Giardia help needed asap for foster dog
 

The foster pom I have had for almost 2 weeks has been on panacur for 6 days and her diahrea is no better. She was spayed yesterday and I got her back today and she has had 3 bouts of diahrea in 1 hour. I know she is stressed, but isn't there something they can give her to help the diahrea. They switched her to metrodrozinole today but does anyone know if the vet can give her a shot of something to help stop the diahrea or will the giardia override any shot? Thanks for any help. If she were my dog I would have her at my vet but I have to work with the shelter's animal health dept and I am waiting for a call back and they don't respond very quickly.

Oh gosh, Patti. I feel so bad you are still dealing with that...and that poor little pom. I know nothing about giardia, but wanted to let you know I'm thinking of you and all the sadness and stress in your life right now. Hugs to you, dear friend. I pray that little Angel will quickly recover!

i know there is a shot of antibiotic they almost gave dd but it is in the simplicef family and that is more for skin issues than diarhea. Baytril is the strongest antibiotic the BIG GUNS and vet gave that and said it was for intestinal issues - I think the shot was cipra - here is the link so not sure of any other antibiotic shot out there for giardia :( but the anesthesia will make them have diarhea as well so you are probably getting a double whamy

ciprofloxacin (Cipro, Cipro XR) - drug class, medical uses, medication side effects, and drug interactions by MedicineNet.com

why did they spay while sick :( as that must have been really hard on her little body having giardia then going under anesthesia :(

My little guy Skyler had giardia when I got him. He was so sick and at 1.1lbs it tooks weeks for him to recover. He would cry out and moan all day and night he was extremely uncomfortable. He was on metrodrozinole for weeks and eventually my vet weaned him off it. It took some time before his diahrea stopped and I had to hand feed him every two hours because he wouldn't eat. The vet wanted me to use soft food and a precription diet. He also recieved fluids for days and spent a few days in the hospital. I as well as my vet were worried we might lose him but with a lot of care he survived. Also I scrubbed everything constantly and cleaned his behind every time he pooped. That is a tough parasite and they can reinfect themselves. Now he is a 3lb little meatball at 8 months and eats like a champ. Hang in there and I'll be thinking about you both.

Patti, I don't know much about Giardia that will help you. I am praying that she recovers soon!

Will the pumpkin help.
I know Taylin (s) powder is good for diahreha but don't know if
it can be given with the meds she's already on.
Pumpkin is natural maybe that will help her.
Poor little one. Your an angel to take care of her Patti.
Hope you can find a solution to make it easier on both of you.

Thanks everyone! The shelter has complete control over her medical care so they called me and told me the spay was set up and where and I asked about doing it with the Giardia and they said it was no problem. The vets office said the same thing. I would never had done it if I was in charge. The Animal Health dept called and said to give her kaopectate every 6 hours and a bland diet. I have changed her bedding so often and wash her up each time as I am trying not to spread it to my 3.
Fortunately, she is acting fine and is up and playing gently and has never acted sick. I am hopeful she clears this up and gets a forever home soon.

I just now read this but was going to suggest kaopectate. Back when I had so many fosters, and most of them came with Giardia, I finally bought a bottle from the feed store .....it worked like a charm.

Good Luck Patti and God bless you!

wow that is horrible that they made you have that done :( poor thing. I feel so bad for you and how scary with 3 more :( hang in there and keep up the great care you are giving :)

Patti you are such a good foster Mamma:thumbup:

a puppy i fostered several years ago had giardia and the vet recommended feeding her rice mixed with cottage cheese to help her stomach until she got better. It worked GREAT!
Good Luck!

You can give small amounts of pumpkin, pepto, or even kaopectate or the pill form. Check on line for further information.

Canned pumpkin, not the pie filling mix...works great here. (the fiber helps firm up the poop)

Patti...I meant to post on this yesterday...then somehow got distracted :(. Any better?

When giardia is symptomatic, oh man it can get nasty - so I feel for you (where some dogs have it w/ 1 day of mild symptoms, then it's gone...).

Do you have a Petco nearby? If yes, go to Ferret area, and look for Benebac - it will be "hanging" (vs. on shelf) and comes in little tubes of 4 - it's about $4. This is a highly concentrated probiotic paste that I always have on hand and it really can help - esp. w/ dogs under stress, sudden diarrhea, post-tummy issues etcetera. It populates the tract quickly...and I'm not sure why it works so much better than, say, yogurt or something else -- it must have to do w/ the delivery system and the state of a dog's system when under stress - but it works for me nearly all the time in terms of helping them get back on track.

That said, not sure the extent to which this will help since giardia is present. Is there blood also? Is there "gel" in the stool? Or just mushy? Sorry to be graphic but giardia can be so variable.

Tylan/Tylosin may help...not all vets carry it though, so it can take time to get, but it can also be obtained online.

So, does the rescue know how long she has had giardia and/or if this is a 1st infection or a re-infection, bc that would be important to know in terms of how aggressive this giardia is being on her small intestine right now. If she is a puppy (how old is she?), there is a good chance the giardia can damage her small intestines...and this can take quite a while after the giardia is gone to heal (this is what happened to Marcel as a pup).

Argh...one last thing...dogs can be given immodium for diarrhea too...not sure if that's same thing as kaopect...I'd have to look it up...

Honestly though...if the diarrhea isn't improving, the rescue should help you go back to the vet for add'l support for this kiddo as giardia really leeches the system. Ugh...I had the worst time w/ giardia. I really feel for ya!

Update
 

Thanks so much for all the information Wylie's mom. On friday we started her on the Metrodrozinole and kaopectate and she went 30 hours with out pooping. Then yesterday afternoon she pooped a nice long solid poop. Then nothing until this morning when I let her out of her crate she peed outside and pooped in the bathroom (I have been having her poop in there so I can bleach it and not have it get into my soil where my dogs go) and it was solid and then 5 minutes later she pooped again and it was solid!!! I am hoping we have turned the corner. I would hate to send her to her forever home with the massive diahrea she had.
She was 3 1/2 months old when I got her and had a negative fecal at the shelter and for the first 3 days was fine.The shelter had just gotten then the day before at a puppy mill closing auction and they had driven 6 hours back to the shelter and got in at 4 am. They had a vet and vet tech look at all 18 dogs and tested them. I brought her home the next day after they were professionally groomed. So she had a lot of stress in those few days. Then on that Friday she pooped gel, blood and mucousy loose stools. She weighed 3.5 lbs and I was having trouble getting her to gain weight. So for one whole week she had nothing but runny stools sometimes with gel sometimes with blood. She is gaining weight now and hopefully we can get rid of the giardia.
I am going to look for the Benebac.
Thanks so much I will keep you updated.