I just read this article today and it was interesting. Note the use of pancur and dosed twice at different intervals.
My Tummy Aches!
Example of a "typical" letter to me on a daily basis:
Pet owner writes: "We had her stool checked for Giardia it was negative, of course".
My Response: "From all that you are telling me, this dog has Giardia - you simply can't find it! It is so hard to find you just need to treat for it. Do this...worm her with Panacur - do it for 3 days, then in 10 days take the same dosage you have for 3 days and divide that into 10 days. This Giardia is IMPOSSIBLE to find. Everything you tell me says this is a giardia dog and you won't get relief until you get this cleared up. I know one pre-vet student that ended up taking her dog to work with her, pulling fresh stool samples several times a day for several days before they actually found it - and here she is working with the vets right there in the labratory and even they didn't find it! You have nothing to lose to try my suggestion because at this point nothing else is working."
Owners Response After Following My Suggestion:
We saw a new vet at the office and I convinced her to treat for Giardia. Within 2 days, her stools looked better than I had seen in a long time. Within a week, she gained 3 pounds. She still isn't eating a lot yet , but 2 1/2 cups dry and 1 can is better than barely 1 cup dry with gravy per day. She's gaining weight! She's definitely feeling better. Anyway, thanks again. I REALLY APPRECIATE everything. - TSM
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INTRODUCTION TO GIARDIA
A Word About Giardia - this is a waterborne protozoa (a parasite, but not a worm) which is VERY difficult to detect. Only at certain cycles will the cysts be noticeable in the stool which makes it next to impossible to detect. To test for this you need to to have the vet go up inside the rectum with a loop and take a fresh/warm sample of stool from the dog in order to get an accurate reading. You can’t bring one in in a baggie! Even if the dog shows up as negative for Giardia, and the dog exhibits any of these symptoms, you need to discuss with your vet the necessity to treat for Giardia, in order to rule out any infestation.
Intermittent loose stools (most dogs have this and it can happen to puppies).
Will not gain weight
Poor appetite
Some dogs will eat but keep losing weight
Graze on grass excessively
Gassy
Anytime you have a dog that will not gain weight, is on/off their feed and/or with intermittent loose stools, gas or diarrhea, you should check for Giardia first, before you start running up vet bills looking for other health problems. Sometimes these dogs will not eat, because Giardia causes such stomach upset and severe cramping. It is because of this, they will often graze on grasses excessively.
Giardia is a very big problem, one that goes undetected by most veterinarians Carol Turkington writes, "Once an infestation of Giardia, it often reoccurs. Giardia is spread by food or water contaminated by the Giardia protozoan organism found in the intestinal tract and feces. When the cysts are ingested, the stomach acid degrades the cysts and releases the active parasite into the body. Once within the body, the parasites cling to the lining of the small intestine, reproduce, and are swept into the fecal stream. As the liquid content of the bowel dries up, the parasites form cysts, which are then passed in the feces. Once excreted, the cysts can survive in water for more than three months. The parasite is spread further by direct fecal-oral contamination, such as can occur if food is prepared without adequate hand-washing, or by ingesting the cysts in water or food."
Turkington goes on to state, "Diagnosis can be difficult because it can be easy to overlook the presence of the Giardia cysts during a routine inspection of a stool specimen. In the past, the condition has been diagnosed by examining three stool samples for the presence of the parasites. However, because the organism is shed in some stool samples and not others, the infection may not be discovered using this method. A newer, more accurate method of diagnosing the condition is the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that detects cysts and antigen in stool, and is approximately 90% accurate. While slightly more expensive, it only needs to be done once and is therefore less expensive overall than the earlier test."
Generally, Flagyll, Metronidazole and Panacur are often used for Giardia, and repeated again in 2 weeks if the symptoms have not subsided. In 2001, Flagyl (metronidazole) appeared effective in only about 60% of the cases. "Currently, some vets feel the effectiveness of Flagyl (metronidazole) is down to 40%. Known side effects of Flagyl are nausea, disorientation, yeast growth, liver failure depression, regurgitation, and nerve damage".
* I have been told by several vets, the best course is to use Panacur for 3 days and repeat it again in 2 weeks, taking the same 3 day dosage and dividing it up over 10 days to get it at all stages of the cycle. I have recently read that Flagyll and Metronidazole are only 40% effective any more, so discuss this with your vet and ask about the use of Panacur.
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