Puppy tested positive with giardia and coccidia :-(

[Tina]

So, we got this miniature goldendoodle puppy from a breeder who I have now found out is not so reputable or clean.... My fault for not really doing my research. We brought him home and of course the diarrhea started. At first I attributed it to the stress of coming to a new home; however, on our vet visit poor little Roger tested positive for giardia and coccidia and had an ear infection. :-(

This was about a week and a half ago. The vet treated her with the standard dewormer, vaccinations, some Marquis paste for the coccidia, as sent us home with panicur for 7 days, pectalin paste, and some drops for his ear. Diarrhea got worse the first couple of days. There was even some blood in it at that time so the vet gave us some special GI food for him.

The diarrhea started to clear up after about 5 days and we started having more like pudding poop and a couple that were a bit more formed. But then the diarrhea came back. So much for me getting my hopes up :( there isnt any more blood in his poop but it is pudding poop and last bught he went 4 times which was a what happened at the beginning when we first got him. so the vet gave me more pectalin paste and some fortiflora to add to the food once a day. We are back on the GI food. I guess my question is when will this be over??? I pick up his poop every time so I know he's not reinfecting himself and he's doing his business on my patio on puppy pads. He's only 5 lbs and 10 weeks old. I just was wondering if anyone else has gone thru this as well and is there hope for this to end soon?

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

About 60% of us.  Do a search on Giardia.  All the information is there!

Lots of good stuff. Good luck.

I would help more, but I am so busy with infected pups of my own. 

On a random search I came  up with 112 pages here on DK

[Julie and Charlie]

Yes! It will be over soon!  Keep cleaning up, including baths for the puppy's hindquarters once a day, and a full bath on the last day of Panacur. Bleach, bleach, bleach surfaces that you can inside the house and out. You might think this is overkill, but it's not.

Not sure if you want to introduce another food, but I would stick with plain boiled chicken, white rice, and lowfat/nonfat cottage cheese, and maybe sweet potato or pumpkin. Skip the GI Diet from the vet- it's terrible quality and doesn't do anything! Also, I would not use Fortiflora- it's made by Purina. Plain non-fat yogurt and Gentle Digest (different probiotic) are probably better options.

Otherwise, lots of advice here, Joanne is right!

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

Great advice..the RX food the vet is selling you has very poor quality ingredients...please read this link that Karen has posted about why..http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/why-you...

I would def feed baked sweet potatoes and boiled chicken breast instead of the RX food.  I have never heard of that paste..like Julie said, I wouldnt use the fortiflora either..but def yes to the non fat yogurt/probiotic!

Good luck and keep us posted please!

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Just finishing up a bought with giardia with my two five year olds.  Not fun at all.  Takes weeks to get Tigger's poop back to normal.  Roo just breezes through the whole thing.

 

Tigger had giardia, previously, when he was less than four months old. I think it was probably 3 months of clean up and probiotics and rice and pumpkin before the thing was over.  You are doing just great to scrupulously clean up after him.  Bably wipes work great for paws and butt. Clorox for anything that will take it and hot water to wash things in the washing machine.

Giardia is a pain and you absolutely cannot overclean and disinfect bedding, toys etc.  Just hang in there>  We all sympathize. 

[Marianne *OZZY & ZOEY]

Great advise here, I agree with Jill, vets make money selling their food but her suggestions are the best. Good luck, and remember your puppy will be worth all the work now.

[Tina]

Thanks guys! We've been washing the bum every day and using baby wipes in between for the paws. He has stepped in it a couple of times and that has landed him a full out bath. Poor Roger! He's such a great puppy and it just kills me that he's going thru this. :-( I have been feeding him a bit of cottage cheese for the last week since I read somewhere that it will get rid of the coccidia. I read that it changed the pH of the tummy and they can't live. It's just the giardia now that seems to be the problem. I'll definitely take your suggestions and hope we are on the upside of this now :-) fingers crossed! At least he's less gassy and his tummy isn't rumbling for the last 2 days. I'm just wanting regular poop. Who ever thought that I would be praying for regular poop out of my dog. LOL

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I don't know where you read that about cottage cheese, but no food can change the pH of the stomach, and you wouldn't want to do that if you could. Stomach acid is extremely powerful just as it is. The parasites are not in the stomach, they are in the intestines.

A lot of dogs also don;t do well with dairy products, and cottage cheese can make the diarrhea worse.

Plain yogurt is used to replace the good bacteria in the gut that is destroyed by the antibiotics.

Jill & Julie have given you great advice on the food & probiotics.

Good luck.

[Bonnie Owen]

First, I wouldn't beat yourself over it. the giardia  is everywhere--think mine got it when he was between 3-4 months from drinking run off water in the yard.  We go to a vet practice with an older vet into no grain food and probiotics, younger vet more traditional.  In the beginning when the symptoms started spoke to older vet who suggested no food for 24 hours, then chicken rice etc.  didn't work and took him in and spoke with the young vet who put him on flagyl and the prescribed food for his giardia. .  He went through the first 10 day course of the drug but still had lingering symptoms so continued the flagyl for another 2 week course.  He was improving but suddenly started throwing up so the young vet switched to the natural approach which included pepcid for the upset tummy, probiotic capusules on his food and daily regimen of plain Greek yogurt.  All worked beautifully in the end.  I have gone to the non-grain food with the probiotics included and feed him Greek yogurt--