diarrhea; sensitive GI issues/possible recurrent parasite

[Britni Rampton]

We need some serious help! Our sweet 6 month old standard golden doodle has had recurrent diarrhea since we got him at 9 weeks old. We've put him on a bland diet; started panacur and metronidazole (per vets recommendation)- I also started him on a probiotic (he was on fortiflora for about 7 weeks, which was just crap and I switched him to what the breeder recommended called digestisure- anyone heard of that?)... Im also starting to mix Wellness grain free puppy with his bland diet. His poops are starting to shape up and become less frequent (PRAISE GOD! augh)...
My question is: how do I prevent this from happening again? or am I on the right track to get his GI stronger/better/parasite resistant?

TIA!!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's pretty much impossible to overestimate the importance of a good probiotic when a dog has digestive issues, especially when they have been on metronidazole. It's almost always the case that there will be ongoing stool issues if you do not use a good probiotic and continue it for at least several weeks after the meds are discontinued. 
I have never heard of "digestisure" and could not find it in a Google search, even when I varied the spelling. But unless it contains a minimum of 5 billion live cultures per serving, it isn't very good. (I'll go so far as to say that the fact that I haven't heard of it may also mean it isn;t very good, lol.) I would order Proviable DC and use it for at least a month to build up a good colony of beneficial bacteria in the gut.
If your pup had giardia, the way to prevent it from occurring again is: 1. watch him like a hawk every minute that he is outdoors, and never ever let him go near standing water. 2. Disinfect everything that may have come into contact with poop, indoors and out 3. Do not use public dog runs and be very careful if you must go to dog parks: no common water bowls, etc.
To get and keep the stool firm, continue probiotics, and make sure any treats he gets are plain pure protein with very low fat, such as PureBites. 
When you say "bland diet", are you talking about Rx food? 

[Britni Rampton]

thanks Karen! 

by bland I mean, chicken, rice, pumpkin (double the amount of kibble he gets)

Also, I watch him like a hawk now- he doesn't go out but on a leash for about 2 weeks now.... just so I can be "helicopter mom". 

any suggestions on how to disinfect where he poops outside?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It really needs to be done as soon as an dog with active giardia poops; at this point, any giardia cysts would already have gotten into the soil. To disinfect outdoor areas, you spray them with a solution of 1 part bleach to 10 parts water, and yes, it will kill the grass. The alternative is to follow the dog around with a paper plate and "collect" the poop before it hits the ground. I personally don;t think I could do this, but a number of people here have, with dogs who had persistent cases. Or...if you have a gravel area, train the dog to use that, it makes clean-up much easier. 
Have you had a follow-up fecal done? Do you know if the the giardia is still present? 

[Britni Rampton]

ok. I'll start cleaning then...eek!

We have not had a follow up done bc the vet feels that it's going to be a pointless and vicious cycle and money down the drain when we know he has giardia. i'm understanding that the vet would rather tackle this from a point of view- of getting his gut super strong and cleaning up after him religiously. I'm agreeing thus far, only because Id rather spend my money on something thats a long term fix then constant meds, tests (that only return positive), and a big monthly vet bill. The results will speak for themselves, correct? (as in what I can see; his poops, energy level, attitude, appetite). Am I thinking right, or no?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I really feel that you need a clear giardia test to know what is going on. If there is active giardia present, all the bland diets and probiotics in the world aren't going to help. And you need to know whether or not you need to repeat the course of meds (I would recommend going with just Panacur, repeat courses of metronidazole are a recipe for life long digestive issues) or stop them. It's fine to know that he has giardia but you also need to know when he longer has giardia. 
If he's already been on repeated courses of metronidazole, that in itself could be the reason for the loose stool. It kills all of the good gut bacteria that is necessary for proper stool formation. There are dogs here who even developed serious GI diseases from repeated courses of metronidazole, especially when they were not given a good probiotic. With all due respect to your vet, his/her track record in treating this so far hasn't been stellar. If it had been, you wouldn't still be dealing with this after 4 months. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Just to give you an idea, I had a foster with raging giardia back in 2008. My vet gave me a 5 day course of Panacur alone and Proviable probiotics. My vet also instructed me on how to clean up after him to prevent reinfection and keep my dog from getting it. The fecal came back clear after 2 weeks with no further treatment necessary. And that was 10 years ago, lol. 

[Britni Rampton]

okay great. Thank you- I will follow up as you recommend.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We have a doodle that gets loose stools from illness, from stress, from meds, etc. When he has this, even Proviable (which is the best dog probiotic in my opinion) doesn’t get it. We put him on an LID kibble that is grain-free like his normal kibble and we use a human probiotic, VSL#3, that is recommended for dogs with major GI problems. (Thank you, Karen). It takes about a month before we discontinue the VSL#3 and can gradually wean him back to his regular kibble. The diarrhea clears up before that but if we wean him back too soon, it returns.  Our guess is that he had too many rounds of diarrhea-stopping-but-not- curing meds as a pup. 

[Britni Rampton]

Eeek!! Wow— so much work! You guys are stellar parents! Thanks for sharing. I will do my

best to get down to the bottom of this. How old is your dog now? And in his firs year was he on meds a lot? If so, for what?

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Charlie is about 4 1/2. He’s a rescue that we’ve had for two years now. We know what state he is from and that he was shipped to a Hollywood producer’s family then given to the contractor remodeling their home. The contractor ‘gave’ him to his son, but when the son moved out, the contractor moved in with his girlfriend and Charlie didn’t fit into their life. He’s a bouncy, energetic boy. Any upset affects his digestive system. When we got him it was really bad, but with Karen’s help we figured out what cleared him up. We just had to be patient. Right now we are dog  sitting our poodle granddog, who loves and bugs Charlie to death. We are in diarrhea-land today. :-}

[Britni Rampton]

How awesome you could give him a good home! And glad Karen could help you figure some the issues out- I’m hopeful for our little guy! Hes also a ball of energy and the sweetest cuddler!