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

[F, Calla & Luca]

Marrow is not soft bone tissue although it has spicules of bone.It is a very fatty tissue, which I would think might give him problems regarding his stool. I think it is not a good idea. I would limit him to Orijen and chicken and SP. No other treats for now. My dogs get soft stool from bully sticks for instance.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Tylan is very benign in terms of side effects. JD takes it for his IBD, and Jill's Woody takes it as well. That would be worth a shot. 

I agree with F, I would stop the split antlers. Use the whole ones where the marrow is not exposed, and get a bigger one that he can't chew up so easily.

His stool was better until a week ago because he was on the Panacur until a week ago. :) 

But it seems very obvious to me in any case that it is not the food causing this. 

Are you still giving the probiotics? 

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

Yes..we have had great success..almost immediately, with Tylan!  We used it in pill form, and also,when we were weaning off of it, we were able to sprinkle it in mashed sweet potatoes, and he ate it no problem!

Is he still picking up things outside..dirt, leaves, sticks?

Also, are you using low fat yogurt?

And I agree with the others, some dogs just don't do well with dairy.  I am so sorry you are still going through this..but I am glad you have the help, wisdom and support here on DK..

[LarryL]

I am also EXTREMELY greatfull for the help I got on DK.

If it wasn't for this site, I would be on my 3rd dose of Metro probably lol.

Would you mind telling me about your success with Tylan.

Did it get rid of the Giardia?

The doc only mentioned it briefly, but said that its more often used for much larger animals.

We are using non fat yogurt, but will cut it out since we're already giving him pro biotic.

Also, he does pretty well at not eating things outside. The only thing he picks up are branches from trees - he then lays down, chews them, and spits them out lol.

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Larry, I just want to share the dangers of antlers - split or whole.  One of my dogs recently broke a tooth as a direct result of chewing on an antler, so I would avoid them altogether.  You don't need any other problems!

[LarryL]

Thanks - will do.

We only bought the split ones since he was a puppy - but we will avoid them now altogether.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Yes, I avoid them because of reading about dogs breaking teeth.

[LarryL]

I still give probiotics every day.
He also was getting some yogurt which I forgot to mention.
Could that be it?

[F, Calla & Luca]

Some dogs don't do well with dairy and he doesn't need yogurt with the probiotics. I would keep it simple.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree that he doesn't need the yogurt with the probiotics. But I truly doubt that the yogurt is the cause of the loose stool, given that's been continuous since way before the yogurt, and the stool gets better when he's on meds even with the yogurt. 

[LarryL]

So we took Oliver back to the vet this weekend.

And for the first time his Giardia test came back NEGATIVE!

We couldn't be any more happier.

I know there are a lot of false negatives, so we'll recheck in 2 weeks, but we're still happy with todays news.

He does however still have pretty soft stools.

They sometimes get better, but never fully formed.

Always pretty soft and messy.

The doc again mentioned maybe his food is too rich, and suggested we look into other foods.

What do you guys think about this? (he is not recommending any food tho)

Oliver eats Origin puppy. The vet also suggested perhaps going to adult.

We feed oliver .5 cups three times a day.

He eats maybe 1 to 2 servings daily.

Most times I think he just may not be into it.

I either have to wet it, or crumble one of his origin treats into it to get him to eat.

Any opinions?

AND A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS BEEN HELPING US WITH THEIR ADVICE AND GUIDANCE.

[Robin and Libby Louise]

Larry - I never really had any advice but have been following your story - and I'm so happy for you that Oliver's test is finally negative. Hope this signifies a true turnaround. There are so many others here who are truly expert in the food area, so I offer no opinion on any specific food. I can just say that LIbby had many tummy issues until we finally found the right food for her allergy to animal proteins. So it may be trial and error for awhile, but I have faith that you will resolve this, too!