# Drontal Plus



## Underpants Gnome (Oct 12, 2009)

Has anyone heard of using Drontal Plus for giardia? My vet wants to do a 3 day course for my poodles. They have had chronic giardia for months now. We have tried Panatol and metronidazole again and again, and still they test positive for giardia. Symptoms seem to come and go with a day or two of soft stool or vomiting, then fine for weeks. The last test showed very high levels of giardia.

Drontal will cost over $150! Vet seems to think this will do the trick, but I am wondering if anyone has had experience with Drontal. Any advice appreciated.
Thanks!


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

Can't be of any help with info on the suggested new drug, but just want to say I'm so sorry your poodles and you have been battling giardia for so long! It's so tough, on all of you, I know. I how this medicine turns out to be the "fix"! Best of luck!


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## plumcrazy (Sep 11, 2009)

I don't know much about drontal except that, yes, it's expensive - and it's the ONLY thing we used when I managed the humane society to get rid of tapeworms. None of our other wormers would eradicate tapeworms, but the drontal did! Luckily tapeworms aren't easily passed from dog to dog so we didn't need to use it very often because our shelter was on a very tight budget!!

I'm wondering why the other wormer isn't working well. I know giardia is usually pretty hard to get rid of entirely. Is Panatol the same as Panacur? I know Panacur is usually effective... but maybe the giardia bugs are getting resistant as are so many other nasties out there... How many days in a row are you using the antibiotic before discontinuing? I might want to do some further research or get a second opinion before using a dewormer that _might _work, but costs $150. There might be something else out there that will work better and be more economical.

Now, if it were TAPEWORMS, I'd say go for the Drontal!!

So sorry you're having to deal with this!


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## Underpants Gnome (Oct 12, 2009)

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## Underpants Gnome (Oct 12, 2009)

You are right, I meant Panacur. They have been on 3 days of Panacur plus metronidazole at least three times now. The metronidazole was for 7 days, then 14 days, then 21 days of metronidazole. Still testing positive for giardia. So I am going to try the Dontral and will let you know if that takes care of it. Yikes, expensive! It better work.


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## DoeValley Poodles (Jun 12, 2010)

Are they coming up positive on a fecal float (actually sheading cysts) or only positive on an Elisa test. The Elisa test is very sensitive and can remain positive for some time after treatment. There is no one good med for giardia, our hospital routinely uses Flagyl/Metronidazole twice daily for 1 week as well as Panacur once daily for 1 week.


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## Underpants Gnome (Oct 12, 2009)

They are positive on the fecal float.


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

I've used Drontal for tapeworms in my cats. 

Is it possible that your dogs are being reinfected with the giardia over and over? Is there any standing water or small streams around you that they could be drinking from? I know Seattle has a lot of ponds and water. Our mountains have been known to contain giardia in the streams. It seems more likely that they are being reinfected than that the treatment isn't working.

I have never heard of Drontal being used for giardia so I looked it up:
Does Drontal treat Giardia?
Drontal is the ONLY Allwormer registered to control Giardia sp in dogs. Giardia is a protozoan
parasite found commonly in dogs and is frequently a cause of diarrhoea in puppies. Drontal should
be administered at the correct dosage for body weight for 3 consecutive days.
It is important that Giardia has been correctly diagnosed by a veterinarian. 


As you can see it doesn't say it gets rid of it, just that it controls it- hmmmm. The Drontal website says it is used to control giardia and can be given every three months as a preventative. 

I am sorry you are having this trouble with giardia. It is a nasty protozoan. Flagyl is supposed to get rid of it. The sites I saw all said these drugs are used to treat it:
Flagyl, Valbazen, Safe-Guard or Panacur

I think the best way to prevent an outbreak is to boost your dogs immune systems with diet. A dog with a strong immune system rarely has much trouble with giardia because their bodies kill and expel it on their own, even if they are reinfected. Chinese crested aren't known to have particularly strong immune systems, so that could be your problem. Is your poodle having as much trouble with it as your cresteds?


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

One more idea:

My vet suggested 'L-Lysine' to boost the immune system on one of my cats that was having a lot of trouble getting rid of a nasty cough and cold and kept getting it over and over. Once I started sprinkling it on her food she did get better and has not been ill since. The vet said it is an amino acid that helps the immune system manufacture antibodies. It worked for my cat when nothing else seemed to help, but she had a viral problem.

Since you are having trouble with repeated giardia issues and your pups are having trouble on their own, ask your vet about it. It is over the counter for people. My vet believes in the stuff, but my vet is sort of a combination of a holistic vet and a traditional vet (the best kind!). It is cheap, too.


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## Underpants Gnome (Oct 12, 2009)

outwest said:


> I've used Drontal for tapeworms in my cats.
> 
> Is it possible that your dogs are being reinfected with the giardia over and over? Is there any standing water or small streams around you that they could be drinking from? I know Seattle has a lot of ponds and water. Our mountains have been known to contain giardia in the streams. It seems more likely that they are being reinfected than that the treatment isn't working.
> 
> Chinese crested aren't known to have particularly strong immune systems, so that could be your problem. Is your poodle having as much trouble with it as your cresteds?


Actually the chinese crested is not living at our house right now and has never gotten giardia. It is just the spoos that are the problem. It is quite possible that they are getting reinfected because we do go to the dog park on a regular basis. But giardia is everywhere here in Seattle so they will get reinfected even on a walk around our neighborhood. I am not sure what to do to prevent reinfection, short of keeping them in the house all the time. 

The Drontal was reallly difficult to give. Nell refused to eat it and it didn't matter what I put it in. I actually had to buy another dose of it because she refused to eat it one night. Finally got all three doses in both of them and today they finish 7 days of Flagyl (metronidazole).

Your idea of the boost to the immune system is a good one and I will talk to the vet about L-lysine. I am also going to ask why she only gives 3 days of Panacur when other people have mentioned up to 7 day dosage. 

Anyway, hopefully this will do the trick and they will get clear of the giardia for good!!


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