Help! Chronic Giardia?

[Guest jhev1]

Hi everyone,

 

Has anyone here every heard of chronic giardia? Canaan tested positve just over a month ago, the vet gave us Panacur. We did the first does as directed, then were waiting the 3 weeks for the second does. After two weeks, he was still loose so I called the vet and they said to bump up the second treatment a week. He never really firmed up, and yesterday either threw up or had the bid d in his crate, I couldn't tell which, there was no real smell, and lots of undigested rice. He is on a bland diet by the way. Last night, he didn't want to eat the rice and ground beef and was throwing up whatever water he drank. He did manage to keep a little water down later in the evening. This morning he at a little rice and beef.

 

I dropped off another sample last night at the vet, this morning they tell me he is positvie again. They said the Panacur works with about 95% of the dogs, but for some it doesn't. The vet is looking into a new medicine since the Panacur didn't work. Does anyone have any experience with this? I am really concerend about the not wanting to drink. If he is still like that tonight, I will try some low sodium chicken or beef stock. I'll be away from a computer until early this evening, so I won't be able to post any updates until then.

 

The vet just called, as I was about to post this topic. They suggest trying Dronsils?? I doubt that is the right spelling. This is a grey savvy vet, the group I got Canaan from uses them.

[Guest KennelMom]

We went through this with our little podengo. Double treatment of panacur and flagyl worked. We did both treatments at the same time.

 

eta: you will also want to make sure the environment is well sterilized. I'd use a diluted bleach solution (or other product that is labelled to kill giardia) on the crate and any place the dog has had big D. Also make sure you are picking up the poop.

Edited June 12, 2008 by KennelMom

[Guest MySkye]

Like another poster stated, it is really important to sanitize throughly! Our entire dog pen (huge) had to be sprayed and treated with a diluted bleach solution, dried, and treated again.

 

Hugs for you~

[inugrey]

We had a case of pretty chronic diarrhea early on with Salem. After running her course of drontal things didn't change. So our vet actually put her on a course of panacur but instead of waiting the usual 21 days between doses we ran a straight six day course of the power. He mentioned new research on the life cycle of certain worms and sensitivity to panacur as a reason to go with this approach instead of the usual waiting game.

I trusted him and didn't do my own research on that new tactic. It worked she's cootie free.

[Guest greyladydown]

We went through this with our little podengo. Double treatment of panacur and flagyl worked. We did both treatments at the same time.

 

eta: you will also want to make sure the environment is well sterilized. I'd use a diluted bleach solution (or other product that is labelled to kill giardia) on the crate and any place the dog has had big D. Also make sure you are picking up the poop.

 

 

Ditto. Giardia is easily transmissible to humans, too. It's also spread through bird droppings, so try to avoid contact with those.

[Burpdog]

I'd also do bottled water or filtered water. A PUR filter will take out something like 99% of giardia and other stuff

 

On most of mine I skip the rice--I've found it comes out like it went in when they are really upset. I either do boiled meat only or boiled meat and mashed potatoes.

 

Sending prayers.

[Guest Hannah]

It's a while since I treated for guiardia, but read the leaflett that comes with the Panacur. there are special instructions for guiardia. Its something like double the normal worming dose and much closer together. It worked very well for us.

[Remolacha]

Fletcher got this diagnosis shortly after I got him, and we did the double Panacur/Flagyl thing, and it got rid of the giardia. We think he got it eating feral cat poop

[Guest Cris_M]

Perhaps it would help to know some of the common things about giardia. It is highly contagious. It lives outside the host's body quite nicely for a long time. It can dry out and still be viable. Many people, especially adults, can be carriers without symptoms. It has a shedding cycle where cysts are released through the gut to the outside world. That means a affected animal may be symptom free for a couple of days and then have diarrhea again during the shedding cycle. If you test for giardia when it is not being shed, the test will be negative.

 

So, knowing all that, it is pretty easy to see how anybody could end up with "chronic" giardia -- or something that seems like it. First, consider that your dog could be getting reinfected from you. Yeah, I know that is a gross assumption! Make sure you wash your hands really well after going to the bathroom. Realize that your dog could easily be picking the organism back up from the environment. Clean everything with bleach and water as already suggested. Also, realize that your yard can be a hotbed of giardia for a month after an infected animal was last in it.

 

The bottom line is that giardia can be pretty tough to get rid of. I know this because I worked for months helping a day care center eliminate it -- and they were very conscientious about following protocols.

 

I hope Canaan feels all better soon.

[Guest jhev1]

Thanks for all the replies. Here's an update. The vet gave us drontal, 3 doses instead of the usual 1. They are optomistic that this will take care of it. As far as the poop goes, we don't have a fenced in yard, so we walk them to do business. As soon as they go, we are right there with the bag to pick up. We all drink water filtered through a britta, and keep the house very clean. Of course we wash after going to the bathroom.

 

As far as using diluted bleach to clean, it's just not an option for the yard. The area that would have to be sprayed is just way too much. What if use another portion of the yard for a while? I will go re- clean the crate though.

[Guest jhev1]

Here's an update. Canaan appears to be feeling much better this morning, he actually wanted to play for the first time in a couple of days. His poop was much better, it had a form to it. Still soft, but better. Unfortunately for him, he won't be going to the adoption expo today. Neither will my wife, who is going to stay here and watch him. Now I have to go pick up the mini van that I no longer need (but is already paid for) since I am only going with one dog. I'll post another update tomorrow.

[Guest LindsaySF]

Glad to hear he's feeling better. I hope he continues to improve.

 

 

[Guest Vinnie]

panacur & flagyl - very strong dosage - worked wonders

 

to help firm up, you might also try adding some sweet potatoes to his meal or use as treats

 

hope Canaan feels better soon

[Guest Ladyluther]

Another thing about Giardia - often times the big D is irritating to the dog, so they will tend to lick their sore ol butts then re-infect themselves..not pretty, but true. So try to keep them clean as you can.

 

Good luck and hope everyone is feeling better soon. Check for dehydration and keep some Pedialyte on hand. My old guy dehydrates easily from just a minor case of the the big D..sub-Q fluids help a lot.

 

Take care