www.vetinfo.com/is-giardia-in-dogs-contagious.html


Thanks... They don't have pets, and Blossom won't be allowed doggie play until it's safe. The vet just called for follow-up and said it would be fine for her to interact with people now if they wash their hands afterward.


----------



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

ParrotMomWantsPoodle said:


> Thanks... They don't have pets, and Blossom won't be allowed doggie play until it's safe. The vet just called for follow-up and said it would be fine for her to interact with people now if they wash their hands afterward.



I agree with your vet and think the treatment plan is spot on. Lots of puppies end up with giardiasis, which is pretty ubiquitous. Hand washing (which is never a bad idea) should protect all the people and I would go ahead and have humans over.


----------



## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

ParrotMomWantsPoodle said:


> Thanks... They don't have pets, and Blossom won't be allowed doggie play until it's safe. The vet just called for follow-up and said it would be fine for her to interact with people now if they wash their hands afterward.


So sorry... I read that you wanted your dog to play with your neighbor’s dog ! I think if your neighbor washes hands properly and isn’t in contact with other dogs right away it should be fine.

Sorry again. :-(


----------



## ParrotMomWantsPoodle (Apr 17, 2018)

Dechi said:


> So sorry... I read that you wanted your dog to play with your neighbor’s dog ! I think if your neighbor washes hands properly and isn’t in contact with other dogs right away it should be fine.
> 
> Sorry again. :-(


No problem! I assumed you read it that way.:happy:


----------



## ParrotMomWantsPoodle (Apr 17, 2018)

lily cd re said:


> I agree with your vet and think the treatment plan is spot on. Lots of puppies end up with giardiasis, which is pretty ubiquitous. Hand washing (which is never a bad idea) should protect all the people and I would go ahead and have humans over.


I was so worried Saturday. They suspected parvo.

We had a fun romp with the neighbors in the front yard. Blossom pooped for the first time on her leash, so we had a party!

And she has eaten 3 meals today, so even more reason to celebrate.arty:


----------



## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

I'm sorry your pup has giardia and agree with others that your vet sounds like a good one with treatment. Guardia is hard to get rid of and sometimes takes two treatments but hopefully that won't be the case here as it sounds like you and your vet have a good handle on it. Glad she is able to interact with others and is eating. Can't wait to hear more about her.


----------



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

ParrotMomWantsPoodle said:


> I was so worried Saturday. They suspected parvo.
> 
> We had a fun romp with the neighbors in the front yard. Blossom pooped for the first time on her leash, so we had a party!
> 
> And she has eaten 3 meals today, so even more reason to celebrate.arty:


I am so happy to see such a great report of improvement! I can understand how worried you were as we had a scary episode with Lily when she was little too. Hopefully you will have smooth sailing from here on.


----------



## ParrotMomWantsPoodle (Apr 17, 2018)

Blossom's still doing well! Ate her largest meal yet this morning, and licked the bowl clean.

I keep her in her pen most of the time (but we have play time in the house when I know she doesn't need to potty.) She's learned to bark to get me to take her out. (which is good and bad. We have false alarms when she just wants out!) But this morning she barked and I took her out, and she pooped again on the leash. It was much firmer. 

Progress on both counts! Health & house-breaking.

I'm trying to make as much progress as possible with her while I'm temporarily working from home.


----------



## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Good to hear you are getting this sorted out! Only thing I want to mention is that you should probably clean up her poos in your yard ASAP so she doesn't re-infect herself ! Giardia is pretty common in pups btw! Oh puppyhood, Oh puppyhood, how fun it is!!! hahaha!!!


----------



## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

Progress on both counts! Health & house-breaking.

That is wonderful! I am so happy everything is sorting itself out. Sounds like you now have it all in control. Sometimes it takes us a little time to learn what our pups want or need, then there can be set backs but in the end its all worth it.


----------



## Raven's Mom (Mar 18, 2014)

My Spoo came home at 14 wks also with giardiasis. Went throug he treatment course twice before it was finally controlled. Raven didn't seem to feel bad, thankfully, but the worry of it was a pain, not to mention trying to keep the yard cleaned up. So don't be surprised if you think it's gone and it's not quite.


----------



## ParrotMomWantsPoodle (Apr 17, 2018)

Ugh I hope not. It turns out she also has kennel cough! She had a rough couple of weeks before she came home, evidently.


----------



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

ParrotMomWantsPoodle said:


> Ugh I hope not. It turns out she also has kennel cough! She had a rough couple of weeks before she came home, evidently.


Aww that is too bad. Puppies go through stuff and generally come out with flying colors though. That coughing is horrible to listen too when it is really bad though. Nobody slept at our house when Lily then Peeves had kennel cough a number of years ago.


----------



## Charleeann67:) (Nov 6, 2017)

This post really resonated with me. My 9 week old (as of today) minipoo started having loose poops Sunday. UP until then he had been to the vet the week before and had his poop tested and I was told no parasites, just a little yeast so they prescribed probiotic to help with that and also since I intend to switch him to a high grade kibble.
His poops were fine until I probably overdid it with the freeze dried chicken liver treats (tiny pieces) playing and including some training. So, I stopped using the treats and went back to his kibble, square one.
Starting Sunday he had a nice poop in the morning and then an hour before bed time he was out with me, started to have a nice poop and it ended up very loose. Then we were up every two hours outside through the night with him peeing and then straining to poop and it was loose and finally was just watery.
Same thing this last night. In reading I saw something about yeast can be an indication of a giardia infection. Anyone heard of that? In any case, I intend to take him in to the vet today. He is still drinking water, which is a good thing but this water poop is not good.


----------



## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

Its possible, a fecal exam will not always indicate giardia. Your vet will need to test for giardia using Fecal ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) and they have a much lower incidence of false negative results in comparison to microscopic fecal exams.


----------



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

The test for giardiasis is different from the standard fecal ova and parasites exam.


----------



## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Giardia is an opportunistic infection. It's present in the environment often and most dogs do not develop an infection from being exposed. If they do, it's easily treated with 5 days of Panacur. Sometime's you do need to repeat the treatment a week or 2 later also.


----------

