No Sharon, it's not what we expect (especially when the pup comes from a reputable breeder), but my vet says it's a lot more common than most people realize. Many dogs carry the parasite without ever getting sick or having symptoms, so they're never diagnosed or treated and the parasite doesn't always show up in regular fecal tests. My little gal was about 16 weeks old when we got her, and she'd been vetted, completed her vaccinations, and even had a fecal test the day after we got her. A week later she became very lethargic, had vomiting and diarrhea, and our vet immediately suspected Parvo even though she'd completed all her vaccinations. The blessing was that she didn't have Parvo, she had Giardia. Even vaccinated pups can get Parvo, and many do not survive, but it's rare for one not to survive Giardia. So that is our blessing - that we only had to deal with Giardia.
The constant cleaning and washing and bleaching is a hassle, but with basic precautions your family is not likely to catch it from her and your pup will be fine as well. Once we got past the nasty diarrhea, it was pretty routine. Our pup was already well on the way to being potty trained, and I had been using a little ex-pen in the backyard for her to do her business, so she was already isolated from our other dogs at potty time. I took her out frequently, picked up immediately after bowel movements and kept a spray bottle of bleach/water solution handy and sprayed down the area each time she had a bm. I washed my hands frequently with antibacterial soap. And I kept the hair on her bum and feet trimmed really short and used a wipe on her after every bowel movement. She was completely potty trained before she ever cleared the giardia. Between BM's she had the freedom to run around in the house with supervision and played often with our other dogs and no one got sick. Yes, Lacy CAN re-infect herself or other dogs or humans, but it's really not that likely if you are using normal cleaning precautions as you would with a puppy anyway. The only real difference for me was spraying down the area where she had bowel movements with a bleach/water solution.
Make sure she gets her meds, have regular fecal tests done every few weeks for a while after she clears the parasite, and try to relax and enjoy your puppy. They only stay tiny for a little while so don't let this ruin the great experience of bonding with your girl.
Diana |