Giardia Queston

[Guest brit1]

I have a question for those of you who have dealt with Giardia. I was thinking of adopting a 6yo dog (non grey) that apparently tested positive for Giardia and is being treated. I am not fussy but I like to keep my own dog healthy and not have to use harmful chemicals on him plus we are seniors and trying to keep life simple. My vet said that sometimes Giardia is hard to get rid of and that my dog could get it and might end up having to be treated. Just wondering what the chances are? Thanks brit

[Guest zoolaine]

Zuki tested positive for it when I brought her home and none of my others got it. She took meds for a week or two and then was diagnosed with coccidia, which took another two rounds of meds.

[Guest Swifthounds]

Giardia is one of those things that in many cases clears on it's own. You can have a dog test positive then retest in two weeks or three and have no giardia. All of the GI parasites (worms, bacterium,protozoa, etc.) can be passed either directly or indirectly to other dogs, but that doesn't mean that they will. An infected adult dog normally is immune suppressed due to stress, poor diet, etc. (in puppies, it's usually due to their not-yet-fully-functional immune system due to their age) and thus tests positive. Healthy, adult dogs don't normally end up with GI infestations. Improving the overall health of the dog goes a long way toward ridding the dog of the infestation, and the relative health of your existing dog goes a long way toward keeping him/her from becoming infested.

[Scooby172]

When one of my greys was sick with cancer, he wound up with giardia. I kept the yard clean the other two never got it.

Linda, Valor, Keeva and Bella

[Guest kydie]

I have a non grey that lives with me, that had it, and none of my other pack members ever got it, I beleive, as long as you clean up right after the dog goes (I still do even though he has not had a postive test for years) you are less likly to have an issue

[maggiespet]

When we got our mutt pup from the rescue, he had giardia (and hook and whip). It took 6 months before he had 3 clean tests in a row. My greyhound never got it. I kept the yard very, very clean. And perhaps it helped that Sam and Maggie had limited exposure to each other till he was 25# due to her high prey drive. My vet feels Sam had a very difficult time with giardia because he probably got it from his momma dog. Adult dogs don't usually have so hard a time with it, in the vet's opinion. Good luck.

[Guest KennelMom]

Giardia can be carried in a dog and the dog be asymptomatic with symptoms only showing during times of stress. I've seen this often with explosive diarrhea happening in a new home, but the dog having no poop issues in the previous environment they were used to/settled in to. Heck, your other dogs could have giardia right now and you not know it. Depending on how the vet is testing, a negative test doesn't mean the dog doesn't have giardia...it simply means the vet didn't see any in that particular stool sample. False negatives are common.

 

I wouldn't really consider treatment for giardia using "harmful chemicals." It's a pretty basic and widely used antibiotic in people and dogs. Same for panacur....pretty benign to use in dogs. Giardia is one of those things that dogs...ANY dog...can pick up just from regular, daily, active life. Like worms and fleas. If you have a dog, these things are possible. You just deal with them and move on. Considering all the things that can be wrong with a dog, I'd happily take giardia any day! (I would also treat a dog that tested positive)

[GeorgeofNE]

I got a kitten who had it, and rather than test my dog and other cats, we just treated for it.

 

We retested the kitten, and it was gone. It's pretty common, and really doesn't seem to me to be a big deal.

[Batmom]

Not a big deal. Couple rounds of Panacur, you're generally done -- or at least to the point of not having symptoms.

[Guest brit1]

thanks so much for responses. I was also told that humans can pick it up and forgot to mention that I babysit for my little granddaughter and my daughter said that it can be transmitted and was concerned about that which was another reason I was hesitant as I know the little one would want to pet the dog and wouldn't always wash her hands etc brit