register for free
View our sister sites
Our sister sites
Our sister sites
Our sister sites
Helena54
Dogsey Veteran
Helena54 is offline  
Location: South East UK
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 27,437
Female 
 
23-10-2009, 10:36 AM

Giardia and how to treat it

There's been a lot of chronic diarrhea around of late, especially of the yellow kind, and even though you might have been given ab's which have worked through their duration, it's come back, sometimes with avengeance (sp?), so I thought it might be useful to post this little factsheet about giardia which is always a possibility to mention to your vet. Both my dogs have had this a while ago, and it took ages to diagnose, and even with faecal samples, it normally comes back negative, unless you take numerous samples in day in day out for a whole week!

I found it very interesting anyway, and it could be of help to some people.

QUOTE:
"How to treat Giardia

This was on another list I am on and found it very informative. I thought some of you might like to read it. Permission was given to me to repost it here.


Bill Foryet, a leading parasitologist at Washington State University, was
incredibly informative about Giardia treatment protocol. He stated that for
whatever reasons they have found that Flagyl (Metronidazole) is not as
effective in eradicating Giardia, as Panacur (Fenbendizole), administered for 3-5
days, at 50 mg. per kilogram of weight. This should completely kill all Giardia
and should solve the problem, with no re-infection, he thinks. He stated
that while other antibiotics help prevent a secondary infection from the
bacteria that sets in, it will not kill the original Giardia (parasite).

He further shared most rescue dogs coming from shelters, or those who are
strays, most likely have Giardia already in their systems (as do all dogs). He
states Giardia is rampant in the shelters now and you can be assured most
dogs will have it. It just doesn't become a problem until they develop classic
symptoms such as the diarrhea and vomiting, when the colonies of Giardia
become too large in their systems from additional exposure. Usually this comes
from them drinking from puddles of standing water, or passed through fecal
matter from other dogs, which may somehow end up in water they may be
drinking. (i.e., dogs clean themselves--paws, rear, etc.--with their tongues, then go
drink from a community drinking dish, eat dead animal remains, etc.) The
moral of the story is . . . keep the water dishes constantly clean, with fresh
water, and insure they don't drink out of puddles (which ours don't, but who
knows where they got it), or walk through standing water (as it gets on their
paws, then is licked off later).
Bill Foryet was not concerned about the soil being the culprit, or even
fecal matter mixed with soil. He stated the standing water was much more likely
to be the source, and not the parasite left in the soil in any way. (Giardia
can live up to 6 mo. in soil, but he didn't think this was the cause of
infection in any way.) The higher the number of dogs, the more exposure to
greater colonies of Giardia, on the whole.

Panacur is the best for treating Giardia, according to some of the best
parasitologists on the subject. The Metronidazole (Flagyl), while an anaerobic
antibiotic, will treat any potential secondary infection from the parasites--it
will not completely kill Giardia.


As for the Panacur creating diarrhea, it does initially, as it is
eliminating the Giardia colonies. The body's natural response to parasites/illnesses is
to flush them out of the system as quickly as possible. If an animal has
diarrhea while on the Panacur, it doesn't mean the Panacur is not working. It
simply means their system is eliminating the colonies of Giardia quickly. That
is why three doses (if not two rounds of three doses) of Panacur are needed
to rid Giardia. It is also a good idea to treat with the initial round of
Panacur, then repeat this within a month's time. This takes care of all the life
stages of Giardia.

Combining the pumpkin mash, with their food will help to balance out the
diarrhea, so they will not become dehydrated. It is always a good idea to give
them Metronidazole (Flagyl) during this treatment with the Panacur, to insure
they don't develop a secondary infection from the Giardia. The Flagyl doesn't
kill the Giardia--only Panacur does. The Flagyl only controls it from
creating a secondary infection in their intestinal tract.

The most recent studies, according to parasitologists, indicate that it
takes a minimum of three doses of Panacur to totally eradicate Giardia. Any other
worming/parasite medication doesn't effectively ever kill off Giardia. It is
also important to note that Giardia can last up to six months in moist soil
conditions and can continue to infect any animal coming into contact with it.
It is better to insure your animals are not using the same Giardia filled
bathroom area for a period of about six months. You can also remediate your
soil, by picking up all waste (even if it means digging up the soiled dirt areas
of diarrhea and doing a bleach wash, or filling this area with new soil. (It
is not likely that most people would go to the trouble of bleaching their
dirt (which kills everything, including grass), or that they would bring in
fill dirt.)

Sterilizing all bones, toys and beds is also very important in insuring your
animal is not re-infected, as well as bathing them regularly to keep them
sanitary during this time of recovery. (No cold water outdoor baths which will
chill them and further suppress their immune system.)

You can also give Pet Enzymes, Acidophilus, or Wobenzym to assist replacing
the natural flora of good bacteria, which help to fight off the bad bacteria,
parasites and viruses; as well as replace the intestinal flora the
antibiotic Flagyl destroys.

Giardia is an insidious parasite. It doesn't only come from standing water.
It can be passed through direct feces contact, licking paws that have
walked in contaminated areas of vomit or fecal areas of any other dog that has
it, saliva exchange, or even ponds, puddles, bird baths, or ditch water
outside. It can also be passed through your dogs eating the feces of the animals
(rabbits, deer, raccoons, mice, rats, etc.). We even found it could be
rapidly transferred from one dog to another by them drinking out of the same
water bowl. Some dogs are more sensitive to it, than others, and end up with
more colony growths of this parasite. It all depends upon the dog's immune
system, as well as the level of exposure and the level number of parasites it
has come into contact with, and ingested into its system.

Most dogs have Giardia in their systems already. It is a question of when
the colonies build to an intolerable level and their immune system can no
longer fight off the sheer numbers of parasites within their systems. Leading
parasitologists informed us that any dog coming from a shelter (foster/rescue
dogs) will most certainly have Giardia to extremely high levels. It is a major
problem for most shelters, and runs rampant in most adopted dogs. It is best
to treat any incoming adopted dogs immediately, rather than expose any of
your other furkids to it.

It even takes six months, or more, to have Giardia filled soil not to be an
infectious site for other dogs, who walk over the same area. If a dog with
Giardia defecates, then leaving the Giardia parasite in the soil, any other
dog coming along that sniffs what remains, can contract it. If they
actually walk in it, they get it on their paws, then later, when licking themselves
clean, will ingest the Giardia. It is anybody's guess where it all comes
from, and dog parks, dog shows, and shelters are breeding grounds teaming with
Giardia.

Anyone could have unknowingly exposed their puppy to Giardia, just by
taking her dog for a walk, or if their other dogs in the past have ever had it,
and the puppy is in the same exercise areas as the previously infected dogs. It
is also possible all of your dogs have it, but puppies are far more
susceptible, and have a greater number of colonies of it in their system.

Better to use caution, make sure your dogs are all tested (often it doesn't
show until its an extreme case). Choose the slimiest and most mucous filled
portion of any stool you are testing, as this is where more of the colonies
will appear. If your dogs show any symptoms such as vomiting,
refluxing, diarrhea, soft stools, etc., then have them treated with three
doses (per body
weight) of Panacur. According to the leading parasitologist experts we
contacted, only Panacur kills it. All other forms of worming medications won't
kill it, or even begin to really touch it. They stated Giardia is becoming
immune (through mutation) to most treatments, other than Panacur. It also takes
three doses--not the usual one, or two of normal worming medications. Most
traditional vets will use other worming treatments, and it simply won't
eradicate the Giardia, as Panacur will.

Believe me, all of this information was very hard-learned. We researched
this parasite from top to bottom. (No pun intended.) We had five foster dogs at
one time that all came down with it, due to a visiting adoptive family that
brought it is with their dog defecating in our yard. We had to remediate
our soil, treat all five dogs, and begin a fastidious cleansing program of all
of our dogs' toys, grounds, and household environment. It was not pleasant,
or a situation I ever care to repeat.

Needless to say, we are vigilant and insure all exercise/pen/crate areas
are immediately cleaned and sanitized to the best of our ability. We keep our
dogs from straying off into ditches of standing water, won't let them drink
anything while outside (if preventable), and certainly attempt to keep them
from eating any rabbit droppings, or sniffing other dogs' feces they come
across. Our dogs think we are control freaks on this note, but then it is safer
to employ these precautions, rather than having them survive another round of
Giardia!

In short, Giardia is a VERY nasty parasite. It lasts a long time, and dogs
rarely get rid of it all. It only becomes a problem when their are too many
colonies of it in their system to fight it off. Keeping all waste picked up,
things washed/sterilized and using Panacur seems to be the only proven way to
fight it. " UNQUOTE

I hope it's allowed to post this in the Dog Health Section mods???
Reply With Quote
scorpio
Dogsey Veteran
scorpio is offline  
Location: Old Leake, UK
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 12,080
Female 
 
23-10-2009, 12:43 PM
Thanks for that Helena, very useful info for me at the moment xx
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools


© Copyright 2016, Dogsey   Contact Us - Dogsey - Top Contact us | Archive | Privacy | Terms of use | Top