Giardia help please

[Nelson526]

I'm not sure if this is the right "section" to be posting this in, but forgive me if its not.

I have a 7 month old Bernese Mountain Dog puppy, Big Boy Nelson. For the last 2-3 months we were in and out of the vet with severe diarrhea. No one could figure out what was wrong until I took him to my parents vet and it was found out he had Giardia. Well this was right before Thanksgiving, so about a month ago. The treatment he was given was panacure and stuff to get rid of the diarrhea. About 2 weeks ago it came back and so he was put back on the meds, and as of last night its back again. Does anyone have any suggestions? He has another vet appt with my parents vet tomorrow but I was wondering if anyone has had this happen, if anyone knows what to do or any help.

[Tonda]

Giardia is a tough one (my pups' sister has it right now too). It's very hard to diagnose and it can be tough to cure (Lullah is on her second round of meds). To help with the diarrhea, try feeding Nelson rice and boiled chicken (2 parts rice to 1 part chicken). Also, pureed pumpkin (just the plain canned stuff, not "pumpkin pie mix") can help with loose stools.

[Nelson526]

Nelson has been bathed actually, he was bathed last wednesday in fact. It wasn't actually because of the Giardia, it was because he needed to be groomed, but thank you for that tip, I hadn't even thought that bathing would be important but now that you say that, it makes perfect sense!!

I have heard that Giardia is hard to diagnose and that is probably why it took so long for someone to realize that is what he had! It just starts to worry me and all these questions race in my head like "what if its worse?" "What if something is seriously wrong that is NOT giardia?" etc etc.

Right now Nelson eats Natures Variety raw and dry food, and since he's going to the vet tomorrow they will probably give him something to get rid of the diarrhea, so should I feed him the chicken/pumpkin puree or just wait? I just am starting to get so discouraged because after the first round didn't work, and now the second round, I'm just wondering if my little (big) guy will ever get rid of this 

[KBNewf]

I can't offer any expert advice or opinion but I can offer some hugs to Nelson...hope he gets better tho! Poor lil fella, hang in there.

[Nelson526]

Thanks so much KBNewf. It is really appreciated 

[LuvmyMal]

I hate to hear he has giardia. It can take forever to get rid of. Clorox everything, even with the moisture in the air, still do it. Make sure all poo outside it picked up and pour bleach on the spots, throw out all chew toys except the ones that can be sanitized. Also when he comes in from outside wipe his feet with warm soapy water this can help prevent re-contamination from the outside. I had a dog that took 3 treatments before it was over, I literally coloroxed twice a day until it was gone.

[vmimom2006]

I feel for you. Poo problems are a real pain. We are still fighting them. I tried a food for sensitive stomachs and it is helping some but just when you think all is well we have pure liquid again. I'm to the point where I don't know where to turn. All I can offer is some healing vibs your way.

[Nelson526]

We live at an apt complex so should I still go ahead and clorox all the poop I see outside??

So I should throw away all his toys?? What about bones he chews on? I had no idea that I should throw away his toys and such. That is new to me. Thanks for the advice.

What else specifically should I clorox?

Thank you to everyone for the advice. It is appreciate more than you know I love this webite!!

[Nelson526]

And can I just put his stuffed toys in the washing machine??

[kathryn]

So sorry that both you and Nelson are going through this.  I've never had to deal with Giardia so all I can offer is get well vibes and hugs.  You should be able to wash his stuffie toys with a little bleach.  I have washed my dogs stuffed toys (the ones that survived more than 5 minutes) in my washing machine and I use bleach on their beds and toys that I wash.

[navarre1316]

I feel your pain!!!  When I first brought Issy home, she had diarrhea for like 3-4mths!!!  First they thought it was just a lot of worms, then tested her again and it was worms and giardia, etc, etc, etc!!!

I would clean up where he goes to the bathroom because if any other dogs get it they can just give it back to him.

Hang in there, it's a pain but it will get better!!

[Nelson526]

Thank you everyone for the replies. We just returned from the vet and she said that nelson is "the picture of perfect health" BESIDES this diarrhea issue. She tested him for Giardia again and said he WAS positive AGAIN. I am pretty bummed but it was almost a relief because at least we know where the diarrhea is coming from.

She said that either his Giardia has not been completely killed in the last few rounds of treatment OR he keeps getting Giardia from a source. She has given me a lot of meds to kill the crap out of this parasite, so we are crossing our fingers that this kills it! If it doesn't, we need to figure out where he is getting it, and Im praying he isn't getting it at daycare or something because that is the best thing in the world for him to go to when I'm in class.

I will keep everyone updated. Thank you again.

[ZooCrew]

If he has giardia, he shouldn't be around other dogs (ie daycare) or he could be spreading it to them.

We had one case of giardia break out at work and the dog couldn't return until she got a clean bill of health.

[Nelson526]

Thats good to know. He won't be back there until this round of treatment is over and he is clean. Thanks for the info. Its very much appreciated. MERRY CHRISTMAS