WillowWonka and Giardia

[Carol Hanr]

My 14 week old Labradoodle, WillowWonka, has giardia. She is on her 3rd treatment for it.  Has anyone ever gone through this before? This is a new experience for me. My other dogs have never had this....

What have your experieces been and how long to get rid of this?

 

[Frannie & Callie]

Callie had giardia this past winter and it was tough. I know she took medication and I made her chicken and rice to eat. It is something that seems to relapse and it was a month before Callie was ok. I'm not sure the treatment in a dog that young though. Callie got the parasite from eating a visiting dog's poop. Has WillowWonka been into anything gross?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Lots and lots of doodle puppies seem to have this problem. I had never heard of giardia either, before I started particpating in doodle forums, and I have lived with dogs for 52 years.
Panacur seems to be the best treatment for giardia, in my experience, but for some reason, many vets don't use it. It works in three days.
I know that some dogs keep reinfecting themselves by drinking standing water outdoors. So you may want to make sure your puppy is never outdoors unsupervised. I had a foster who drank rain water from the concave seat of a molded plastic patio chair. Puddles, gutters, downspout pans, can all be sources. Empty any outdoor containers where water has collected and disinfect them. Don't leave water bowls outside, either.
Also, you need to clean up after your pup with a spray of 1 part bleach to 10 parts water, and yes, it will kill the grass. But giardia cysts that are shed in the feces are very hard to kill. They can live on any surface outdoors, grass, mulch, dirt, concrete, and they can even live through the winter. So you really have to be diligent about cleaning up each time your pup "goes", since she seems to have a very stubborn case. Use baby wipes on her butt. And wear gloves, as giardia is zoonotic and you can get it.
Giardia can be tough to get rid of; we have had lots of DK members who have experienced this with their doodle puppies. If you do a search for "giardia" in the forum, you will see dozens and dozens of discussions about it.
Good luck, I hope third time is the trick.

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

Awww poor WW :( Sasha had giardia when I first purchased her, my vet put her on a agressive treatment which clearned it up in 7 days never to come back again. I forget the name of the powder he gave her but it worked. I can look back in my records if you want me to. I did a bit of research on giardia and it seems at times its a bugger to get rid of.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Probably Panacur. It's the best.

[Carol Hanr]

First time WillowWonka was on pancur, second time she was on metronadonizole(sp?). This time he wants to do both meds, along with a probiotic. After that I am supposed to give her metamucil, 2 tsp daily 2X day. I am also supposed to give her 5-6 baths before her next vet appt. which is on Sept 20.
When she has had accicents in the house I use clorox wipes. I will bring a spray bottle of bleach/water outside with me and use it every time she goes.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The Panacur along with the metronidazole was the combo that worked for my foster. I would advise you to use plain unflavored yogurt and save yourself some money on the "probiotic", especially if it's Purina "Fortiflora", which the vets are pushing. ( see the Food Group for more info on that)

[Carol Hanr]

Karen and Jack thank you so much!!
No, not Fortiflora. I forget the name of it right now. But she will be on it for a few months. Already purchased it. I felt so bad for her...gave her the 3 pills after putting in a little pumpkin. Sure made it go down better for her, she was licking her chops. lol

[Linda and Murphy]

For monkeys we use metronidazole (flagyl). For humans, there is a newer drug, tinidazole, which is a one dose treatment drug. It is more expensive and I don't know about animal use (though it had to be tested first)

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Boy do I sympathize with you. I have had dogs for over forty years and never even heard of giardia. Tigger had Giardia from 12 weeks to 6 months old. I had my sons dogs for a few days and also my Roo. They all tested positive for giardia. All but Tigger were fully over it with one treatment. Tigger just could not kick it. I was the clorox and baby wipe queen. I washed their bedding everyday, sometimes twice a day. I feed him so much pumpkin, I surprised he did not turn orange. What a long battle that was. He did get over it though.

I honestly think it is dog parks that account for hearing about so many cases of it. Often owners do not know that their dog has giardia until it gets really bad. Of the five dogs I had when Tigger began showing the signs, only he was bad enough for me to worry and have him tested. Then, of course, when he was positive all the other dogs had to be tested also. The other problem is that the "cysts" that pass and can be seen under a microscope don't pass all the time, only at a certain stage of the little stinker's growth - so owners can get a false negative.

Take heart - this too will pass and then you will have enough clorox left to put in your white loads for a year - I did.

[Helen]

My Golden Retriever caught it at a kennels, the vet gave me Tylan as a supplement, once we had cleared the main infection up. I cannot remember how long for, but it did the trick.