[Barb E]

I sure hope you find the issue soon, I've been in your shoes and it's h-e-doublehockeystick!

Of course for Dante it turned out to be Giardia (two regular fecals came back negative, antigen came back positive) and it took two rounds of antiboitics to get rid of it....but it was a long long long road.

Every day now when I pick up after him I'm thankful for his "normal" poops!

 

[PuffinGirl]

I'm envious of your dog's normal poops! =)

It has indeed been a long road. Thank goodness it doesn't seem to be getting him down. =)

 

[LisaT]

Pepto also has some anti-inflammatory action, which can be helpful. If a dog has the mdr1 genetic mutation, immodium shouldn't be given. However, I think this mutation non-white GSDs is pretty rare.

 

[PuffinGirl]

Do you know the dosage of pepto, and how often it can be given?

 

[Doc]

do a search for "home remedies for dogs". Someone has a list of over-the-counter "people" products that can be used for dogs. Pepto should be listed.

 

[Doc]

If by chance it is Giardia, use Panacur - not flagyl which is only 60% effective for Giardia and has nasty side effects. Panacur for 5 days will usually clean them out. For chornic Giardia, you may have to treat every other month with Panacur.

 

[angelaw]

Or order drontal online

Drontal is the ONLY Allwormer registered to control Giardia sp in dogs. Giardia is a protozoan parasite found commonly in dogs and is frequently a cause of diarrhoea in puppies. Drontal should be administered at the correct dosage for body weight for 3 consecutive days.
It is important that Giardia has been correctly diagnosed by a veterinarian.

 

[PuffinGirl]

We're 99.9% positive it's not giardia. We've done 3 of the regular tests, and then the ELISA Giardia test. We had also done a course of Panacur, just to be on the safe side.

I'll also do a search and see what I can find about pepto. Thank you! =)

 

[Doc]

True, Drontal is labeled but recent studies show that Panacur is more effective.

 

[Doc]

Look at this link

http://www.geocities.com/petsburgh/Zoo/1224/diarrhea.html

 

[Doc]

Have they ruled out Coccidia?

 

[angelaw]

do you have a link to the study?

as I'm curious as to the difference between the active ing. in drontal raziquantel/pyrantel pamoate/febantel and reg. fenbendazole as their in the same classification of drugs.

 

[PuffinGirl]

As for ruling out coccidia, I'm assuming they have, with all the fecal tests they've run. We haven't done a course of Albon though. If the TLI comes back negative, I plan on asking the internist about doing a course of Albon just in case.

 

[angelaw]

If it's cocci, you can do albon for 10 days or ask your vet about Ponazuril , one dose, done.

 

[PuffinGirl]

Hmmm...I haven't heard of the second med, might be something they'd have to special order for me.

How exactly do they test for coccidia? Would it show up on one of the many fecals I've had done?

 

[Doc]

I'll try to find a link to the study for you Angelea. It is out of Canada I think ...

Never heard of the coccidia med, but have used Albon with great results for coccidia. Is it new?

 

[angelaw]

Puffin, Cocci can be hard to miss on a fecal but that's how it's found

Doc, the medicine is newer. My vet didn't use albon but reg. tablets, then last year I heard the vet tech talking to someone about it and I asked. It's a one dose, but you have to have exact weights on the dog for dispensing doses.

 

[Doc]

I'm still looking but this may be the study.

Zajac, AM; LaBranche, TP; Donoghue, AR; Chu, Teng-Chiao. Efficacy of fenbendazole in the treatment of experimental Giardia infection in dogs. American Journal of Veterinary Research. 1998;59(1):61-63.

 

[angelaw]

From searching for the study:
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of fenbendazole as a treatment for Giardia sp. ANIMALS: 10 male and 10 female commercial-source Beagles. PROCEDURE: The experiment was conducted in 2 replicates. Dogs considered free of Giardia infection on the basis of results of 3 consecutive negative fecal examinations were experimentally infected with approximately 1,000 Giardia cysts isolated from dog feces. After verification of infection, the dogs were allocated to 2 groups (treated and untreated) and were housed in separate rooms. Treated dogs received 50 mg of fenbendazole/kg of body weight, p.o., daily, for 3 days. After treatment on the third day, treated dogs were removed from their runs, shampooed, rinsed with disinfectant, and returned to disinfected runs. Fecal samples were collected from all dogs 12 times during the next 25 days. RESULTS: Giardia cysts were found in the feces of every untreated dog during all or part of the test period. Nine of 10 treated dogs did not have Giardia cysts in any fecal sample examined; the other dog had a positive result on a single sample in the third week after treatment. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Fenbendazole, at the nematocidal label dosage, is an effective drug for treatment of Giardia infection in dogs.

so that was a 3 day treatment, and I don't see how that's different than febantel

http://www.labor-freiburg.de/info_efficacy_giardia.pdf

Efficacy of a drug combination of praziquantel, pyrantel pamoate, and febantel against giardiasis in dogs.
Barr SC, Bowman DD, Frongillo MF, Joseph SL.

Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate efficacy of a combination of praziquantel, pyrantel pamoate, and febantel at 2 dosages for treating naturally acquired giardiasis in dogs. ANIMALS: 6 male and 9 female Beagles. PROCEDURE: Dogs were identified as naturally infected with Giardia sp, using the zinc sulfate concentration technique (ZSCT), and were allocated to 1 of 3 groups. Group-1 dogs were treated orally with a praziquantel (5.4 to 7 mg/kg of body weight), pyrantel pamoate (26.8 to 35.2 mg/kg), and febantel (26.8 to 35.2 mg/kg) combination, every 24 hours for 3 doses. Group-2 dogs were treated with the combination once. Group-3 dogs were nontreated controls. Four fecal samples were examined, using the ZSCT, from each dog of each group within 6 days of the last treatment. Dogs were considered to have giardiasis if 1 or more of the fecal samples had positive results for Giardia cysts. Dogs were examined daily for at least 10 days after the last treatment. RESULTS: Giardia cysts were not detected in the feces of any group-1 dog or in the feces of 2 of 5 group-2 dogs. Cysts were detected in the feces of 5 of 5 group-3 (nontreated control) dogs. Signs of toxicosis were not observed in any dog. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The current labeled dose (for treatment of various nematodes and cestodes, but not Giardia sp) of the combination given orally once reduces cyst excretion in Giardia-infected dogs, and should be considered for treatment of dogs shedding Giardia cysts, whether or not they have clinical signs of infection.

and

Efficacy of Drontal Flavour Plus (50 mg praziquantel, 144 mg pyrantel embonate, 150 mg febantel per tablet) against Giardia sp in naturally infected dogs.
Montoya A, Dado D, Mateo M, Espinosa C, Miró G.

Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, UCM, Avd. Puerta de Hierro s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain.

The therapeutic efficacy of praziquantel, pyrantel embonate and febantel (Drontal Flavour Plus) for three and five consecutive days was evaluated for treating naturally acquired giardiasis in dogs. In the study, 24 dogs naturally infected with Giardia were divided into three groups of eight dogs each. Dogs were treated at the recommended dosage for three or five consecutive days, and a control group remained untreated. Faecal samples from each dog were submitted to coprological examination from day-4 to -2 and at days 5, 7, 9 and 11. Faecal consistency was also assessed daily to study end. All dogs in the control group remained positive until study end. Giardia cysts were not detected in faeces of six of the eight dogs in the group treated on three consecutive days, and in faeces of five of the dogs in the group treated on five consecutive days. Unformed to diarrhoeic faeces were more often reported in dogs in the untreated control group than in dogs in both treatment groups. Efficacy of treatment for five consecutive days was not statistically better than treatment for three consecutive days.

so looks like either is shorter doable option.

 

[Doc]

Thanks for the information. I have no experience with the combination drug but it looks like a good one also. I like knowing there are options! I would hate to have resistant strains developed. Maybe rotating the treatment may ward off resistance?