Giardia/coccidiosis update - Page 1

Just came from the vet, Mischa has been confirmed with Giardia :(  He gave me Flagyl 500 mg twice a day for 1 week and Centrine 2 tabs 3 times a day for the diahrhea. Went ahead and had her checked for parasites and heartworms since I was going t do all that next week anyways and they all came back neg( I knew they would be neg, I stay on top of her health) He also gave her a Centrine injection.

He ran a CBC on her..said the values indicated dehydration.I asked about the possibility of other dogs being infected and he said not to treat them unless they start having diahrea. I did a search on the web and it said that panacur works on giardia, since he is already closed for the day... would it be safe to go ahead and treat the others with panacur to be on the safe side?

Here are her cbc levels, Its all greek to me, can someone explain? He said the Leukopenia and Neutropinia were due to  dehydration.

it might be cheaper to have a snap test done on some of the others that will tell you if they need to be treated

Thanks. he had used his last snap test on the client before me..... giardia is going around the are right now.....better that than parvo right?

I have been researching and the concensus is using Panacur/safeguard once a dayfor 3 days is also effective, I have a large bottle of safeguard so I am going to go ahead and run it thru the others just to make sure. There isnt much I can do about the grounds, I plan on soaking them with bleach water... it may not be much help but it will make me feel better that I at least tried something. At the shop I am going thru it with bleach water, he also said Lysol is effective at killing it but I have a cat that I am boarding and cannot use lysol around it from what I have been told.... Maybe that was PineSol... gotta research that too.

I think you need to do it for 5 days to treat giardia

k thanks for the info :)

Panzer too is correct. When using panacur(fenbendazole) it should be done for 5-6 days. Then you repeat 7 days later.  Don't be surprised if it reappears in a month or so. Just repeat and that should be it.

The dosage is NOT the same as for a horse or a cow (10%). Is the panacur you have the PanacurC (C is for canine-22%)?

You can look this up on the internet. I have treated dogs using the tubes of paste for horses and more recently, the PanacurC wormer granules for dogs. The wormer granules were so much easier. I just put it on their food and they gobbled it up.

There is often associated bacterial infection in the intestines due to the Giardia. Flagyl (metronidazole) will take care of that but it is not without side effects and is no longer considered a reliable cure.

I used golden seal for the bacterial issues and it worked beautifully. I also gave Acidophilus Pearls by Enzymatic Therapy to re-establish flora in the gut. I use the pearls because they are a teeny tiny gel cap that have no taste and don't go bad. The dogs don't notice them.

My first two dogs were very hard to diagnose. There never was a positive fecal float. I found out what was wrong by insisting on an antigen test and that came up postive. After I was sure that it was gone I retested them and they came up negative. That was in 1999. The one lived until 2006 and the other till 2008, just two moths ago after living lives happily free of Giardia. What may have made a huge difference in keeping them free of it was that I switched them to raw feeding. I know they were exposed due to being on the Canadian Geese flyway and hiking on the trails where there are streams.

Good riddance to Giardia,

Michele and Pharaoh

As far as I know Centrine is for stomach upset not really Diahrrea.  I had a cat that had Pancreatitis and we used the Centrine to settle his tummy when he was having a flair.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=0&cat=1459&articleid=1375

i was told, by a vet, to use immodium for severe diarrhea that won't go away.  i used the pills......adult human dosage for an adult gsd.  i think the liquid would be fine as well.  i've only had to treat severe diarrhea a couple of times and used immodium both times.  it worked very well and fast.  i would not use it unless the dog had a serious problem.  just sharing this incase someone might need to know at some time.

pjp

After Mischa is cleared of the Giardia ( may take a repeat treatment or even two) ask the vet to give her the Giardia vaccine. IF the treatment has been effective the vaccine will be effective.

I would not suggest using any water based solution on the ground - Giardia flourish in water and damp. Instead get some Borax or Boraxo hand soap(smells sweet) and after picking up poop sprinkle some on the spot (and on your pickup utensils). It will dessicate the giardia cysts . I have found it to be very effective.