Giardia problems please Help. - Page 1

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by ivorysoul on 12 June 2006 - 04:06

Hi I am new and found this wonderful site. I boutght a puppy and found out it had Giardia. I am learning about this disease. I have been depressed because there seems to be no cure. It has infected all my other dogs also. I have total four dogs. They are house pets and not what a mess. I have no kennels. I am not rich. I live in a cold climate with winter about eight months of the year. I have not even been able to leave my house. The dogs are always sick. One or another. The vets here do not know to much about it. They said at first it is not that contagous. I am now woke up to realise it is too. I am so bummed. I can't go camping. My inlaws won't babysit the dogs. So I can't leave my town.My family our of our state will not come visit they can't bring there dog. She is a special fragil dog so my mom won't come. I am sick about this life event. I miss them and now they are scared to visit. I worrie my four year old will get it. I am just sick. I have not enjoyed my pets for fear of getting sick myself. I used to enjoy them so. Now all I do is pick up diarea. Then medicate. Then it returns in a couple weeks. I feel I have been cursed and at times want to put them all to sleep. But two of them are puppys and the other are like six years old and were healthy but no more!:^( ivorysoul

by suhailf on 12 June 2006 - 05:06

I have tried Secnidazole and found that it has worked in absolute manners in case of giardia. 500 mg once a day for three days is good for the pupps. Adult dogs should be given a stat dose of 2 gm once only. I hope that you can find secnidazole. Its available with the commercial name of Secnidal.

by sunshine on 12 June 2006 - 06:06

It is very contagious and I would suggest your ensuring the health and welfare of your four year old. Bring the child to the inlaws and forget camping for awhile. Use hygenic sense and wash your hands with disinfectant soap. Separate the dogs as much as you can so you can observe them. If they are all together you don't even know which one is the most sick. Call your City's Health Department and have them monitor what is going on because this can spread or it has spread to you from another source such as public water.

by X Factor on 12 June 2006 - 10:06

Also worm your dogs (with correct dosage) with Panacur. If also fights against Giardia and says so on the label. You must steam clean everything the dogs have been in contact with. Whilist the dogs are on the medication feed boiled chicken and rice. Also bath all the dogs as this can be carried in the coats. Good Luck.

Sue-Ann

by Sue-Ann on 12 June 2006 - 12:06

Anyone have experience with giardia vaccine? Perhaps once the problem is treated, then vaccinate to prevent reinfection? Anyone got 1st hand advice for ivorysoul?

by hodie on 12 June 2006 - 13:06

Giardia vaccine is a good option as well for this person, although he/she does not say where he/she lives. The problem with giardia is that it is a protozoa and can live outside the body in soil, feces, water, on surfaces etc. Normal disinfection is not enough generally speaking. If the original poster wants to tell us more about where he lives, perhaps I can make a suggestion about disinfection. In the meantime, bathing the dogs, getting the right medication in the right dose and cleaning both the dogs and the environment in which they are kept is a must to prevent re-infection. Then, once attention has been paid to all these other aspects, do consider the animal species in the area that are also probably carrying giardia and see if you can not prevent them from leaving droppings where the dogs can get to them. Finally, vaccination with the Giardia vaccine (two shots some weeks apart) may help. The bottom line is that giardia is ubiquitous in many environments and many, many dogs carry it. Then, when stressed or having large burdens of the protozoans, you will see the results of this infection. I would also mention that it is also possible to continue to see the diarrhea long after the giardia is under control. Normal bacterial content of the gut can be compromised by infection and other opportunistic bacteria can populate the gut making the diarrhea continue. So stool samples submitted to a vet to make sure you have or have not eliminated the giardia, that there are no other parasites or harmful bacteria, is a must. Good luck.

by Louise M. Penery on 12 June 2006 - 16:06

Giardia is often referred to as an "opportunistic parasite" because an otherwise healthy dog may harbor it with no clinical signs until subjected to stress. When one of my dogs returned from training in Germany, he had all the clinical signs of Giardiasis--including the telltale reddish-brown tinge to the black areas of his coat. He was treated orally with a 10% suspension of cattle fenbendazole (Safeguard--same as Panacur--but cheaper) per the UC-Davis VMTH protocol: 1 ml (of the 10% product) per 22 lbs of body weight for 5 successive days. After 3 weeks had elapsed, he was treated for another 5 days period. He was also vaccinated with Giardia-Vax (as were my other healthy dogs who showed no clinical signs of Giardiasis). Some dogs with heavy loads of Giardia may develop a concommitant small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). The treatment of choice for SIBO is TYLAN (Tylosin Tartrate) powder. The canine dosage of Tylan is 10 mg/kg (1 kg = 2.2 lbs) given orally 3 times a day for a minimum of 2 weeks. However, because the Tylan powder is highly concentrated and contains 4000 mg per teaspoon, a correct canine dosage is difficult to titrate accurately. Fortunately Tylan has a very wide margin of safety and is usually given to an adult GSD of average size at the rate of 1/4 to 1/3 teaspoon per single dose (3xdaily). The Tylan powder tastes very bitter (even when mixed with non-fat cottage cheese and cooked white rice). You may wish to put it in empty gelatin capsules or mix it with water and give via a syringe. You may also wish to restore healthy gut bacteria by mixing FASTRACK Canine Microbial Supplement (manufactured by Conklin) with the dog's feed. Fastrack is available in both gel (packaged in a measured "dose syringe") and powdered forms.

by charity on 12 June 2006 - 18:06

I have tried Flagyl with good results. 500 mg twice a day and it is not that expensive. I was told that Panacur does not work in all cases of Girdiasis. And that rarely does a dog harbor it without showing symptoms. It can be passed to humans by the oral-fecal route so good handwashing techniqe is imperative after handling your infected animal or cleaning up after them. Also, yogurt can help restore normal flora in the gut if the FASTRACK

by charity on 12 June 2006 - 18:06

OOPS......... yogurt.....if the FASTRACK is unavailable or too expensive. Giardia is a protozoa mainly found in contaminated water. But can be passed by eating or inhaling ova from other animal droppings. So if a dog has been infected elsewhere it can bring it home to everyone else......... Try washing their potty area with a mixture of liquid laundry soap and bleach...............

by eichenluft on 12 June 2006 - 18:06

Fasttrack is an excellent probiotic source - there are others, but Yogurt doesnt' always work well, even though it does contain natural probiotics, it is also dairy, and can cause gut upset/diarrhea because of the dairy. molly





 


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