[TobysMom]

Our new puppy started having terrible diarrhea a few days after bringing him home. A fecal exam confirmed Giardia and Coccidia. 4 weeks later, we have been through Albon, Metronidazole, Panacur and also have been adding Fortiflora to his breakfast.

He's been off the last antibiotic for almost 2 weeks now and his most recent fecal exam was negative for both. I'm still giving him the probiotic daily.

His stool still goes from kind of normal to a "pudding poop" consistency.

I know Giardia in particular can wreak havoc on a puppy's system, I've also read a fecal can show a false negative.... so I'm wondering if this is still effects of the parasite or if I should start looking at his food to blame?

We have him on Wellness Complete Small Breed Puppy, so I know he's getting a quality food.

Anyone gone through this and what was your experience? I hate to switch his food if it's just lingering symptoms of the Giardia (or worse, he still has it!)

Thanks for any insight!



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[ScruffyPuppy]

Reinfection rate for Giardia is high. You may want to talk to your Vet about retreating your pup. My old dog had Giardia and had loose stool before, during, and after treatment. He needed to be treated again despite a negative fecal exam because he still had symptoms. The Vet also told us to bathe him while wearing gloves and let the shampoo sit on the dog for 5 minutes, because sometimes they shed Giardia and can infect themselves by simply grooming themselves. No special shampoo is needed, you can use whatever shampoo you prefer. (The gloves was because there is a slight risk of catching Giardia from your dog, which can be minimized with frequent hand washing especially after handling the feces. The risk is more so for small children who may touch the dog then put their fingers into their mouths.) The other thing they said to do was to clean up feces as much as possible immediately after the dog went to the bathroom because most dogs get reinfection from contact with feces. Hope that helps!

 

[TobysMom]

Thank you - yes, that helps! I actually just got done giving him a bath this morning... was thinking the same thing as far as grooming/licking himself.

I think I'm going to take him back to the vet. Thankfully, he's not having explosive diarrhea, it's just looser than I would expect if he was completely clear.

Thanks again!


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[Rescuemom2017]

What type of Fecal test did they do for negative result? (in the office or did they send it out...) My 7 mo. old rescue diagnosed with giardia also. I've given 2 rounds of treatment (panacur w/metronidazole) and have an appt. this Friday for an exam and another fecal they send out. Keeping my fingers crossed it is over. I change towels in crate and on her beds daily and wash with bleach. I pick up her poo immediately after she goes and spray the spots with bleach water. I bleach her dog bones (no other toys allowed) and food bowls daily. Her poops are finally firm with the occasional 3 or so looser/soft poos. The first round of treatment did not clear the giardia all the way as there were still active cysts showing in the fecal test. As I said, hoping the 2nd round of treatment did the trick.

 

[TobysMom]

Sorry to hear you're going through this, too!

Our vet also sends out the sample for testing. I'm hoping it was accurate, but I'm going to take in another sample next week, when he goes for his next set of shots.

We've been going crazy keeping everything bleached and cleaned, too. I was really worried my older dog may get infected, but so far he's been fine. It's nearly impossible to keep them away from each other's toys, crates, etc. and I don't really have any way to physically separate them.

Thankfully, his stool has really firmed up in the last few days. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

Best wishes for you and your fur baby, too!


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[Rescuemom2017]

Please let me know how it turns out for your baby. I too have another dog, 5 yo beagle/lab mix that insists on snacking on his poo (ew gross I know) ... so keeping the 2 pups separate for their eliminating is crazy challenging plus cleaning up the older dogs poo when he can just be let outside in a large yard. I'm pretty anal about it all and very tiresome constantly cleaning and keeping after both of them. I'm going to take a fecal with me Friday for him to be tested too to make sure he's ok even though there is no loose poo. So nice knowing I am not in this alone!