[LuckyPup]

Hello All! I am hoping you can help. I adopted Lucky about 7 weeks ago. He has always had loose stool or diarrhea. Long Story short I changed vets and as soon as I did they told me Luck had Giardia (after thinking it was food etc. with the old vet). He is on Metronidazole (2 pills twice a day for 10 days) and Panacur (taken once daily for 5 days and then wait two weeks and take another 5 days) and a special diet. He started the medications on Wednesday. So day two of his meds the stools started to form a little but still loose. On Saturday he had "sick eyes" with no symptoms so I figured it was just an odd thing. Then yesterday he started to puke. I called the vet and they said to wait and withold water and food for a couple of hours. Which I did and he stopped puking. Since Saturday, his energy level is down. It is not totally down but he is sleeping far more than he usually does and not wanting to go on as long as walks. His poo has now changed back to diarrhea! Is this normal? How long does it take to clear this infection?

Anyone have any ideas? I greatly appreciate your time!

 

[BeauShel]

I think I would get him into the vets office asap because puppies can become dehyrated very soon. Especially since he is listless now. After he goes to the vet I would also not be walking him outside except for potty trips until he is well.

 

[Doodle]

I'm sorry I don't have time to write the long and inclusive post I'd like to right now, but if you search past threads for giardia you will find lots of information as many of us have dealt with this in our pups. I did find that panacur gave Brady horrible diarrhea which cleared up a week or so after he finished it. I agree with beaushel about being concerned about dehydration.

 

[Ljilly28]

Finn ( and Tippykayak's Gus) came home with horrible giardia, and it took repeated doses of Flagyl to cure it. My vet had me get extremely paranoid about washing everything for a few weeks, and that did the trick. They can reinfect themselves, so it is good to scrub water and dinner dishes, have them potty away from where they/you play and walk etc. Even if you scoop the poop right away, it's hard to remove the giardia. (Sorry to be so gross!) Also, wash your hands so you don't accidently reinfect the puppy, and change the bedding in his crate daily. I ended up putting a clear cheap shower curtain under Finn's crate at one point just to keep the floor safe in case of accidents. It's such a bummer to deal with, but they end up outgrowing it and being fine. Finn has never had any more bouts of it in his adult life. No drinking out of puddles or streams etc for 3 weeks!

 

[goldnluv]

My experience was once Chance started the meds, diarrhea almost immediately cleared up...he was never listless and would not know there was a problem except for the diarrhea...I agree, get back to vet ASAP.

 

[goldhaven]

I don't know how anyone else feels about this, but when I go to the vets office with a puppy, I never put it down. I don't let it potty outside the vets office. I don't put it on the floor once inside and I make sure that the table that I put the pup on has been disinfected if I have to do it myself. If you have a sick pup I think this is especially important. A sick pup already has a compromised immune system and is more susceptible to any other bugs hanging around at the vets. Just something to think about if you do take your pup back to the vet.
I see by this post that he started exhibiting symptoms on Saturday and they were worse on Sunday and Monday. I would definitely recommend taking him to the vet if he is not showing a great improvement today. Good Luck and please post an update.

 

[LuckyPup]

As soon as I got home last night I had plans to take him to the vet. They said I could just run up there with him. We took him outside first and he had a formed poo! (wow who would think I would be so excited about this!!!). So I spoke with the vet and they said with how long Luck has had the giardia it will take time. But to bring him in if he stops eating, pukes, or any of the other problems reoccur.

We have stopped the walks (thanks Carol for that advice) and he seems to be running around a little more last night and today and doing better!

We do clean up everything! The vet said to clean his poo immediately and then spray it with bleach water (90/10) and to keep play and potty area separately. We also wipe his bottom after every poo and change ALL bedding he uses. Unfortunately for me I am doing a lot of laundry because the boy loves his blankets! That is a great tip about the shower curtain. I will do that as soon as I get home tonight (thanks ljilly)

Thanks all for your advice! I am keeping my fingers crossed him doing better last night and today is a sign we are in the right direction! :crossfing