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

[LarryL]

So the day after we went off of Metro - Oliver's diarrhea came back.

Just wanted to ask, if this normal & common.

Does this mean the meds did NOT work?

Can this still be from his food change?

Theres no mucus or blood in it - its just very soft & liquidy.

Wanted to know if the Metro have worked, would he not be having this now?

[Brittney & Cally]

Nope that is normal. That is just the effects of the powerful drug. That is why the probiotic is so important!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Larry, if you read back through the advice we have been giving you, this is exactly what we said and why you should try to avoid metronidazole if possible. After metro is discontinued, the diarrhea almost always comes back. Because, the drug kills all of the good bacteria in the gut which is necessary for normal stool formation. It is not from the giardia, it is not from the food change. It does not mean the drug didn't work. It means the drug did work, and this is what it does. 

You must continue the probiotics and not make any changes at all in his diet now. And I would strongly advise against letting your vet prescribe any more metro. It will just take some time for his GI tract to get back to normal.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Remember your new post this past weekend about introducing new treats? This was my reply:

Reply by Karen & Jackdoodle on SaturdayDelete

Larry, after all that you have gone through with the giardia, the meds, the food change, and Oliver's diarrhea, it would be beyond a disaster to add any new treats or foods right now. It is extremely common for the diarrhea to return after metronidazole is discontinued. You absolutely must wait until he has been off the metro for at least two weeks, he has been retested and found negative for giardia, and his stools and digestion are perfect. You have the next 12-15 years to give him treats. Right now, you must leave everything alone and not make any changes in his diet at all. 

Read more here: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/when-to...

[LarryL]

Thanks guys,

Yes Karen, I guess I forgot that you mentioned that in the reply to the treat thread.

We have not given him anything else.

If you recall, the doc originally prescribed metro and I said no - we treated with Panacur which unfortunately didn't work.

We did a 9 day dose of Metro - and the doctors plan is to do more panacur in 2 weeks.

He never said anything about Metro twice, and I wouldn't wanna give him that anyway again.

Thanks as always for all your invaluable advice.

I've given him some more sweet potato with his kibble to firm him up - but otherwise thats all we're doing.

I still give him his proviable DC daily - and will continue to for at least the next month & a half.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Sounds like a good plan. Hopefully the probiotics will help restore the normal gut flora and things will improve quickly. 

[LarryL]

Oliver woke up with some yellow goop in his eye this morning.

Can this be related?

Bringing him to his vet for a check up tomorrow.

If it turns out to be something, and doc wants to give meds, is there anything I should be cautious about so soon after the Metro?

[F, Calla & Luca]

No, if it is conjunctivitis you will get antibiotic drops and they are fine.

[LarryL]

Hey guys,

So I just wanted to get your advice / insight as to what our next step should be.

This weekend is a little over two weeks since we finished 9 days of Metro
Even tho Oliver's diarrhea is gone, his poop is still soft but I would say it's improving.

Originally the doctor said we will do 5 days of Panacur after the two week wait period.
But in our last visit - he said just to bring in a stool sample and check that. (No new meds)

Do you think we should do more Panacur and then test - or just test and if it's negative, that's that?

Also what kind of stool test am I asking for as I read there are different ones depending on where in the treatment you are?

Thanks

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Are you still giving the probiotics? That's really important. As we've mentioned before, it can take a long, long time to restore a normal balance of gut bacteria after metronidazole. 

My vet has told me that the "fecal float" test is the most accurate, but I'm not sure.

[LarryL]

yes, of course.

We'll continue to give it for at least another month.

Is it something that should be given daily for life?

No, right?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Well, there's no harm in it, and lots of benefits. A lot of people eat yogurt every day to maintain good digestive health, as the commercials say. Think Jamie Leigh Curtis with her Activia, lol. Taking probiotic supplements is basically the same thing.

But there's no need to think in terms of "for life" right now. Once his digestion gets back to normal, you can probably just give him yogurt on a regular basis.