Giardia -- ROUND 3 - give him FLora or Greek Yogurt???

[NS]

Our puppy was born on 11/10/12. We got him in January 2013 and he has been treated twice for Giardia with Metro + Panacur the first time, and only Panacur the second time. We just got the call from our Vet and he STILL HAS IT! The Vet does not want him to do anymore meds at this time since he is a puppy and does not want to compromise his system. He suggested giving him "FLORA"a probiotic for 2 weeks to see if that clears it up.  Our puppy does not have a lot of symptoms. Sometimes his stool is well formed others times it is runny. He sleeps thru the night, he eats normally, he is growing and has an overall healthy and happy disposition. What do you think of giving him FLORA as a probiotic versus just giving him non-fat greek yogurt which has the active enzymes. 

Thanks in advance for your advice 

[Marnie, Stanlee's Mom]

A-men!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Amen, Karen. This brings to mind the commercial for Sloan Kettering. The surgeon says most orthopedic surgeons see one or two Ewing's sarcomas in a year and he saw six that day.Truly specialization is a mixed blessing but sometimes it's awfully good. and keeping up becomes an impossible task for the generalist.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Oh, and very important! Don't give the probiotics within 2 hours of the antibiotics, and the longer between them the better. 

[NS]

Thanks SO MUCH!

[Julie and Charlie]

Giardia survives well in cold water. From the EPA:

2-3 months in 10/C water (50F)

1 month in 21/C water (70F)

10 minutes in 54/C water (129F)

Giardia and Drinking Water

[Jennifer and Jack]

Your little one is so precious!

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

Easier than bleaching your yard is to just follow your puppy and when they crouch to poop - slide a paper plate under their butt and just catch the poo.  I would cut out two sections on the top half to get the plate to fit around their legs.  This will prevent re-infection and will save your yard!!!!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Love the idea, but didn't work for me.
As soon as I placed the paper plate, one puppy would run up and snatch the plate, poo flying all over my clothes. Or, one puppy, a poop eater, would turn around and munch down, grab the plate and run. Contamination every where.
My suggestion is ONE area only. No free reign of the yard. Paper plates look too much like Frisbees

[NS]

What do you think of treating Giardia with a "tinidazole compound"? 

There is another puppy from Bodi's litter that had Giardia when she arrived home. He treated her with Panacur and Metro the first time and it didn't work and his vet prescribed the "tinidazole compound" and she no longer has Giardia. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

If the other medications were ineffective it might be a good idea to try something else. That said, often it seems to take more than one round of medication.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I was just reading about the tinidazole compounds last night. It seems they are using it for a particular strain of antibiotic resistant giardia, and they are using it in human children, which is encouraging in terms of safety issues. I haven't read the drug info as far as possible side effects yet, but assuming the benefits outweigh the risks, it sounds like a good idea to me.

[F, Calla & Luca]

There are some things like blood days raisins but it probably is about the same as some of the others. Let us know what you find.