# Giardia Round Three, any ideas



## devildog (Feb 25, 2010)

My dog Zoe was diagnosed with giardia back in mid feb when I first got her. She had been a stray and then was at the pound for two weeks before I took her home so it was almost a given. Upon her diagnoses the doc at the vet put her on Metronidazole for a week then there was a two week period before we tested her stool again. Test came back positive so they put her on Furazolidone I believe. Same things, treat for a week then give stool sample two weeks later. Right after Zoe got off the second treatment her stools were worse. Before her stool was pretty much normal, just a little on the soft side, now they are more liquidy and slimey looking and she seems to be double tapping when she goes. Meaning she will poop then walk around for a min then poop again only this time its more liquid. So far there is no blood or anything and I just came back from the Vet again after giving them the stool sample from this last round. I was actually 5 days early on this sample per the Vet's decission because of how her stools have been. So today they gave me another script of Furazolidone to run for a week even though the newest results aren't back.

During this whole thing I have been going by the book, cleaning up all stools right after, spraying the area down with bleach and water (made an even stronger dose this last time) and just watching her every move. Fresh drinking water and being OCD about everything.

Are there any other tips or tricks i can do to try and break this Giardia. I read about giving Prozyme on and empty stomach to help get the Giardia out and treat again a little bit later when the cysts open up and release. The Meds and stool samples are costing a good chunk of $$$ for something that hasn't worked. Has anyone ever used the prozyme idea or even added to a treatment to help get rid of this nasty parasite? Any other things I can do?

Thanks


----------



## MissyP (Feb 21, 2010)

We went 2 rounds with giardia so I feel your pain.. The vet put my puppy on 14 days of Flagyl, then another 10 days, then 5 days of Panacur. He also advised giving a little plain yogurt, put my puppy on probiotics, and advised me to switch to a sweet potato based food (I'm using Natural Balance's sweet potato & fish). The diarrhea has been constant since I got him Jan 6th- and its only been in the last 10 days or so that I'm seeing solid poops. Like you, I did the daily poop scoops, sprayed my yard with bleach mix, and and I also had to wipe my puppy's butt every time he pooped because he had diarrhea on his fur.. It is frustrating for sure. Ask your vet about Panacur-- the flagyl didn't stop the diarrhea but the panacur seems to be working (we did the 5 days of it at the end of March). Its a powder that you sprinkle on the dog's food once a day and it was fairly cheap.. Good luck to you.


----------



## john47 (Apr 5, 2010)

panacur does work well. it it a broad spectrum parasite killer. there is also a vaccine for giardia although i don't know much about it. i do know that it gets rid of the symptoms and stops the dog from pooping out the cysts.


----------



## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

I'm sure that the vet has told you this, but be very very careful about your hygiene...giardia is highly contagious. I know someone who caught it from his puppy. Hopefully there aren't kids in the house...?


----------



## sjohnson322 (Jan 20, 2010)

Ah I think I am going through the same thing as you. My puppy I adopted from the humane society had giardia, and we got it taken care of now a couple weeks later he has diarrhea again, and is drinking water excessive. Im about 100% sure he's got it again! What a nightmare! He passed it to our other dog, and she was on meds too, so Im hoping I can get better control of it this time and get rid of it for good. UGHH!


----------



## MissyP (Feb 21, 2010)

sjohnson322 said:


> What a nightmare! He passed it to our other dog, and she was on meds too, so Im hoping I can get better control of it this time and get rid of it for good. UGHH!


I was lucky that my bulldog never passed it to my pug, but I was diligent about keeping them apart, bleaching ALL toys, food/water bowls (even though they ate apart and each have their own food & water bowls), bleaching the yard, washing my hands, etc.. I disinfected everything about 10x a DAY..

I really suggest panacur to both the OP and to sjohnson~ it's a 5 day powder you sprinkle on the food once a day.. my puppy had giardia for several weeks and diarrhea for over 3 MONTHS, and panacur has worked wonders. His poops are solid about 80% of the time, soft the rest of the time but not runny at all.


----------



## ozzy29 (Mar 25, 2010)

http://www.ehow.com/how_4730774_treat-giardia-dogs-puppies.html

Don't know if this will help. You have probably already read everything on line already. I hope it clears up soon.


----------



## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

malia was diagnosed in february, probably around the time yours was...she had three rounds of pannacur, plus flagyl, plus amoxicillin...

sometimes, the fecals give a false negative....and have to be done multiple times. we did five before we were finally convinced she no longer had giardia....and of course, bubba had to be treated too.

their stools were a mess...even after the giardia was gone....and i believe they were suffering from colitis....once that intestine is stimulated and irritated, it takes a while to get it back to normal.

so, we went and got berte's ultimate probiotics...and the reason we did the powder and not yoghurt was because of the multiple types of bacteria it contained...and we put our babies on brown rice + boiled chicken, turkey and hamburger + pumpkin or pureed yams......

let's see...their stools FINALLY became normal, i want to say, last week....so, of course, we fasted them and they are now on raw. LOL.

it's just not enough to leave well enough alone...but my point is it takes a while for the colon to calm down, especially after several rounds of antibiotics....


----------



## Bikhi Akhbar (May 26, 2009)

do you have any bird feeders in your yard? a dog can pick up giardia by licking their feet after walking where there are bird droppings.


----------



## KelliCZ (Aug 1, 2008)

Panacur cleared up girardia for my Rogan with just the 5 day treatment - I'd ask the vet about if the haven't already tried it


----------



## devildog (Feb 25, 2010)

sorry for the late response everybody but the last stool sample came back negative so she has overcome the Giardia. I do still have a little bit of Meds left for her in which the Vet said to just finish up as it will help make sure it is cleared up. Her stools are back to normal as well so hopefully this Giardia deal is done with for a long time.


----------



## ozzy29 (Mar 25, 2010)

glad to hear you have it under control.. did the vet ask you to come back for a follow up?


----------



## joker21705 (Apr 27, 2010)

does giardia stunt a dogs growth if they get it as a puppy?


----------



## MissyP (Feb 21, 2010)

joker21705 said:


> does giardia stunt a dogs growth if they get it as a puppy?


Not that I know of.. My bulldog is a great big potato now and we went 2 rounds with giardia when he was 12 weeks old


----------



## beth1531 (May 29, 2010)

_ I read about giving Prozyme on and empty stomach to help get the Giardia out and treat again a little bit later when the cysts open up and release._

I am not sure if you are still having problems with giardia but I found this article helpful when my cats had it. 

http://ezinearticles.com/?Natural-Treatment-For-Giardia&id=1925644

I know that it is used to treat dogs as well.


----------



## ThoseWordsAtBest (Mar 18, 2009)

I have also had great luck with Panacur and foster puppies. I also absolutely love The Honest Kitchen's Perfect Form for helping with the symptoms. We were diarrhea free with it several times while battling Giardia.


----------



## luv2byte (Oct 21, 2009)

Get bleach in spray bottle, clean up poo immediatly then spray with bleach. I forget the exact concentration needed to killl the cysts but I think its 1:12 solution. If potties in the house clean the mess, spray, leave on a few minutes and wipe up. I treated my whole lawn, twice, with the bleach solution, NO it did NOT kill the lawn or harm it, it isn't strong enough to kill it. We've had giardia a few times, Chloe had it 4 times, Skyler once. We needed to make sure that it was from home they were getting infected. Turns out it was daycare and or the river . If it was here at the house then CHloe would have had it more often than she did. It is also possible for your dog to be a chronic carrier. As for the vaccine, I wouldn't get it. The vaccine is designed so that IF your dog gets giardia it doesn't shed the cysts as easy so its stool doesn't infect other dogs, does NOTHING for your own dog but mask symptoms.


----------

