# Giardia



## Calm dog (Sep 11, 2013)

I'm so sorry you are going through that! I don't know much about it but I hope you get some resolution. Having had intestinal problems my whole life, I feel bad for dogs since they can't tell us what's going on.
I have to say I had great results with Chinese herbs. I had to take flagyl-metronidazole too because I got c-diff-clostridium yuck! I got that from the antibiotics at the hospital. The good thing about Chinese herbs is that you can take them even if taking medicine, just at different times.
I hope things get better soon


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## Mini golden (Sep 8, 2013)

Our Shiloh had giardia and coccidia when we brought her home at 8 weeks. She's done panacur and metronidazole Ina edition to Albon for the coccidia. She had to be treated twice for coccidia and four or five times for giardia! That stuff is hard to kill! It did eventually resolve, as far as we know. She is almost 16 weeks old now and is geting on track with weight gain finally. So from my experience, yes, treating multiple times sounds normal and necessary. The trouble is they can easily reinfect themselves by stepping in their poop and licking their paws or anything like that. Also, the stuff is just really resistant so getting rid of MOST of it isn't good enough. But once it's gone, their systems seem able to take over when they are strong and mature enough to handle it. Good luck! Hope it resolves soon for you. The process is no fun at all. But the meds didn't seem to bother Shiloh at all. A bland diet of rice and chicken also helped settle her system from all the upset, too. That was what finally helped her gain weight, I think.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Your puppy's poop has giardia in it. So you need to pick it up everywhere you as quickly as possible. A dog can walk in your pup's poo then lick their pad later and get giardia. That's why it's easy to catch and easy to keep catching. So wherever your pup poops, make sure it's super clean even if it's runny. Also use a warm wet wash cloth with soap to clean your little one's bottom every time they poop. Giardia is a pain to gets rid of. I hope you don't have any other dogs, that makes it harder. Also retest your pup afterwards to make sure it's gone. It is difficult to detect unfortunately. Good luck I really hope your pup gets well fast.


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## Heather C. (Sep 25, 2013)

Interestingly, when we moved to where we live now (Sierra Nevada Mountains in California), we were told by our vet the first time we called when our dogs had the runs, that giardia, at least here, is very hard to get rid of because many of the strains have become resistant to flagyll (metronidazole). I think the quote was "if you live in Mammoth and you are a dog or live with a dog, you have likely been exposed to giardia. Its in the water, the dogs have it, the beavers have it, the coyotes and bears have it, and most of the backcountry hikers and rock climbers have it. Most people and animals are asymptomatic or have a brief illness they never even see a doctor about." In older dogs they give a short course of flagyll and if that doesn't work they just wait it out. Or vet told us not to even bother with the flagyll with our two older dogs; he said they would eventually get better and be resistant, with a few bouts of relapse thrown in. And I have to say, they did. With a puppy I assume they would be more aggressive due to dehydration risks. 

This is just to say that I think it can be hard to kill, but that eventually your pup should kick it. It sheds in the stool and can live a long time, so try to clean up well.

Heather


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## Lucylulu (Aug 4, 2013)

Very similar. Lucy had coccidia and giardia. Took multiple rounds to clear it up. Eventually she did metronidazole for 2 weeks and she was good to go!!


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## ktkins7 (Jul 20, 2013)

Ella had giardia when I first got her and I discovered it her first vet's appointment. Other than being a little on the small and skinny side (not too much) she wasn't displaying any symptoms. Her appetite and energy level were fine and everything. They gave me panacur powder to put on her food for five straight days (don't recall the name of it at the moment), then they had me give her a dose of a liquid (I think a different form of panacur) two weeks after she finished the powder, then a second dose of the liquid two weeks after that. 

She did have a bout of diarrhea this week, but it turned out to be unrelated. They did the stool sample when she was sick this week and everything came up negative. She's definitely feeling much better now. I think we got lucky with getting rid of it right away.


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## GRluver (Sep 29, 2013)

I just got done dealing with Giardia with my new pup, I did Metronidazole at
25 mg/kg twice a day for 7 days, and when he finished that I gave him Panacur at 
50 mg/kg for 5 days. H has had good stools now. As previously said picking up the stools immediately and bathing him on the last day off treatment is very important. Hope this helps.


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## Tycho (Jun 25, 2013)

Thanks everyone, this has not been fun to deal with. I feel so bad for our little guy. The weather has made things even more difficult to deal with (a lot of heavy rain). I am trying my best to make sure that we clean up where he poops.

When his diarrhea started again we gave him a tylosin because we knew it worked for him in the past. After taking the tylosin he was better and seemed to be doing well on Panacur alone. He has been on Panacur for 2 days (1/2 tsp a day) with no tylosin and this morning has been experiencing a occurrence of runny poop. We called the vet and they said it would be okay to treat with both Panacur to eliminate the giardia and tylosin to help control the diarrhea itself. 

I am just finding myself at a loss because it seems like this is going to be impossible to get rid of.


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## ktkins7 (Jul 20, 2013)

I've heard it can be pretty stubborn to get rid of. Like I said, I think I just got lucky and got rid of it after the first round of treatment. I was just careful to make sure she didn't step or sniff any of the poo. The one time she did step in it I made sure to clean her foot real good.

Good luck!


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## oakleysmommy (Feb 20, 2011)

The vet gave me prescription food a kibble I believe it's called prescription I/D along with Tylan powder. He was on Tylan for a month! All cleared up. They also said do a few days of boiled chicken and rice then slowly start the prescription food for 2 weeks. He was on this food for only a week with chicken and rice (more rice to bind him) and I slowly weaned him back to his reg food but kept rice for quite some time mixed in. Giardia is so tough to get rid of. Ask vet about this prescription kibble and staying in Tylan longer. Panacur didn't work for my guy


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## oakleysmommy (Feb 20, 2011)

I also added plain Greek yogurt when his loose stool was finally gone just a tablespoon to put good bacteria back in his gut. To this day all my dogs get Greek yogurt with each meal


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## ktkins7 (Jul 20, 2013)

When Ella had diarrhea this week (which tested negative for everything) the vet did give a prescription kibble. I think its the Science Diet K/9 ID Gastrointestinal formula. He said to use up the bag. She doesn't seem to like it as much as her regular kibble. She isn't eating much of it. I mixed it with some her regular kibble today and she went back to eating her normal amount. We'll see how she does with the diarrhea, but her poop after breakfast was solid.


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## oakleysmommy (Feb 20, 2011)

ktkins7 said:


> When Ella had diarrhea this week (which tested negative for everything) the vet did give a prescription kibble. I think its the Science Diet K/9 ID Gastrointestinal formula. He said to use up the bag. She doesn't seem to like it as much as her regular kibble. She isn't eating much of it. I mixed it with some her regular kibble today and she went back to eating her normal amount. We'll see how she does with the diarrhea, but her poop after breakfast was solid.


Yes that's the name of it. My boy didn't like it much either but it does work.


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## ktkins7 (Jul 20, 2013)

oakleysmommy said:


> Yes that's the name of it. My boy didn't like it much either but it does work.


She really doesn't like the taste much, but she hasn't had the diarrhea since, only one loose stool. I also figure if she's hungry enough she'll eat it even if she doesn't like it too much.


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## oakleysmommy (Feb 20, 2011)

You could add a little boiled chicken and rice. I sprinkled the Tylan on his food and I think that made him not like it much


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