My Dog Has Giardia

[Dr Pepsi]

One of my dogs has had volcanic diarrhea off-and-on for the past 3 weeks so I took her to the vet today and she has giardia.

It's treatable but I just hate dealing with liquid dog poop. Keep your fingers crossed for me that the other dog doesn't come down with it.

The only good thing is that she is vaccinated against it and her vaccine comes with a 1 year warranty and covers all treatment up to $1000.

 

[christiane]

You have just learned everything you need to know about the giardia vaccine..

Sorry about your dog. It is a common infection and we are seeing a lot of right now, especially in puppies, so they are out there spreading it around for everyone else.

I would ask your vet for treatment for your other pets, too. There is a good chance he/she has it already since they have been exposed for 3 weeks. Many dogs who get exposed don't show symptoms, but they still have it and then can pass it back to the treated dog. And then he/she starts it all over again.

In case your vet didn't mention, it is contagious to people.

 

[kirbydog48]

Oh my, I sure hope she's making it outside! My breeder recommends giving dogs plain yogurt when they have stomach issues. It helps add back the beneficial bacterial into the intestinal tract. Just make sure the label says "live active cultures". Hope she heals soon!

 

[minnieandmickeymouse]

There is a vaccine for giardia?

 

[Dr Pepsi]

You have just learned everything you need to know about the giardia vaccine..

Sorry about your dog. It is a common infection and we are seeing a lot of right now, especially in puppies, so they are out there spreading it around for everyone else.

I would ask your vet for treatment for your other pets, too. There is a good chance he/she has it already since they have been exposed for 3 weeks. Many dogs who get exposed don't show symptoms, but they still have it and then can pass it back to the treated dog. And then he/she starts it all over again.

In case your vet didn't mention, it is contagious to people.

Oh, yeah. I've done all the research, but my vet doesn't want to treat the other dog unless she starts showing symptoms so we'll see how everything goes.

I'm just worried that this will be an ongoing problem. Giardia can be hard to get rid of on a good day, but I wonder if she didn't get it from the lawn outside. My apartment complex waters with untreated reclaimed water and I just wonder what kind of bacteria and only god knows what lives down in the water holding tanks.

At least it's not costing me much to treat. The vaccine was actually cheap (around $20), and the treatment will be more expensive than that.

 

[Dr Pepsi]

There is a vaccine for giardia?

Yeah, and you can see how effective it is.

 

[Dr Pepsi]

Oh my, I sure hope she's making it outside!

She was...until yesterday.

Let's just say that I did not need any help painting the bedroom wall.

 

[christiane]

Oh, yeah. I've done all the research, but my vet doesn't want to treat the other dog unless she starts showing symptoms so we'll see how everything goes.

Your vet's rationale may be that healthy adult dogs can often clear this infection on their own. It isn't always recommended to treat asymptomatic pets.

But in your case, you have another dog in the home who is symptomatic and couldn't clear it on their own, so you need to do what you can to prevent exposure in the future. That means treating all pets in the home. You could test the asymptomatic dog for it, but only a positive test is meaningful. A negative test may just mean that they have it, but aren't shedding it at the time of the sample.

There is also the contagious factor. You want to do whatever you can to keep your family members from getting it.

If you think it is from the sprinkler water, call the health department.

 

[Dr Pepsi]

If you think it is from the sprinkler water, call the health department.

I hadn't considered that . I think I'll talk to some of my neighbors with dogs first and see if they are having any problems before I cause a rukus.

 

[kim929]

I am so sorry about your dog. My boxer was diagnosed with it last year. We were never able to completely cure him. ( rescued him from a pet store already very ill with it. they never treated him) We fed him a raw food diet but in kibble form which helped. My poor baby tried to make it outside but on alot of occasions never did. My husband researched everything there was joined boards that offered help on the subject and one of the tips he picked up was we had to clean everything with fantastic not bleach. We kept wipes by the door so we could wash him before coming in the house. It's alot of work but well worth it if you cure your baby. Unfortunately we couldn't and we lost our boxer a few months ago. He was just to sick. Good luck if you have questions you can pm me.

Kim

 

[christiane]

I am so sorry about your dog. My boxer was diagnosed with it last year. We were never able to completely cure him. ( rescued him from a pet store already very ill with it. they never treated him) We fed him a raw food diet but in kibble form which helped. My poor baby tried to make it outside but on alot of occasions never did. My husband researched everything there was joined boards that offered help on the subject and one of the tips he picked up was we had to clean everything with fantastic not bleach. We kept wipes by the door so we could wash him before coming in the house. It's alot of work but well worth it if you cure your baby. Unfortunately we couldn't and we lost our boxer a few months ago. He was just to sick. Good luck if you have questions you can pm me.

Kim, I am so sorry to hear about your dog. If you don't mind me asking, did he die from giardia infection?

There is a large pet store chain in our town and every puppy we see from their store has giardia. If we catch it on routine testing before the puppies get sick, they can do fine. But sometimes we only catch it after the puppies come in very ill, bleeding significantly.

I call the pet store all the time to tell them about it. It is dangerous for the pups and could be dangerous for the new owners and employees, too. I think I will take my own advice and call the health dept on Monday to see what they have to say. Dealing with the pet store management hasn't changed a thing. They use a "dewormer" but it is primarily for roundworms and they do not have a clue about appropriate medical management for puppies.

 

[denisem]

For a quick fix, I recommend a raw or BARF (bones & raw food - just Google it) diet for your pup until you get things under control.

We went through the entire positive giardia testing, vaccines, drugs, yogurt, Bene-Bac (to reactivate the beneficial bacteria killed off by the previous drugs ), a bland rice & chicken diet, "Science Diets" (the worst!), etc. for our early generation bengal cat and found the raw diet "firmed" things up within 24 hours.

In our case, we've still found it necessary to continue with the raw diet (which is a pain in the...Neck..to prepare, but has some positives like virtually odorless pooh) as we're dealin' with a semi-hybrid cat. You may be able to slowly return to commercial food later on.

ETA: Never heard of giardia until we moved to FL. Speaking as a novice, I've found it has to do with the water supply, etc., etc. and we've since converted to a whole house water softener/purification system. Not totally because of the giardia (which we also experienced a BIT as humans when we first moved, but wrote it off as "change"), but also for the general hard water issues with laundry, showering, etc. No problems since. Good Luck!

 

[Christine]

I had giardia once and it was NOT fun. Hope none of the humans in your house get it!

 

[daisax]

Giardia also has an awful, awful smell...

Please do what you can to disinfect. If it is the water sprinkler, people are in danger also.

 

[SUSIEQ]

You have just learned everything you need to know about the giardia vaccine..

That's what I was wondering. So, the vacine really doesn't prevent it?

 

[Dr Pepsi]

That's what I was wondering. So, the vacine really doesn't prevent it?

My vet said it's about 30% effective.

Speaking of, I had to argue with them when I went to pick her up yesterday afternoon. The warranty I received with the vax very clearly states that the vet will cover the cost of all treatment related to an illness that they've been vaccinated against, as long as it's provided by my vet. The tech who checked me out kept trying to say it only covered the giardia test. Does that even make sense? The test was about $25 (Total treatment was over $200). What would be the point?

So she turns her computer screen around and points it out to me, and then I pull out the actual warranty (signed by the vet himself ) that clearly states all treatment. She got this really confused look on her face and went in the back to talk to the vet.

After an hour of rangling with them (they wanted me to pay and they'd try to clear everything with corporate on Monday - yeah, right! I'm not that blonde!), the vet finally admits that I am correct and that the treatment is covered. He said that he didn't realize that the warranty existed because no one had ever tried to pursue it before. I was nice about it and accepted his apology, but geesh! What a pain.