My puppy has a giardia and won't eat...

[Mindy]

Hi all,
I have a new 9 week golden doodle. I took him for his first vet check up and determined he has giardia. He had his first dose of medicine yesterday, but won't eat today. No treats or food. He also had his Heartguard today. Any suggestions? Should I be overprotective and bring him back to the vet? I can say he has stayed pretty active, played outside, running running running for a while today.
Thanks!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

What medication is he on? The best choice would be Panacur, but most vets prescribe metronidazole (Flagyl). It's important to give a good probiotic any time a dog is taking antibiotics, but especially when they're on Flagyl. Proviable DC is a very good probiotic, and you can order it on line. Be sure to give it at least two hours apart from the meds, and longer is better. In the meantime, try giving him a couple of tablespoons of plain unflavored nonfat yogurt twice a day. 

Is he drinking water?That's important, especially for such a young pup.

You can try using some type of topper on his food to get him to eat; some plain boiled white meat chicken or chopped hard boiled eggs might help. Adding the yogurt to his food might help. Normally, missing a few meals won't hurt them as long as they are drinking water, but with such a young puppy, it would be better if he did eat at least a little. 

Did your vet advise you on proper clean-up/disinfecting anything the poop may have touched? We have lots of discussions here about this. 

[Mindy]

Hi he is on Panacur. I have been giving him plain yogurt, just a spoon full a day and he has loved it, until today. I did get him to just eat a little bit. Water is no problem. He's been drinking that. And yes the vet did give me instructions on cleaning everything. I just have to do some research on his bed because of course I bought one that isn't easy to fit in a machine. I'll drive some chicken tomorrow, see if that's easier for him to eat. THANKS!!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If there is a canned version of the kibble he eats, you might just try adding a couple of tablespoons of that to his food, that might work, too. And you can increase the amount of yogurt he's getting. 

I'm so glad your vet gave you Panacur, that in itself is very positive. Sounds like you have a good vet. :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Olga, I know you are a fan of "holistic" medicine and don't vaccinate, or use any heartworm or flea/tick preventatives at all, and that's your right, but it is a minority viewpoint and one that is not supported by any clinical evidence. There is nothing wrong with using heartworm preventatives in puppies as young as 6 weeks old, and certainly heartworm disease is far far worse than any small risk from ivermectin. 

BTW, heartworm preventatives work retroactively; the dose they take in October kills anything they may have gotten in September. And there were still a lot of mosquitoes around in September, lol. In fact they're still around now, with the 80 degree temps we've had here in the Midwest and also in New England. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Karen gave you some great advice.  Having gone through a couple bouts of giardia there were a few "tricks" that worked well for me.  Wear gloves when cleaning up after your dog since it can be transmitted to humans.  I took Baby Wipes out every time I gave them a potty walk and wiped their butts well each time they went.  We walked him in areas where we wern't concerned with the grass and carried a water bottle to which I added some bleach to wash down the spot where he went.  I kept a small blanket over his bed which I changed out and washed every day.  I'm sure your poor little guy's tummy is feeling pretty lousy right now, so I would definitely home cook some chicken and sweet potato for a few days if he's refusing his food.  Good luck...dealing with giardia is no fun for anyone.  The good news for me is that once we got rid of it with Guinness when he was a puppy it never came back.  I hope it will be the same for you.