Oliver has giardia - and I have a few questions

[LarryL]

I thought I'd move this out of the food group and start a new thread as it is no longer food related.

Oliver is a little over 3 months and has been with us for two and a half weeks.
A day after changing food he had diarrhea - after getting a stool sample to the vet, he tested positive for giardia.

We have been adding a bit of mashed sweet potato to his food to firm him up a bit.

The vets office initially gave me metro, but thanks to DK I requested Panacur instead.
They gave me 3 little baggies of powder - a 3 day supply.

Question 1: I know I'm supposed to give a probiotic either two hours before or after he takes his meds. Yesterday we bought all natural fage Greek yogurt - is this a probiotic? Or is yogurt & probiotic not the same?

2: how often should we give him yogurt? Just once a day before or after his meds??

3: I asked the guy at the vets office if in a week or two I should give another stool sample, but he said he would just take more Panacur in two weeks. This sounded weird to me as I dont want to give him more meds than necessary - am I right for thinking that?

4: as far as cleaning, I know to be diligent with his poop cleaning. Is the only way he can reinfect himself by eating licking his poop???

5: he just got his booster shot yesterday - should I avoid taking him outside until this passes?

6: how cantageous is he to other pups? We have a puppy socialization class on Wednesday that I now think I should cancel?

Lastly, I will take as much advice & recommendations as possible!

Thanks

[F, Calla & Luca]

I hope so to.

[Robin and Libby Louise]

I am sorry that Oliver is still having tummy issues.  I have no great ideas myself and others here certainly know way more than I do.  But I hope the vet is correct and that it's just taking time.

[LarryL]

Thanks again guys.

So the DR recommend sticking with mainly his kibble and if I want adding a little extra pumpkin, potato, or rice in there.

I know vets aren't the best regarding nutritional aspects - so is the consensus here that I stick with the mix of;

1/4 kibble, 1/4 chicken. 1/4 potato

or should I do 1/2 cup kibble, and a little "binding stuff" like potato as the vet suggested.

[Itims]

Hi Larry,

So sorry poor Oliver is having these issues. We went through almost 2 months of issues without any diagnosis (stool test,s blood tests etc.) when Biba was about 4 or 5 months. And we are currently dealing with another issue of Giardia. Its on the mend though. Here are some things that I've learnt to be careful about:

1. Dehydration: We add a cup or even 2 cups of the water to each of her meals when shes sick. It is the most important thing to me (after a major dehydration scare)

2. Probiotics: you already got a lot of advice on this through this thread. Timing the probiotics at a gap from the antibiotics is important.

3. Fiber: I'm not sure if this works universally and you shouldn't add anything new to the mix right now but we've had good results with about a 1 or 1.5 teaspoons of BeneFiber (human type). More than pumpkin. However- you should wait till hes better to get him used to any new items in his diet. 

4. Waiting it out: Sometimes it just makes sense to wait it out while keeping food simple (chicken and rice or chicken and potatoes). We do the wait it out strategy once we see a 50% improvement in the poop. So if it goes from spray to pudding or soft serve then that is improvement for me. Waiting it out only makes sense if energy. appetite and blood/mucus in poop are all fine/not issues. 

Good luck! He will get better! You sound like a very concerned puppy parent and I'm sure Oliver will start getting better from all the care and meds soon. 

[LarryL]

Started Oliver on Metro last night - gave him pill # 2 this morning - best poop I've ever seen lol

[Robin and Libby Louise]

So funny how poop obsessed we are!!!!!  Glad it's improving!

[LarryL]

just have a question regarding the mixing of metronidazole and probiotic.

we feed oliver 3 times a day, and right now he gets

-metro w meal in the am

-proviable dc pill with lunch 6 hours later

-1 more metro w dinner another  hours later

from what I understand, i'm spacing the meds and his probiotic out properly.

however, my question is:

in the two meals that I give his metro with, am I allowed to add some yogurt to that too??

he loves it and it tempts him to eat more - otherwise, he doesnt always eat all his food, and im trying o get him to eat more and get all his nutrients :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If you give him yogurt with the metronidazole, you lose all of the benefits of the live cultures (probiotics) in the yogurt. So if it helps him to eat, it doesn't do any harm, but he is not getting the benefits for which you give the yogurt in the first place. 

[LarryL]

Thanks as always Karen,

I'm assuming he gets more benefits from the Proviable, the yogurt is just an extra.

But he often skips meals - or sometimes only eats half

(Maybe I should make another thread for this but)

Am I feeding him the right way?

I was told to feed him 3 times a day, leave it out for 20-30 minutes, and then thats it.

Thats what we've been doing - but sometimes like todays beakfast - he only ate maybe a quarter of it - we tried to coax him but  then we both had to go to work.

My wife came home for lunch, and he only ate about half.

What do we do for din......

I guess i'm worried that hes not getting enough nutrition if he needs to get a certain amount of food per day and he dont get it.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Does someone sit down nearby and keep him company while he eats? That usually helps. If you put down the food and then go get ready to leave the house, the dog knows what you are doing, and it can make him anxious. My guy is 9 years old and I don't go to work, and he still stops eating if i leave the kitchen after feeding him. 

[LarryL]

my wife sometimes does.

we'll try to do that more often.

[LarryL]

Good morning Karen,

So we tried to sit with Oliver for over an hour today - no go.

He did not want 1 sip of water, or one grain of kibble.

I later added some pumpkin to it - but still no luck.

This is what happened yesterday:

-very little breakfast. 

-ate about 60% at lunch.

-ate about 70% at dinner.

Today in the morning, nothing....

We tried to coax him, sat with him for an hour, tried hand feeding.....nothing.

(his attitude seems totally fine tho)

Then we took away the food, put him in his crate, and went to work.

I so hope we're doing everything the right way.

Right now our schedule is:

I wake up 8:00 and take him out.

Free play for like 20 minutes - but in the morning hes more interested in cuddling.

then food.

 we leave to work at 9:50 and crate him.

we come home at 2 for an hour to take him out, play & feed, then crate again.

then my wife comes home at 6.

we try to space his 3 meals every 6 hours.

am I right for taking away his food and puting him in his crate with nothing this morning?

Is it possible that I spoiled him with all the chicken, and potatos, and ect???