Giardia problems please Help. - Page 3

My dog had giardia on and off for the first two years of her life.  Flagyl would get rid of it but it kept coming back.  My other dog got it from her several times, but not as bad. 

I did several repeats of panacur on both dogs and that finally got rid of it.  I switched my dogs to raw diet when she was 2 1/2 and it never came back.  Both dogs finally tested negative on the antigen test.

I cleaned everything in the house but I have 1/2 acre hillside and it was not possible to disinfect.  I picked up often.

The older dog died last summer at 13+.

The younger dog will be eleven this winter and has a cast iron stomach. 

Good luck.  It is possible to beat this.  My heart goes out to you.

Wow, I have never heard about this Giardia until just now.  Sounds about as bad or worse than Parvo!  Sorry to hear about your dogs and I hope they get better soon.

For all of you that are dealing with it. My heart goes out to you. It is nasty to deal with.

Interesting..the first thread ended in July 2006, and then was picked up again as if it was just now happening. I guess the info is good even if it has been over a year since the first posts.

Giarida has become very common in the past several years. If it was not so common, there would not have been a market to encourage hte development of a vaccine. I have never tired the vaccine as last I checked a dog had to be at least 12 weeks for the shot, and most puppies get this at 5-6 weeks (stress of weaning process), or soon after the puppy goes to its new home (stress of relocation and lost all that was familiar).

Vaccinations of any type can also stress the young dog's immune system and make it more prone to giardia or coccidia outbreaks, as well as can cause skin allergies to develop. The vaccination protocol has changed a lot in recent years. The American Veterinary Medical Association hwrst vaccine culprit is Rabies for causing other problems, but it is required by law so we are stuck with it

Giardia does not always show up in standard fecal tests. If puppies have no symptoms, and nothing showing up in a regular fecal test, the breeder will release the puppies.  Most of the time the puppies are fine, but some will show symptoms soon after weaning or re-homing. It takes 3 weeks for Giardia to develop through the lifesycle to cause symptoms, so if the puppy is sick 3 or more weeks after you take it home then it got it after it left the breeder. Coccidia is also a common problem in puppies. Often a puppy will develop both, so it you treat one (flagyl and/or panacure) and don't treat the coccidia with Albon, then they puppy will have reoccuring bouts of diarreha.

Probiotics do help repopulate the gut and are given with, and after the other medication treatment regime has been done. Most dogs that have had intestinal upsets of giardia and or coccidia will do much better if fed a raw diet (along the lines of the BARF model). Raw foods are more digestible and cause less stress to the gut. It can take weeks or months for the gut to be strong ehough to be unfased by anything, so the raw foods help the dog recover.

This message is in reply to April Jo. I also recently purchase a pup & never heard of such a parasite until this puppy.I already have a 8 mouth puppy & never had a problem with him untl we got this pup. He did have one front leg removed because he got hit by a car when is was 3 mos old but very healthy. Now my husband & me are talking about returning the new pup back to pet store.It has been a month & this is the 3rd time pup diagnose with Giardia. Treated(which we werent told)by the Pet Store & then after we bought her & now we are told again it was found in her stool.

I have had dogs all my life & am in my 50s & always have been the main care giver & never dealth with this & am very upset that I have to deal with this now.

The best part the pup is pretty much house broken .

                                                                                                                                     Very Dispointed

i had this problem with my dogs some time ago it come from nasty water  Worms & insects any vet should know how to treat it it cant live out side of the body in freezing weather my vet treated it with panacur clean water with 1 drop of bleach per gal. of water it will go away in about 1-2 mos.

Recently I had a dog pick it up at an outside dog show back in October.....and I too had never heard of it.   I had good results with Flagyl..500 mg 2x's a day for 7 days.  If it is a bad case, wait one week and re-dose again.  You can get it without a prescription from KV Vet supply under the "Fish Antibiotic" section...Fish Zole.  It's the same stuff.  My vet said so and a licensed pharmacist confirmed it.

I had used Panacur and it didn't work even though Mereks Vet Man says that's the cure...although I love Panacur as a general wormer.....at least until I heard about the DE....

After researching it I am going to be adding DE Food Grade to their home made diet as well as  treating the whole area with it....has anyone else used this?

Ivorysoul...hang in there...it can be treated, it's not a death sentence.  People get it from public swimming places, water parks, etc every single year....but it doesn't shut down Six Flags.

One other thing.....are you absolutly SURE it is Giardia?  What is the dog's pedigree?  Is there a possability of EPI?  If it is EPI, it will go away during treatment of anitbiotics and come back once it is stopped. 

 The person who said Giardia will die in cold weather is absolutely incorrect. Giardia forms a spore. Spores are very, very resistant to heat and cold and can survive for long periods in soil and water. The treatment of choice is metronidazole, although there are other drugs that can be used as well. It is NOT unusual for a giardia infection to return, and many times it is simply because the environment the dog is in is highly contaminated. Once an area is contaminated, it can be almost impossible to clean it up.

This is a parasite that is ubiquitous in the environment. Many vets believe that like roundworms, and other parasites, once a dog is infected, it may be infected for life. In such cases, often the infection remains hidden until there is some extra stress put on the dog and then one will see it again. In its worst form, the dog can be very ill and over time, repeated infection probably damages the GI tract of the dog.

I have only had to deal with Giardia once..........

Panacur and bleach solved the problem

If you are interested in a natural approach to this problem, Oregeno oil (P73) does a nice job of killing giardia without harmful side effects. As a bonus it also boosts the natural immune system and increases digestion.

K