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

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The food is not too rich. I think he's a little young for the adult formula, but it wouldn't hurt, there is very little difference between the two. Not sure what difference if any that would make.

Here's the thing with looking into another food. Orijen is calorie dense, so you feed less of it than you would with many other foods. if Oliver is a picky or reluctant eater, the best food for him is one in which he gets a lot of calories and nutrients in a relatively small amount of food. If you switch to something lower in protein or fat, he is going to have to eat more of it. That could be a problem. 

The other big issue with switching foods right now is, what happens if the stool doesn't improve, or even gets worse? You are adding one more variable to the situation, and then you will be asking if we think the new food is causing the problem. :)

I would stay with the current feeding routine, do not add anything, do not change anything, and continue to give the probiotics religiously. Be patient. If the next fecal comes back negative again, and the stool has still not improved, we can explore the idea of changing formulas. 

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Karen, without reading this whole thread, do you feel adding pumpkin would be appropriate now? It has always worked with mine as you know.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Adding some pumpkin or mashed sweet potato for extra fiber never hurts and might help. I know Larry has used it with Oliver during this whole ordeal, but not sure if he's getting it now. If not, might help. 

[LarryL]

Pumpkin, mashed sweet potatoes, boiled chicken and sometimes white rice have always been in the rotation from the start. None of it seemed to make much of a difference tho.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

No, but adding just a couple of spoonfuls of pumpkin or sweet potato (both high in fiber) to his kibble might help firm up the stool, now that the giardia is cleared. 

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Geez sounds like you are doing everything you can. I hope this turns around soon.

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

Larry, I'm glad his text finally came back negative! And I am so sorry..I just saw now that you asked me about our experience with Tylan….I forget the exact dosage, but we started out with 'x' amount..it worked almost instantly, formed stools..Woody was on it for a week or two, then we started to decrease the dosage, and frequency (giving every other day as opposed to every day)..then, eventually he was off it completely, and since then, home cooking and a probiotic every night has worked for us!

Good luck, and I will be looking forward to an update soon!

[LarryL]

Thanks

[Shannon George]

There is a probiotic made by wysong. This helped my cats and works for both kinds :-) also rice cereal and baby food became our friends! For poop smell, l'occitane vanilla incense...oh wait, that's for litter boxes

I had two kittens with giardia and the after affects for a year.

Panacur sounds familiar...it will take a long time to eradicate.

[LarryL]

knock on wood.

two days in a row and his poop is looking slightly better.

to anyone who cares lol.

oh, and Oliver says HI!

[Robin and Libby Louise]

OMG he is getting cuter, if that's possible!  I think we all care, Larry!  It's all about the poop!  :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

He is adorable, and yes, we are all happy to hear that things are looking better in the poop department. :)

I hope that continues.