Those who have delt with Giardia in the past

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

A little history.  I got Cocoa 5 weeks ago at 8 weeks of age. Her poo was runny but I figured it was just puppy stuff and stress from a new home. On day 3 her poo was just straight water and started having blood in it. So off to the vet we went, they ran fecal tests and everything came back negative. They ended up putting her on Metrodozonale for 5 days and canned script food. She seemed to clear up a little on the meds and food, her poo started to look like soft searve ice cream. So now we are about the 2 week mark and I have been E-mailing the breeder the whole time with no answer. I finally call the breeder and to my suprize she finally responds.... she admits another puppy in the litter has been confirmed positive for Giardia and that I should let my vet know to start treating her for this. This info might have been nice $160.00 ago!

So I contact the vet and they put her on 5 days of Panacur (breeder told me that is not long enough and Metrodozonale is a better treatment, she is also a vet tech). So I call the vet and they have me do Panacur for 5 days and 10 days of Metrodozonal.  During the next 2 weeks her poo has been like pudding every so many poops might get to soft serve looking. She was due for her 12 week puppy shots and I was on vacation with my daughter and parents so my husband took her. He let the vet know that her poo is still not normal and still has that horrible stink to it and she has some nasty gas. The vet wants us to wait 3 more weeks and do a fecal test. She said that sometimes this can take a couple weeks after the meds for it to clear everything out and her poo to get back to normal.

She then asked that we contact the breeder to see if she knows the adverage size of the litter mates because she wants to make sure her growth is not effected by this and started talking steriod shots.

 

So what I was wondering how did your vet treat this and how long did it take to see improvement?

My neighbor said one of her dogs had this as a puppy and it took over 6 months and several rounds of meds to finally clear it up. She also said that now he has IBS from it and she has gone through so many food types but he will have runny poo still very often and he is 5 years old.

 

 

It is impossible to pick up the poo in the yard when its so runny all it does is just smear in the grass. I am trying to hose it down on the days the sun comes out and thaws out the hose. Good thing is she has not pooped in the house in 3 weeks. But im getting sick of washing her feet from stepping in her own poop. When she poops she walks instead of staying in one spot so each poop gets spread out.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

First, your breeder is wrong about the meds. Panacur is far superior to metronidazole for clearing Giardia, and this is documented in all of the veterinary literature. 5 days is more than enough, I had a foster with giardia and the Panacur cleared it in three days. But he was an older dog with a more mature digestive system.

I am not a fan of the Rx foods for this. The Food Group is full of stories just l;ike yours, where the puppy had giardia, was placed on Rx food, and had digestive issues ever after. There are no medications or therapeutic ingredients in Rx food. You (and your dog) are much better off feeding a homecooked mixture of boiled chicken and plain white rice with pumpkin and yogurt. It does seem that many dogs develop GI issues after a bad bout with giardia as puppies. Whether that's from the long courses of antibiotics, I don't know, but it does help tremendously to give her probiotics while she is on metronidazole. It will kill the good flora in her intestines along with the bad, and that can lead to poop problems and tummy troubles. Give her plain, unflavored fat-free yogurt and/or probiotics from a privately owned pet supply store. Or you can order iFlora for Pets on-line. Don't buy Fortiflora from the vet, big ripoff with some bad ingredients.

I think we've talked about this before, but when you have a puppy who has this much trouble with severe giardia, you must be scrupulous about cleaning up after her. That is the only way you are going to keep her from being reinfected. As long as there are any areas at all where there may be giardia cysts, indoors or out, she is going to keep getting reinfected. I knew of a dog who also had it for 6 months, and that was because she kept getting reinfected from wet areas in the yard. As much as it may upset you to have to kill the grass, you have to use a bleach solution on it to be sure you are getting rid of all the active cysts. They will not "dry out" or die on their own. If she's walking in the poop, she's getting the cysts on her feet and bringing them in with her. Just wiping or washing then is not enough to kill them.

Good luck, you are not alone in this.

 

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

So 5 days of Metro, followed by 5 days of panacur followed by 10 days of Metro again should have been enough to clear it?

 

We only did the RX foods the first week partly because she was not eating her normal food and was getting really skinny so I just wanted to get some food in her and she was willing to eat that.  She is now on Blue Buffalo and cant seem to eat enough.

I did not know the vet probiotics was bad because she just finished this morning the 30 day pack box they had me buy.

 

 

I have been trying to clean and bleech what I can but while I was gone for a week my husband did not pick up any poop because he claimed it was going to make him puke.... funny thing is I am 7 months pregnant and out there doing it.  I have been bleaching all the areas I can but the paper work the vet sent home said its a waste of time to bleech soil because it contaminated so fast and you can get it quick enough. Plus she pooped for 2 weeks out there before we even knew about this and I can not possibly remember 2 weeks work of poop areas. But I have my bottle of bleech out there and trying anyway.

As for if the dog gets it on there own butt or feet how do you clean them if washing them is not enough?  You cant bleech your dog.  Now that I am home and scraped and hosed off poop for 2 hours off the grass yesterday she has not stepped in anything but she has been getting it on her butt.

 

I am just so frustrated because we are now over a month of dealing with this and its not getting any better.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

As Lisa mentioned below, you have to be out there with the dog, possibly you will need to take her out on leash to prevent her from walking through poop.

I'm sure that your DH not cleaning up for a week has a lot to do with why the giardia has not cleared. :-((

If the yard is full of active giarida cysts, it's really going to be an uphill battle, especially when it rains and spreads them.

I hate to tell you this, but i was so paranoid when my foster had giardia, I replaced most of the sod in the yard after he left.

 

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

OMD Karen - that is extreme but certainly understandable. Daisy came to us with hookworm - I didn't replace but I dug it up where she pooped (thankfully one very small area and I laid newspaper down in case I missed something) and in the Spring reseeded. Vet warned us that it would be hard to clear up unless we took drastic measures.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm also dealing with a dog who is often on immunosuppressant drugs, so I really couldn't take any chances. The last thing JD ever needs is a cause for extra medications, lol. If his wet tennis ball came into contact with giardia cysts, and then he picked it up in his mouth....

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

I do think the fact that almost every day its raining or snowing here and the yard has been wet/damp ever since we got the dog has a big part in it. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

That's why it's so important to clean it up immediately.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

You should contact Jane of Jane Rooney and Stewart. When she got Stewart I believe he had it too...she followed him around with a paper plate and wore latex gloves...she never let the poo hit the ground so it didn't recur. She will be a good source of treatment and timing - she lived through it.

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

OH my I just feel hopless about this now.

I am picking her poop up and spraying the area with bleech. I dont think she will let me do the paper plate thing and it seems impossible to me to be 7 months pregnant running after a dog in the yard to catch her poop..lol  She is one that when she needs to go she RUNS laps looking for a spot. I am a bad mommy and have never put a leash on her and need to make that my goal for this week. So I have a feeling she might not do her business on a leash.

 

I might try the Chicken and rice diet for a while.. How do you do that?  Do you have to cook it for all 3 meals a day because I dont have time for that. If i could cook a couple days worth at a time it would work.  I am going to pick up some yogurt to mix in her food, would that be every meal or just once a day?  I am thinking about canned pumpkin as well. She has been on the new food for a week now (I know chaging her food was a bad idea but I started it a whole week before we found out about the giardia and figured since I already started I might as well finish but I took a whole 3 weeks to change her over slowly).

She has not had any treats and I took all the raw hides away in case that was adding to her tummy upset.

 

I sound like such a bad pet owner I know. But all my other dogs I have never delt with anything like this. All I had to do with them was feed them, play with them get there shots and teeth cleanings and they were fine never had any problems. So I never imagined ever having something like this happen with the new puppy.

 

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

Hi LIndsey..... My Sasha had giardia when I got her, she had two rounds of meds then tested negative.  I also freaked and was so afriad I was going to get it.  I am a serious hand washer to begin with and it was excessive when Sasha had the big "G".   Bleach is my best friend :)  - LOL.   Cocoa will go to the bathroom on a leash... she might not like it or you may have to stand out there for a while but if she has to go potty nothing will stop her.  Can you maybe put newspaper down when you see her starting to circle or squat?  As mentioned above, a paper plate would do the trick.

 

Your chicken/rice answer.... I cook chicken as a topper for my doodles.  I buy chicken breast when it is on sale and cook it in the crookpot for several hours.  If you do not have a crock pot simmer the chicken in water for about 45 minutes or until done.   I usually cook enough for 2 dogs for about 4-5 days which is about 2-3 breasts.  If one of my doodles has the poops I cook 2 cups of rice at a time and just keep it in the container and I warm everything up in the microwave.  Canned pumpkin also helps, if you buy the canned kind which is in the baking isle of your food store make sure it is 100% pumpkin and nothing else.

 

Good luck and I hope Cocoa feels better... I promise you will get past this. 

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

I may try the leash tomorrow.... I hate to turn down all these good ideas but today we have 50mph winds so laying paper down for her to go on just is not going to happen.  I am having a hard time just not spraying myself with bleech..lol

I am also a huge germaphobe and read online that most drugs to cure this in humans is not safe during pregnancy so I am super upset with my husband that he refused to pick the poop up and makes me do it.

 

Thank you for the Chicken and rice advice

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

I am going to try some pumpkin for a few days to see if that helps

If that doesnt work I might try the chicken and rice next week (white or brown?) I am just scared to change her food yet again on her.

How much do you give them the same as you would dry food?

How many days do I do it for?

Do I 100% stop her normal food while doing this?

Some of you recomend going for walks but I always thought that was a huge No-No until they have all there shots? She still needs one more round at 16 weeks.  Then also is that not bad for me to walk her and infect others dogs? When she poops I can not pick it up on a walk I have to have a garden hose to clean it up.    Not to mention I am almost 8 months pregnant and have a 4 yr old and we are in the middle of winter so that seems like impossible to me right now. I am having problems controling the dog around my daughter so walks with them both are probably out of the question until I get that problem fixed.

 

I just keep saying this too shall pass.... but I am trying to ask as many questions as I can to make it pass faster and hopes that her tummy will not be forever messed up.

 

So do you guys think she needs more rounds of meds or give it more time like the vet says?