Do It Yourself Giardia Test Kits....Am I Crazy?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

We're in the middle of dealing with Murphy's Giardia, and I've been doing lots and lots of reading about it.  It is a nasty parasite, and it can be very difficult to diagnose.  It doesn't always show up in stool samples, so you can easily get "clear" samples when they actually have the parasite.  I really believe this is something that Murph may have had for a while, and that could be why we have not been able to solve his food issues even with home cooking.  Anyway, I found that I can order the test kit online (SNAP) test.  I can get 15 tests for $169.99.  It can be purchased through Amazon and it comes from Revival Animal Health which sells lots of other pet meds (like Frontline).  There are lots of reviews for this company, with 97% of them positive.  The reason I'm seriously thinking about this is that I want to be absolutely positive that we clear it up, and one fecal test is just not reliable.  I can see myself bring in samples to the Vet every few days at $30 each time.  Doing it myself seems way more convenient and practical.  Has anyone ever done this or ordered anything from this company?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

My vet claims that the reason you should do a HW test periodically is that the preventatives are not 100%, and can be dangerous to use if a dog should happen to be positive for HW. 

[Fitz & Henry]

This article is a dog breeders dream.
I have a dog that continually is shedding cysts, who is not as large as he is supposed to be, and has soft serve poop for 5 1/2 months... He is contagious to other dogs, right??? This article doesn't address that.... I'm thrilled that I won't get Giardia from Henry but will my neighbors dogs? Can he have puppy play dates?
I truly appreciate this information... And I understand the point... It's prevalent, I get it.
But I fall under the must be treated category and according to this article he will probably always test positive.
Are we stuck shedding cysts forever, that's my question....

[Fitz & Henry]

For the record, I'm not trying to be unappreciative about the article.
Anything that is out there regarding giardia - I'm very interested in reading. So thank you.
I think we would all agree that Henry might be a bit of an outlier. We have an appointment with the specialist next Tuesday.
We shall see what they will recommend next.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Henry definitely has a problem that needs to be treated by a professional. I think the point of the article is more about dogs who do not have any symptoms of giardia. 

[Fitz & Henry]

Agreed Karen.
I just fear that this article could be used by a breeder to say, "You see, it's very common & it's not a big deal. Most dogs have it"
But if a dog is "asymptomatic" then that's a different story. I don't believe in testing just to be testing.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with you. I'm personally tired of some breeders constantly saying that "all puppies have giardia". I'm here to tell you that they don't. I've had 3 puppies over the years, fostered several more, and my parents had 3 puppies when I was growing up. None had giardia.