Giardia and Coccidia

[&RIGGS]

I just got back from the e-vet and all is well (well relatively, anyway). I came home to a 12-week old puppy who had a very watery poop accident in his crate (his first crate accident ever) AND had thrown up...also in his crate. He has never thrown up before and my boyfriend let me know he had mucousy diarrhea earlier in the day as well.

I've been extremely paranoid about parvo, so I took him to the e-vet (not my regular vet). As it turns out he has giardia and coccidia. He was diagnosed with giardia at 9 weeks, took his prescribed medication (Metronidazole) and the vet never checked again. Well, apparently it's still there and it seems that my vet should have run a second test to confirm it was gone. I guess I need to look at changing vet.

I'm wondering if this is common: giardia not going away after a course of treatment. The e-vet prescribed Metronidazole plus Panacur as well as some probiotic pills and paste to help re-balance his system.

I'm hoping this gets his system back on track. It's tough to see the poor little guy have to go through this! Does anybody have any reassurance (or horror stories) about giardia/coccidia?

[msvette2u]

From what I've read and looked at, both can recur because they dwell in the digestive tract and re-emerge with stress.
At least coccidia can...I am not sure so much about giardia.
Let me know if he improves. We have a kiddo here with similar issues.

[robinhuerta]

This is very common in puppies and young dogs.....yes, your puppy will get better.
It is a treatable condition with proper antibiotics/meds.

[Holmeshx2]

yes it's possible to not go away after the first round of treatment (giardia) it can be a pain to get rid of. The vet DEFINITELY should have done a recheck. I think it's great you were so quick to get your pup checked out glad it wasn't something too serious. I've dealt with Giardia before with Jinx and it's not fun but not the end of the world and once they start responding to meds it's so much better. Also, it might have gone away and your pup might have been reexposed. It's pretty simple to pick up giardia its a parasite if I'm not mistaken and it is generally passed through feces so if you didn't clean your yard properly from the last time he could have gotten reinfected there, water supply like a puddle he drank from that had another animal run through the puddle with the stuff on its feet etc... Really easy to pick up and not toooooo hard to get rid of just take a breath and since its been diagnosed and meds prescribed you should be in smooth sailing from here for the most part.

[ladylaw203]

The treatment for coccidia is NOT the same as with Giardia. I have run into this before with vets. You need Albon
Coccidiosis: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention

This works. I have used it and passed it on to several others whose vets did the same thing this can be ordered through Amazon

Forgot to mention. Coccidiosis is comonly called shipping fever and can occur after shipping,stress etc. Vets are not always um,correct
My vet and other friend's vets prescribed the same stuff and our pups stayed ill until I ordered the above

[Liesje]

I think I've seen better luck treating giardia with panacur (double dose than what is used for regular worming) so hopefully that does the trick this time.

[muddypaw]

we had similiar issues. My vet gave a Ponazuril shot for the coccidia and Metronidazole 500 mg for the giardia. It took a week and then she was better. If she goes to the dog park and drinks the water, usually she has runny stools for a couple of days again.

[Doc]

For giardia, go to Tractor supply and get Panacur 10% goat wormer. (better check the dose - it may be 1ml for every 5 pounds). Treatment is usually 3 days - it will also will get intestinal worms.

For coccidia, Albon is the trick. 2ml/10 pounds for 6 days. Wait a week, then retreat.

[msvette2u]

Goats take a higher dosage of most medications - don't go out and buy goat wormer when the vet already gave you some dosed for dogs.

[robinhuerta]

Doc...that's what we use, but we also use Flagyl too.