Giardia in Dogs, Symptoms & Treatment | Diarreha, Vomiting & Weight Loss

Introduction to Giardia Protozoa

NOTE: The Giardia Kit #23 will help get the dog back on track and should be used in conjunction with the worming treatment. If your vet will not get you Panacur it can be purchased on line, but talk to the company you order from for exact dosages. For maintanence after the Giardia Kit is finished, you can move the dog to CORE 4 Kit #40 to help prevent flairups of giardia and yeast.
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If I had a dime for every email I received about reoccurring loose stools or constant diarrhea, I'd be able to buy a winery in the south of France. It is a frustrating situation for small dog owners, so you can imagine a giant breed with loose stools is no fun at all!

Honestly, after skin issues, diarrhea seems to be the next biggest challenge for pet owners. It is especially so for those who have adopted a rescue dog, or purchased a dog from a "less than desirable" kennel situation or pet shop, or purchased a dog that has been under great stress before coming to your home.

If it is a young puppy, Coccidia is often the problem and easy to find in a fecal test then treat with Albon. Coccidia stools have a very distinct sour smell to them. In older puppies and adults Giardia Protozoa is often the culprit, and it is next to IMPOSSIBLE TO DETECT because you have to catch it just at the right cyst cycle, or it is not evident there is a Giardia problem.

If it were me I would simply forget the testing and worm with Panacur wormer (info below). At this time nothing else works for well for Giardia, and Metronidazole and Flagyl only stops it for a short time, then it returns.

Dogs with access to lakes, ponds, standing water are more prone to getting Giardia, but if you have a problem with more than one dog and you have a well, I would certainly have your water tested for it. Giardia is now a relatively normal organism in the digestive tract and when under stress it becomes problematic.

(Please take note, dogs that have the potential for the MDR1 mutation gene Collies, Shelties, Aussies, etc. with the merle gene should not be given Metronidazole or Flagyl. In that case, you might try her liquid herbal preparations from Dr Neuman's site www.azmira.com instead of the Panacur. I know the Panacur works, it is just not something you want to risk if you own a Collie type breed.)

Giardia Protozoa is almost impossible to find in a stool check so I tell my puppy buyers to even bother with the test, just automatically worm them with Panacure. If your vet insists on a test, make sure that you do not bring a stool from home, that tells me the vet does not know how to properly test for giardia. You need a fresh, warm stool so it is best to use a loop tool and take a sample from the dog. Even then, if the giardia cyst is not present, it will come up with a false negative.

For some dogs loose stools are due to over feeding the dog, so before you worm or test, try cutting back a bit on their food for a couple of days and see if that makes a difference. For some it is a digestive sensitivity so a change to a better brand of dog food , like Precise or Nutri Source, Pure Vita and this could take care of the problem and adding a good probiotic daily, even if it is on the food already can make a big difference.

When your dog is on an antibiotic, understress or being wormed. It is very important to use a combination probiotic product that has some beneficial bacteria in it that are microencapsulated so they release down into the lower digestive tract.

After all this has been tried and it still continues...then it is time to worm with Panacur. Most dogs with a loose stools end up being treated repeatedly with Flagyll or Metronidazole, but is only temporary, it just does not work. The dog should not be left on an antibiotic for a long period of time, this is not the best choice for the dog as it destroys the beneficial bacteria of the gut and compromises the immune system. Long term antibiotic use also leads to systemic (whole system) yeast/fungal problems.

It is a very frustrating problem for both vets and owners. Giardia is a problem to young dogs due to the stress their body's are under during those first few months of development. Giardia is an enormous problem with rescue dogs because they have been neglected and compromised on many levels before they get into a foster situation.

I can NOT emphasize enough that giardia tests rarely find this parasite, because the cyst cycle of this organism it is next to impossible to find.
My vet suggests that one worm for a 7 days with Panacur (based on body weight)- mix in a little canned dog meat, then put on kibble, then worm again with Panacure in another 2 weeks (for 7 more days), and they MUST be on a probiotic at the same time.

The Giardia Kit #23 will help get the dog back on track and should be used in conjunction with the worming treatment. If your vet will not get you Panacur it can be purchased on line but talk to the company you order from for exact dosages. After you have used up the Giardia Kit, it is best to then move over to CORE 4 Kit # 40 which aids in keeping Giardia, parasites and yeast levels in check.

WARNING: BEFORE YOU WORM WITH PANACUR MAKE SURE YOUR DOG HAS BEEN TESTED FOR HEARTWORM AND ON A HEARTWORM MEDICINE DAILY. IF NOT, AND YOUR DOG HAS ADULT HEART WORMS, IT WILL KILL THE HEARTWORMS BUT THE DEAD WORMS CLOG THE HEART AND IT WILL KILL YOUR DOG. MAKE SURE YOU ARE WORKING WITH YOUR VET ON THIS SO THERE IS NO MISTAKE WHEN USING DRUGS.

Yogurt ALONE is not powerful enough to reseed the gut YOU MUST USE A MULTIPLE BACTERIA PROBOTIC TO RESEED THE GUT. Your vet will give you instructions on worming according to weight etc. Giardia has become such a big problem in this country, that I was asked to develop a support feed program to get the giardia dog back on track.

What To Do First

1) Order KIT #23 - GIARDIA - ANTI-PARASITE SUPPORT

Contact: www.firstchoicenaturals.com OR 800-937-1104.

2) One can buy Panacur from your vet and/or purchase Panacur at Medi-Vet- OR Dr.Foster Dr.Smith website (Get the instructions from Medi-Vet as well but know it has to be given 7 days in a row and repeated in 2 weeks).

Always read the adverse reaction on any drug you take or give your animal before hand so you know what to watch for if there is a problem. Make sure your pet does not have adult heart worms before using Panacur!

What's In Giardia Kit#23 ?

BacPakPlus probiotics - It is my experience that NO other probiotic will work well for this extreme problem. You can purchase something locally to get your dog started before your BacPakPlus arrive,s but this probiotic was developed specifically for difficult digestive issues such as yeast, giardia, coccidia and bloat.

MSM - use and recommend the VitaFlex brand of MSM because it has been around the longest and the info on using MSM for Giardia was in their research and patent information. patent (#4,616,039) research information.

According to the Vita-Flex label you can double this dose under stress. The following instructions from the container are for Canine use of MSM.

1/4 teaspoon = 1000 mg or 1 gram
1- 45 lb. - 1/4 teaspoon
45-90 lb. - 1/2 teaspoon
above 90 lb. - 3/4 teaspoon

Give double amounts for 10 days then you can move down to once a day.

Blackleaf use daily on their food, it is natural wormer and will work on giardia in the inbetween times. Take 3 days to ease into to the recommended dosage so they do not detoxify too fast and get lethargic.

Nzymes granulars or chewable pet treats- to detoxify the body -take 3 days to ease into the recommended dosage so they do not detox too fast and get lethargic and more loose stool.

Spark of Life - trace minerals, critical to the bodies metabolism, these are lost with diarrhea or chronic loose stools and these must be replaced. YOu can start this immediately and dose according to the label.

Example Story:
Pet owner writes: "We had her stool checked again for Giardia it was negative, of course".

My Response: "From all that you are telling me, this dog has Giardia - you simply can't find it! It is so hard to find you just need to treat for it.Discuss with your vet about worming her with Panacur - do it for 4-5 days, then in 11-13 days take the same dosage you have for 4-5 days. This Giardia is IMPOSSIBLE to find. Everything you tell me says this is a giardia dog and you won't get relief until you get this cleared up. I know one pre-vet student that ended up taking her dog to work with her, pulling a fresh stool samples 3 times a day for several days before they actually found it - and here she is working with the vets right there in the laboratory at UC Davis and even they didn't find it! You have nothing to lose to try my suggestion because at this point nothing else is working."

Owners Response After Following My Suggestion:

We saw a new vet at the office and I convinced her to treat for Giardia with Panacur, per your suggestion. Within 2 days, her stools looked better than I had seen in a long time. Within a week, she gained 3 pounds. She still isn't eating a lot yet , but 2 1/2 cups dry and 1 can is better than barely 1 cup dry with gravy per day. She's gaining weight! She's definitely feeling better. Anyway, thanks again. I REALLY APPRECIATE everything. - TSM

Here is a letter from another pet owner - March 2011

Dear Linda,

I wanted to take a minute to thank you SO SO SO much for your information regarding the treatment of giardia. I purchased a puppy at 4 and a half months of age who was in a terrible hoarding situation. She, her siblings, and her mother were taken to a kill shelter in Tennessee, and the puppies were rescued by a rescue group. Unfortunately, her mother was euthanized. Upon receiving my puppy, she appeared thin and weak. Her fur looked horrible, and she had an infection from her spay wound opening and not being treated properly by the rescue facility. She also had severe... SEVERE diarrhea. I was getting up almost constantly the first night to take her outside so she wouldn't soil her crate.

I took her to so many veterinarians, and spent THOUSANDS of dollars over the course of a few months to try and get her diarrhea under control. They had me convinced that due to her terrible upbringing thus far, she had IBS and I'd need to forever keep her on flagyl to keep her stools firm enough that she could hold herself throughout the night. I didn't accept this as a diagnosis, and so my search for her issues began online. Thank god I found you Linda.

I followed your instructions, and aggressively dewormed her with panacur (admittedly, longer than you suggested due to her case being so severe), and it WORKED! There is simply no excuse for so many doctors and specialists to not know what may be causing this due to her symptoms.

Thank you for helping me to save my puppy. I love her to death and I was so terrified to lose her. Enclosed are a couple of pictures of her in healthier times.

Sincerely and respectfully, Carrie L.

MORE INFO ABOUT GIARDIA

Giardia - this is a waterborne protozoa (a parasite, but not a worm) which is VERY difficult to detect. Only at certain cycles will the cysts be noticeable in the stool which makes it next to impossible to detect. To test for this you need to to have the vet go up inside the rectum with a loop and take a fresh/warm sample of stool from the dog in order to get an accurate reading. You can’t bring one in in a baggie! Even if the dog shows up as negative for Giardia, and the dog exhibits any of these symptoms, you need to discuss with your vet the necessity to treat for Giardia, in order to rule out any infestation.

Intermittent loose stools (most dogs have this and it can happen to puppies).

Will not gain weight

Poor appetite

Some dogs will eat but keep losing weight

Graze on grass excessively

Gassy

Anytime you have a dog that will not gain weight, is on/off their feed and/or with intermittent loose stools, gas or diarrhea, you should check for Giardia first, before you start running up vet bills looking for other health problems. Sometimes these dogs will not eat, because Giardia causes such stomach upset and severe cramping. It is because of this, they will often graze on grasses excessively.

Giardia is a very big problem, one that goes undetected by most veterinarians Carol Turkington writes, "Once an infestation of Giardia, it often reoccurs. Giardia is spread by food or water contaminated by the Giardia protozoan organism found in the intestinal tract and feces. When the cysts are ingested, the stomach acid degrades the cysts and releases the active parasite into the body. Once within the body, the parasites cling to the lining of the small intestine, reproduce, and are swept into the fecal stream. As the liquid content of the bowel dries up, the parasites form cysts, which are then passed in the feces. Once excreted, the cysts can survive in water for more than three months. The parasite is spread further by direct fecal-oral contamination, such as can occur if food is prepared without adequate hand-washing, or by ingesting the cysts in water or food."

Turkington goes on to state, "Diagnosis can be difficult because it can be easy to overlook the presence of the Giardia cysts during a routine inspection of a stool specimen. In the past, the condition has been diagnosed by examining three stool samples for the presence of the parasites. However, because the organism is shed in some stool samples and not others, the infection may not be discovered using this method. A newer, more accurate method of diagnosing the condition is the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that detects cysts and antigen in stool, and is approximately 90% accurate. While slightly more expensive, it only needs to be done once and is therefore less expensive overall than the earlier test."

Generally, Flagyll, Metronidazole and Panacur are often used for Giardia, and repeated again in 2 weeks if the symptoms have not subsided.

In 2001, Flagyll (Metronidazole) appeared effective in only about 60% of the cases. "Currently, some vets feel the effectiveness of Flagyl (Metronidazole) is down to 40%. Known side effects of Flagyl are nausea, disorientation, yeast growth, liver failure depression, regurgitation, and nerve damage".

* www.holisticbirds.com

This is another waterborne parasite that vets do not test for but could be at the root of your problem. Ask you vet to read about Cryptosporidiosis

http://www.cdc.gov/Ncidod/dpd/parasites/cryptosporidiosis/default.htm

FEED PROGRAM FOR GIARDIA SUPPORT

Another Cause for Seasonal Diarrhea - Read this Article

Giardia Protozoa ( Diarrhea, Vomiting & Weight Loss)

Introduction to Giardia Protozoa

What's In Giardia Kit#23 ?

MORE INFO ABOUT GIARDIA