About a month ago Pearl had some loose stool. I didn’t think much of it at first because she’s always eating bugs and fuzz so I just thought she ate something that didn’t agree with her. When her defecating started to make her uncomfortable I called the vet. She went in and was diagnosed with Giardia. I was a bit surprised because Pearl was at the vet the month before and had a fecal exam that came back negative. Also, I had no idea how she might have contracted this parasite. Giardia is a protozoan parasite that lives in the intestine of infected animals. Many dogs that are infected with Giardia do not have any symptoms, but if they do have symptoms these symptoms are normally diarrhea, vomiting, greasy appearing stool, weight loss, or lack of appetite. Some people believe that if eggs (cysts) are found in the stool of a healthy dog without diarrhea it’s not anything to be concerned about. However, in puppies, senior dogs, or adult dogs that have weaker immune systems it can be a serious problem. Of course even if your dog doesn’t seem bothered by the Giardia they can still spread it to other dogs. Dogs contract Giardia by swallowing the cyst stage of the parasite. This can happen from eating infected feces, eating something soiled with infected feces, or from drinking standing water. The cyst matures in the dog’s intestine. The dog can then pass infective cysts in his stool. The cysts sit in the environment and can infect other dogs. The parasite thrives in moist, humid areas. Unfortunately for us, the last couple months had been wet and humid. Pearl was prescribed metronidazole (flagyl) which is the most common antibiotic used against Giardia. She was also prescribed Panacur (fenbendazole), which is a dewormer that has shown to be effective against Giardia. This dewormer is being prescribed more and more to treat Giardia because metronidazole isn’t always effective. The yard freaked me out after this ordeal. I was so worried that everyone was going to end up with Giardia. Yes, people can get it too! Researchers are unsure if we contract the same strain of Giardia as dogs, but better safe than sorry! Some say we can pass it to dogs, but they can't pass it to us. In order to prevent this nasty from spreading Pearl got her butt washed and scrubbed (cysts can sometimes be found hanging around the anus), all the bedding was washed, poop was picked up immediately (you should always keep the yard scooped. It helps prevent the spread of disease), and a bleach solution was kept next to the door. We would scoop, spray the area with the bleach solution, dump the poop, and clean the scooper with the bleach solution. In areas such as kennels or pavement/gravel, you can clean the entire area with a bleach solution. I also stopped watering the yard for a while. The heat dried things out and (fingers crossed) killed the little parasitic suckers.
Giardia? Yuck! What surprised me most was that other dogs could be carriers without having any symptoms. Just another reason to keep the yard picked up!
Giardia? Yuck! What surprised me most was that other dogs could be carriers without having any symptoms. Just another reason to keep the yard picked up!
ReplyDeleteI guess Pearl has a boyfriend you didnt know about. hahahaha. Its fun to read about the stuff you forget to talk about with me.
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