Parasite - Giardia Question

downright

Mason has had relatively soft stool since we got him almost 2 months ago. Occasionally borderline diarrhea. I brought a stool sample to the vet last night just to be safe and the tests came back today. The test came says "negative for OVA and Parasite (including giardia) by Zinc Sulfate centrifugation method" but the ELISA test came back positive.

The vet says, "Mason’s fecal parasite test results are in. They indicate that Mason has serological evidence of Giardia parasites, but they did not see any such protozoa under the microscope. That means that the amount of Giardia are low and probably inconsequential. He will probably grow out of it with age as his immunity matures. In the meantime, the only time we would treat the Giardia would be if there is diarrhea or blood in the stool." However after reviewing his records and my comment that he has had soft stool on and off, he says "I looked at his records. He has had inconsistently soft stool, so it indeed would be appropriate to bring him in so I can examine him and dispense the worming medication."

Anyone have any opinions on what medication we should want the vet to prescribe?

dlroberts

Yes. Giardia is a cyclical parasite. It's period is approximately 3 weeks if I recall correctly. Your vet will probably prescribe two courses of flagyl and panacur which are given daily for 5 days, and then repeated 3 weeks later. I had to repeat that treatment twice (so 4 total courses) with Lucy, but it did the trick.

downright

Been reading a bunch online regarding "natural" remedies for Giardia. Wonder how successful going a different route would be.

BradA1878

I agree with Dave, but for a case like this, where there is not a huge infestation, they could just prescribe flagyl help his GI deal with the stress of the parasite while his immune system matures.

Giardia and Coccidia are always present in the environment - pretty much anywhere that has a bird population. With the exception of dogs with compromised immune systems, adult dogs do not get Giardia and Coccidia because their immune system kills it. Puppies, however, are prone to infection due to their immune system not being fully developed.

We have not found any "natural" treatment that works well, but flagyl is a mild drug.

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the_november_rain

Probiotics might clear it up as well. And you don't have to go to the vet to get that.

downright

Just got back from the vet. He only prescribed 3 days/doses of panacur. I'm gonna up his probiotics as well for the next couple weeks. Hopefully he'll clear this up soon.

dlroberts

No repeat in 3 weeks?

brittk

We did the same as Dave and Brad have recommended for Kaiya when she had both. She didn't have any diarrhea when we took her in (it was just her regular check up) but it did come eventually. After the next fecal test she was free and clear.

kaiyak

I picked up my kai pup a couple of weeks ago. Her first trip to the vet she tested positive for Giardia . The vet prescribed Panacure for the first 5 days and then Flagyl for an additional 5 days. The vet said she might need an additional cycle. Josie goes back to the vet on Thursday for a follow up.The odd thing with Josie is that her stool was not soft when I got her and seems to be getting softer as time goes on. I thinking it might be because I quickly weened her off the breeder food.

downright

@Dave - I am going to check with the vet and see if/when he wants to do a follow up. Although this is a new vet we are going to, it seems like he thinks less is more....he said he wouldn't have even treated if not for the loose stool. On a side note, Mason's stool the last couple days has been nice and sturdy.

dlroberts

Glad to hear about the improvement! I'll be curious to hear what the vet has to say about round 2.

TeamLaika

In my experience, fenbendazole is a more reliable treatment than metronidazole for giardia. Metronidazole is not completely innocuous, and some dogs have neurological side effects or nausea with high doses. In resistant cases of giardiasis I would not hesitate to use both (and with a dog like Dave's I would consider a constant infusion of fenbendazole - haha!)

Giardia cysts can adhere to the fur of the infected dogs and end up being an important source for re-infection, so I advise bathing the critter on the last day of treatment.

Often times dogs are treated (even those that are asymptomatic) to reduce the human exposure to the protozoa.

shibamistress

That's odd that the vet said they wouldn't even treat if it weren't for the loose stool. My vet was really cautious about this (though in my case it was coccidia rather than giardia) because she said its too easy to get other dogs infected. I treated all my dogs. And one of my friends was struggling with giardia all fall....she'd get the pups treated, and thought it was gone, then the adult dogs got it, and the pups got it again, etc. It can be tenacious.