Lol, so glad you've been keeping up with Zena's bowel movements!!! Thanks for caring about her though.xxx

My big fear of course would be if that fox had eaten some poison bait, coz a lot of that goes on around here, I've seen the evidence in the past at the stables, with foxes all curled up in a ball in the old buildings, so that's my biggest worry.

I can't think what to do quite honestly to stop the thing coming in and c*apping in our gardens coz I would hate to put something up on the fences (and boy, there's enough of that around here, would cost a fortune!!!) which would hurt the fox. Then again, if she's eating it on a regular basis in the early mornings, then of course, whatever it's carrying she's going to pick up on the odd occasion just like she has this time around. I might have to google again and see what can be done. Having looked at the big gates again, I can see it's been a regular occurence with all those scratches at one end, and I would never have thought, they're 6ft high those gates

Hmmm, maybe I'll have to put Dave out on fox watch overnight!!!!

I can see it now - your OH crouched behind a bush in the garden, wrapped in warm coat and blanket, flask of soup by his side, shotgun poised (not to kill, just to warn). Come 5.00 a.m. I bet he falls asleep - useless

That;s interesting Helena - that you think Zena could have picked up Giardia from the fox poo. Makes sense, fox roams over land which has been fertilised with the HSS, picks it up on his pads, licks his pads, gets infected with Giardia, poos out the cysts, Zena eats the poo, cysts get into her system and the cycle repeats all over again. I wonder if this is how the dogs round here are continuously being reinfected with Giardia.

I will talk it over with hubby. Is Zena OK now?

Do you really think H is going to make him that comfortable
It'll be - outside camouflaged with dry sticks and just get on with it

Well, I've now spent most of the day Googling about this, and found a very informative site relating to beagles about giardia and how to treat it, all very interesting. As for the foxes, that's a big yes, they carry not only this giardia worm but also lots of other roundworms and this cocidillia or summat that is another nasty bacteria which could make Zena the way she was. I watched a fantastic programme on Sky the other night on Bio I think, called The Monster Within us, it was all about different kinds of worms that get into the human body, most of which cannot be killed off completely Do give it a viewing if you get the chance, it's very enlightening and interesting!

That also applies to this giardia apparently, as it lives in the gut of all dogs, but sometimes it goes haywire, or the dog picks more up from other animal's faeces or stagnant water where it also lives, and the cycle begins again, the dog is very sick because of the overload.

The good news is, there is now a vaccine for it!!!! Made by Fort Dodge who are the very same vaccine company that my particular vet hospital uses for the annual jabs, so I might have a word with them about whether it might be a good idea to have her jabbed for this. The reason I say this is because just as it can in the ground, it can also live in the gut (the ones you can't kill off because they have burrowed so deep into the intestines), and flare up again in weeks/months/years even! The problem I have with this is, do you vaccinate a dog that has already had something? I don't know the answer to that question!

She's done two poo's today, not impressed with either of them if I'm honest, but at least they're dark orange instead of bright yellow and they're not too watery, more like porridge than lemon juice with bits in lol!

Lol at you two!!!! It was amusing enough last night to see him going out there in his dressing gown and shoes (he doesn't do slippers!) with a torch looking in every nook and cranny to see where it had gone! The driveway is all lit up with lights on the side of the garage, plus the side of the house, I can't believe this fox had the gaul to do what it did on our decking area How very dare it!!! I dread to think what would have happened if Zena had been lying the other way facing those french doors and awake!! Doesn't bear thinking about, she might have gone through the glass knowing her!!!

I'll be looking out for it soon, coz it was about 10pm last night, and I'm preparing Dave's camouflage as I type lol!!! Poor Dave!!!!

H, I might be muddling you with someone else (you know I'm old!) but didn't you post a pic some time ago of tracks down the side of your hedge that you didn't know what they were?
Perhaps that was foxy.

The good news is Jen, you've still got your memory and you're definitely not going mad!!!!!! Yes, I did put up those pics of those big gouges up in the top corner of the lawn and I thought about those today when I went out there in search of more fox poo! It could be the reason why half my lawn is missing coz apparently, they like to scrape away at it looking for bugs! I know it wasn't Zena who caused those because of where I chuck her ball out there, and it's never up in this top corner so it must be that darn fox!

It's gotta go, it really has, but humanely coz I quite like little foxies.....now if it was a cat!!!!!

hi H ... guess u read this? so if she keeps getting it its defo worth thinking about.

A Giardia vaccine made by Fort Dodge Animal Health is on the market but it is not intended to prevent infection in the vaccinated animal. Instead the vaccine is licensed as an adjunct to treatment and is used to reduce the shedding of cysts by the vaccinated patient. This would be helpful in a kennel situation that is trying to reduce environmental contamination during an outbreak or where an animal keeps getting reinfected, but it is not helpful to the average dog whose owner wants to simply prevent infection.

That sounds very interesting, as we keep having outbreaks of Giardia - humans included. Do you know Tupacs if that would be available in this country?