Zachary, I would examine the source for those official references to an incubation period for giardia being 48 hours. Incubation period for giardia is 7 to 15 days, and even then the pup may not show signs of illness at that point. Giardia also may or may not show up in a stool sample, depending on what stage the cysts are in at the time the sample is checked.
I took in a little rescue toy poodle a couple of years ago. She was a pup that was brought across the border from Mexico and only at the rescue for a few days. She was vet checked by the rescue and deemed healthy. I brought her home and kept her isolated from my other pups. My vet saw her the next day. She had blood work done and also a fecal. Deemed healthy and no parasites but my vet advised me to still keep her isolated from my other dogs for a week or so since she'd come from Mexico. So she was kept in a small pen inside, and used a small ex-pen outside for potty. Near the end of that week, she got very sick. Lethargic, diarrhea, and vomiting. Back to the vet, where she had plenty of giardia cysts in the sample. She could have picked it up at the rescue, or more likely she came across the border with it.
It took three rounds of Panacur to finally get rid of it. It also took about 3 or 4 months. We did a round of Panacur. A week later the sample was clear. Two weeks after that, the cysts were back, so we did the Panacur again. Same thing, so we did a third round. My vet wants to see three clear stool samples before committing to it being gone. One a week after the meds, then two weeks after that, and three weeks after the second clear sample. Giardia can be very hard to isolate in a stool sample, depending on the stage of the cysts when the sample is checked. Even after three rounds of Panacur and all those clear samples, my vet says there is the possibility that she still has cysts. We have her checked at her annual, and she does some different "float" test looking for the cysts. So far, so good. Its been about two years now.
It's a nasty parasite for sure and my vet said she had a pretty nasty case, but she's worth every dime I spent on bleach and vet bills! And she was only actually "sick" with it for a few days. After that, she was an active, busy and playful little pup. We kept her isolated for potty trips out, were vigilant about picking up the poos and bleaching the area, and kept her very clean, but otherwise she ran around, played with our other dogs and no one - dog or human - caught it from her.
Diana |