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My boy has giardia that is hard as *@#$^ to get rid of. I also suspect he has SIBO.

We did 10 days of Fenbendazole and 7 days of Metronidazole.
Rechecked stool sample 14 days after we finished the panacur and he tested positive for giardia cysts.

Now, we just finished 5 days of fenbendazole and 5 days of metronidazole (I'm praying this fixes it!)

I have been battling this since he was 4 months old, and he is now 9 months. He has gotten sick with vomiting, diarrhea and general lethargy on 4 different occasions. Three of which required a visit to the vet or e-vet.

***I suspect SIBO is in the mix also. So would it hurt to treat him with Tylan for a month or or 45 days without the cobalamin/folate and TLI test? Or should I just chalk up the money and have him tested?

He is currently on a 'vegan approved' acidophilus once daily. 5 billion cultures per tablet.

Poops have been normal after the treatment, but large and not as hard as I would like. He is fed 3 cups a day of Acana Pacifica. I will try upping him to 4 cups slowly, but history says he will have loose stools at the end.
He is ~60lbs and looks like he could gain another 8lbs to me.

Without any further treatment (tylan) I suspect he will relapse in a month or two with diarrhea, vomiting and lethargy if history holds true.

 

[LauraHolder]

This sounds like a repeat of what I had with my boy, Oscar, when he was younger. I ended up doing the bloodwork to test for EPI, SIBO and B12 levels just to see what his levels were at. He ended up having high folate, high B12 and low-normal TLI, so it was decided that he had SIBO...probably secondary to the Giardia that we had previously treated twice. He went on Tylan powder for a couple of months which made his poops wonderful, but when I tried to wean him off when we got to less than 1/8tsp. per day his mushy poops returned.

I am one of the believers that long term use of any antibiotic is not a good idea b/c it can mask something else that is going on. That said, I headed off to a holistic vet that recommended the use of liquid Phytomucil. We have been giving that to Oscar for the past 2 1/2 weeks and it has worked fabulously!

In your case, I would definitely have the blood tests done just to check his levels and go from there.

 

[LauraHolder]

P.S. If you aren't giving probiotics, I would definitely recommend getting him on some. Start slow and work up to a double dosage if he can tolerate it. With being on the Metro and Fenben several times, the good and bad bacteria of his gut/GI tract has been flushed out and left wide open for the bad bacteria to take over.

 

[Kris10]

Re: probiotics, he said the pup is on acidophilus.

 

[Lesley1905]

Ahhh Poor Guy!! My pup had it as well and it was soooo hard to get rid of!

 

[Hansel & Gretel]

My EPI GSD was originally treated for SIBO with Metronidazole. After 3 weeks and just a little improvement I switched to Tylan and things have gotten much better.

I would suggest treating with Tylan. There are no long term effects. You can pick it up at KV Vet( Tylan - 100g | Pet Supplies, Horse Supplies, Dog Supplies | KVsupply.com ) for a good price .

John