Our lovely Tilly has been diagnosed with giardia I should stop reading the internet as it it freaking me out. It all started last weekend, 8/9th December when she was off her food a bit and had some diarrhoea and on the 9th she also vomited and wasn;t interested in eating at all that evening or drinking. We'd been giving her chicken and rice over the weekend but got an appointment on the Monday 10th morning (a week today) and she got an anti sickness injection, some gut flora paste, electrolyte powder to put in water and omperazole and Hills Science ID dog food too. The vomiting stopped and her appetite slowly came back again but her poos were still loose and a few were quite watery so saw the vet again on Thursday 13th, she decided to do test a poo sample which we were able to give her on that day and the results came back the next day and that's when we were told she had giardia...She has been given Panacur for 5 days, last dose on Wednesday. Her poos are firming up, some totally normal hooray and some still soft and her appetite is back to normal now which are soo happy about. In herslef she is great, full of beans and happy!! The vet has advised she has no contact with any other dogs until her poo sample is clear...so we've been keeping her away from groups of dogs, soo hard as she is soo friendly and loves nothing more than a romp about with her poochie pals, she hasn't attended her training class and is walking on lead in the park...but could she reinfect herself out there if there was a bit of poo that she licked? Although she doesn't really do this, but it seems as if it is out there everywhere! Seems as if more dogs would be getting this...Reading about it lots of dogs do have it and are symptomless and puppies are susceptible of picking it up. We just don't know where she might have picked this up...my only though is that it was on the Thursday 6th as I went down to a river, where she has only been once before and have since read it can be found in water sources...am kicking myself that I took her there, it's a favourite place for dog walking but I now wish I had never ever taken there. Is it possible it could have taken hold that quickly? The slight problem is that with it being Christmas we are/were planning on heading south with our baby stopping in on family on the way and spending the festive season with our family down in the south of England and then Tilly can meet them all...we are now wondering if this is such a good idea...especially if her sample comes back positive again..all in a quandry about what to do maybe we need to stay closer to home and our vet...what would you do?? Any of you lovely people had experience of this and how long it lasted...today a lady told me her dog had it for 6 months...which was just awful to hear...thanks for any insight or info. Julie
Hi - I have lots of experience with giardia.... It is incredibly common, so please don't overreact and massively change Xmas plans or excessively isolate her. In one study, something like a third of all dogs with no symptoms tested positive for giardia so it is reasoned that many dogs are carriers of it, without it affecting them at all. It probably affects puppies more than older dogs with a well-established immune system and microbiome. For the above reasons, I think it's overkill to avoid your training classes and all other dogs - they are going to be exposed to it just by walking in a public place where other dogs have pooped. (Although to be honest at 16 wks I'd be trying to avoid other dogs anyway, for play, since you should be switching from socialisation to training her to focus on you in the presence of other dogs and not allowing excessive rough play by this age anyway.). Giardia is transmitted through poop, not through saliva or pee - and presumably at 16wks she's not going to poop in class anyway. Secondly, meds: It's great if she will respond to the Panacur 10%. Not all giardia cases do, and when they don't, then things have to be stepped up to metronidazole (an antibiotic). Sometimes even the metronidazole doesn't work and there has to be a double-barrelled approach of both metronidazole and Panacur 10%, either at the same time or a course of one and then a course of the other. As a result, there is nothing wrong with extending the course of the Panacur beyond 5 days (ie 7 days), especially if you're a bit worried that the poops are not normal yet. (The data sheet that comes with it actually recommends 3 days for giardia, so your vet is already being very wise and extending to 5 days.). And as Panacur is non-prescription, you can get some extra yourself to take with you for Xmas in case you need it and vets are closed. Sometimes the poops won't return to totally normal until you stop the Panacur though - the Panacur itself can affect the gut slightly and cause soft poos. I would really stop even trying to think of where she got it, it could be almost anywhere. You can even walk it in on your shoes without taking your dog out to be exposed to it. I would not avoid the river through fear it's where she got it... Goodness, I definitely wouldn't change your Xmas plans due to this. If you need a vet over Xmas, you can just go to whatever vet practice is nearest to you. The next step is likely to be metronidazole, though.
Aww @Jo Laurens thank you soo much for this very reassuring, concise and informative reply...sorry for delay in replying wasn't online much yesterday...really really helpful everything you said and has helped put my mind at rest, I have been soo worried about our wee baby...will be good to see the vet on Friday, to get the poo sample results and discuss where we go from here especially with our Xmas plans...thanks soo much again for taking the effort to reply with soo much helpful, good and comforting wise information. Especially interesting to read that Panacur can often cause softer poos...Wish you were closer! We couldn't be much further away from each other! Will keep you posted on what the vet says on Friday...Thanks soo much again..from us and Tilly xx
Hi @Jo Laurens Poo update: Took a sample in today and Tilly’s poo result came back this afternoon....Giardia still there you were right Jo re the next step....picking up metronidazole tomorrow to take for next 10 days...our poor wee puppy just soo thankful that she’s all good in herself and hope that this drug will knock it on it’s head..paws and fingers tightly crossed xxxxx Vet still says keep Tilly away from other dogs til we get the all clear...trying to look on the positives and using this time to do more one to one training and lead work...We're heading south for Xmas and there are vet practices where we are going if needs be...thanks again for your supportive and helpful advice, soo reassuring.
Fingers crossed the metronidazole works. 10 days sounds like a decent length of course for it. Remember to finish it all, because it's an AB so you have to give the full course. I tend to find that, if it's going to work, you will see a dramatic improvement almost immediately - within 24 hours. I've had a couple of occasions where it has worked whilst the dog has been on it, but the issue has come back again when the course has finished. We then had to go back and do another course of it, and I also (off my own bat) gave it alongside the Panacur - since this is recommended by many vets online for persistent cases of it. So - you're not done until she's been off it for at least a week and still ok! It would be really good to add lots of probiotic and probiotic foods to her diet, especially once the metronidazole finishes and also whilst she is on it - it will nuke the good bacteria and her microbiome (which as she's a puppy, is already immature anyway). I highly recommend feeding some tripe - check out pet shops which have a raw food frozen section and try to find some Nutriment "Just Tripe" or you can also order it online from Nutriment. Tripe contains lots of great bacteria since it is the fermenting contents of the guts of cows(!) and is excellent for the microbiome. It smells disgusting but dogs love it. Not the dried tripe sticks - they won't do the same thing. I also recommend a good probiotic. Like these Dr Mercola probiotics for dogs. Good luck!
I have had some experience with this runny stool recently and it’s no fun. I had to get up in the middle of the night constantly for a week or so. I’m thankful it stopped. I took Jo’s advice with the pumpkin powder and my dog has responded well to it. Just make sure to finish the Metronidazole treatment, like Jo said. I made the mistake of not finishing the treatment once and the runny stools came back. But in my limited experience with Metronidazole, I’ve noticed it does work right away with hardening the stool. You just have to finish the treatment to kill the virus. Best of luck.
hi again...so sooo sooo sorry for not replying back to say thank you @Jo Laurens and @Bud Light/Dilly Dilly for taking the time to write with soo much good advice, think I was so stressed at the time and with it being Christmas and going away with Tilly I was meaning to reply but then never did which I feel bad about, it was a great comfort to read all you wrote and know that you'd been there too...but just to say the metronidazole worked and her stool samples after Christmas came back all clear and all has been well since then...no recurrence and she's grown into a fab lab, 8 months old today and is the love of our lives! We have decided not to give her any more Bravecto, it was the only different thing that she had just prior to getting sick, wondering if maybe her immune system was down after the Bravecto and this is how/why she picked up the giardia...we have met two other dogs lately who had similar thing happen to them after Bravecto...so thought let's not go there and no more for Tilly, going with Frontline instead. THANK YOU once again for yoru advice, support and information, we were so grateful to receive that xx Hope you and your labs are all well xx
Hi @JuliePenguin - so pleased to hear that Tilly is better. I was also prescribed Bravecto but after researching it a bit more I decided against it as Luna had already had Giardiasis and it just didn't seem the right thing to give a young pup with a delicate tummy. I've not heard great things about Bravecto generally so I think you've made the right decision. We worm Luna now intermittently on Advocate (which also does the flea job) and then every 3rd month we give Luna a 3 day dose of Panacur. Another thing you might want to do is add Pro Biotics into Tilly's diet. We've been doing this for the last 4 months using FortiFlora and (touch wood) things have been under control. We give her a few pre biotic type foods too - e.g. three blueberries as a treat for sitting nicely in the morning while I prep breakfast. Anyway, not sure if any of that is useful as I'm not a vet, but it seems to be working for us. Glad the nasty Giardia bugs are staying away from little Tilly.
You know you don't have to give worm routinely if they don't have worms. I send a sample every 3 months ( I use a company called Wormcount) and only treat if there's something there, which has only happened once so far with Loki. This means you don't medicate unnecessarily and get the right drugs if there is something there.
Yes, I agree with Ruth on this one. Especially if you have a dog with gastro-issues, you don't want to be bombarding their microbiome with wormer regularly when it might not be necessary - it will disrupt the microbiome (which you are rightly trying to build up the rest of the time, with probiotics!). Wormcount.com is an excellent idea and I use it too - send some poop off and see if you need to worm. You can also eliminate the Advocate (which is only given for lung-worm) by running a lungworm poop sample via Wormcount as well (Advocate also works against roundworm, but you will have that covered with your other Wormcount test or with Panacur. All the rest of the stuff it is effective against is so rare, like biting lice etc etc, you really don't need to be treating preventatively for it monthly!) Advocate is not a replacement for Bravecto, because it is not effective against ticks - which is the main reason people use Bravecto (or Frontline). This is a common mistake people make - for some reason, people assume that all spot-ons treat ticks. Advocate doesn't.... With Bravecto or Frontline or any tick product, you only need to use that during the tick season - which is starting around now until October. There's no need for any of that during the winter. And even then, not all dogs, in all parts of the UK, will need a tick product. My Lab doesn't need a tick product and might pick up one or two ticks a year which I remove with a tick-twister. My hairy beast (Slovakian Rough Haired Pointer) picks up far more and usually does need a prescription tick product in the summer months. All preventatives should be carefully considered so that you are only treating for the things you need to treat each individual dog for (and each dog is different, and so are geographical areas and other risk factors).
Hi, I'm a new member as of today and I've already learned a lot from your site. I've been following this thread about giardiasis in puppies, since my Riley has a bad case. We think he brought it home from the breeder - it's been a problem ever since we brought him home. Poor little guy has been through 3 courses of Panacur/metronidazole and still has yellow oatmeal consistency stool (3rd culture pending). Otherwise he is totally normal. Gaining weight, full of puppy energy, eats like a horse and drinks plenty of water. His poops are regular but like mud pies. He has no nausea or vomiting, but he does eat dirt. He doesn't seem bothered by it at all, but I am. While he was on his last round of medication, I decontaminated the house, kennel, bedding, food bowls, toys, furniture, rug, and bleach sprayed my entire back yard. (The grass will grow back) At this point I'm concerned that Riley's poor little gut is all out of whack from the antibiotics, and his loose stools are now the norm. 3 days ago I started him on probiotics and have been giving him bits of apple and carrot as prebiotics. So far no change. At this point I've tried everything I can think of (vet recommended AND self-researched on reliable websites) and I'm still running in circles. Can anybody help?
Hi there, sorry to hear you are dealing with this. It's horrible. My cocker puppy had five courses of treatment to clear up her giardiasis, the whole thing lasted for months. So I feel your pain. What helped me the most was setting up a playpen over a concrete area in the garden and making sure she toileted only there. Scraping diarrhea of grass is just so depressing. I appreciate not everyone has a hard surface but if you do, its worth considering. The diarrhea can persist for a while after treatment has ended and a cure achieved. But it does clear up eventually. If it doesn't, insist on another test. And make sure she is also being tested for campylobacter. My vet says they are seeing a high proportion of puppies with both.
