Giardia can result in lifelong health problems

[Bär]

Hi, sorry have not posted for awhile, but i have been using every spare minute researching what could help Bär.
The good news is, he is finally giardia free [antigen test].
After vet meds did not help we treated him with a natural treatment from this website http://ezinearticles.com/?Natural-Treatment-For-Giardia&id=1925644.
We did the treatment twice & it worked.
What we are now left with is, reactive arthritis & IBS as a result of a long battle with giardia. According to our vet these conditions will require live long management.
I would urge anyone that has a problem with intermittent loose poops to get the giardia antigen test done, it is worth the extra money, because if it is caught early enough, it can save your pup from having live long problems.
We are now in the process of food elimination to see what triggers his IBS. If diet does not help, steroids is the next step.
So, please do your pup a favor & don't take loose poop lighty.

 

[jane]

My Roger suffered a bad bout of giardia back in 2008. He never had bowel issue's before it. Now he definately has bowel issue's. They got much better when I switched him to raw. I don't feed any pork because I noticed both he and Merlin don't handle it well.
Last august, when he went into kidney failure, test results showed his cobalamin was very low. He received B-12 shots for 6 weeks and that made his bowel issues pretty much go away. After 3 months of no shots, the loose stool began again, so he is now back on B-12 shots.
I always knew if was the giardia that messed up his bowels. Even though the test showed negative, I had the vet start him on the med because I knew he had giardia. It took him quite a few months to get over it. I'm just very careful with what I feed him. I do keep him on a digestive enzyme.

 

[victoria1140]

never underestimate a good poop definetly.

Beau has had two bouts of hge now and I monitor him very carefully now.

I'm glad Bar is giardia free now and hopefully you can manage the ibs

 

[Diana]

Poor Bar - good luck to you in finding the right food. Riley had a bout with giardia e few months ago, we did catch it quite early, which was difficult cause his poop has always seemed to be quite loose. We now have him on a mostly raw diet which seems to help tremendously.

 

[R Taft]

I am so sorry that it has affected Bar so badly............I have been lucky sofar with no loose stools, but I am an avid poop watcher and keep a close eye on it, just incase.
Thank you for the heads-up

 

[Bär]

Thanks for all the kind words. I have to thank everybody who ever posted anything about loose poops here on NN to learn the difference between a normal fecal & the giardia antigen test.
Under vet guidance he is now on home cooked chicken & rice until stable for a while, then we will start introducing kibble again. We will start with his old kibble the orijen reginol red, but i think it might be to high in fat, fat is going to be major source we will have to cut back on severely for sure.
He is on daily aspirin for his joints now, which according to his vet help with the IBS as well. It was not bad enough that he has HD, now his joints are full of arthritis at the age of 2 years 7 months.
On a happy note, he is feeling a lot better, has more energy & best of all, his poop tonight was almost completely solid.

 

[Erika]

Hugs to your sweetie

 

[Tug]

((((Bär)))) Tummy troubles suck

 

[Sue M.]

Oh yeah, definitely, if not taken care of... this can affect the major organs of a dog. Here, my vet automatically started checking for giardia at all annual check ups. It was something that wasn't a problem before but has become one of late... enough so that they automatically check for this.

I had retreived a rescue newf from a shelter the other year. It was Suse's Seamus. I asked the shelter about giardia and they assured me that he did not have it. So I brought Seamus home and integrated him in my mix and, much to my dismay, all my dogs got giardia. Treating 5 dogs for this was quite costly but a necessity. Boy was I pissed at that shelter!

Seamus had a rough time getting over this as I'm sure Suse will attest. All my dogs were treated and I learned a valuble lesson. Don't necessarily believe what you are told. Get them checked out yourself to be sure. But, with giardia, you need to take and test about 3 samples. It doesn't always show up on every check.

And, that is why it is soooo very important to pick up dog pooh. Approx. 95% of the dogs that contract giardia contract it from other dogs pooh. They smell it, step in it and then lick their paws and that is enough for them to contract this hardy parasite.

 

[Erika]

Gandolph had Giardia too..he was 4 months old and had just come into rescue.....he was neutered but not tested for parasites etc....we brought him home....its took us 4 months to get rid of it, he also had coccidius( spelling?) No after effects thank goodness but a long haul for him as a pup. we retested for almost 1 yr and the rest of the gang didnt get it, only becuase we knew , we took him right to the vet after he exploded all over house the first night. Yikes!!!!! stinky!!!!! It was quite an ordeal but atleasts hes OK.