I’ve done a lot of research on Giardia online, but I’d really like to read more stories from people who’ve had to get rid of this parasite from their dog… but first, here’s my story.
About a month ago, I got an adorable Papillon puppy. I went to collect her from a breeder. On the day I was due to bring her home, I noticed her little tummy was a bit bloated, but I didn't pay much attention to it, especially as the breeder told me she was in good health, was up to date with all her jabs, and had been wormed recently.
As soon as she arrived home, she started having diarrhoea which alternated with stools that were more or less formed. Getting her to eat was a real struggle and she would sometimes skip meals. She was sleeping a lot too. I wasn’t happy about it, but I told myself it might just be the change of environment and that I’d wait a few days. As the situation didn’t improve, I booked an appointment with the vet.
The vet said that, on the face of it, there was nothing serious since she didn't have a temperature and was in good spirits (when she wasn't sleeping). He prescribed some probiotics but said that if she wasn't better in a few days, we’d have to run some tests to see if it was Giardia.
As you’ve probably guessed, we did the tests and BANG: Giardia.
So, the vet started her on a treatment (using an oxfendazole-based wormer).
She’s doing better already, but I’ve read that it can take months to completely clear this parasite… so I’d really love to hear some of your experiences… If your dog has had Giardia, how long did it take to cure them? What were they treated with? What other extra measures did you take to help the recovery?
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So, like I said, that’s not BARF! It’s a home-cooked diet! To be called BARF, it has to be strictly raw meat, not cooked.
Brilliant news for your girl!
Good evening,
Just an update: Jena is looking a bit brighter, but she’s turning her nose up at her food bowl. We might be picking her up tomorrow and we’ll know more then.
Regarding BARF, I know it’s a massive topic with plenty of debate; my wife is the one who handles all that. For when she first gets home, we’re going to stick to home-cooked meals. We’re actually planning to do the BARF diet using cooked ingredients once she’s fully recovered.
Thanks for the info and for all your support.
So sorry to hear about your poor little girl! That breeder really deserves to be taught a lesson...
I just wanted to chime in on one point, @boulis – the diet you’re planning for your dog is actually what’s called a home-cooked diet! BARF is strictly raw food, which includes raw meaty bones!
Just to add something else, @julieta, your recipe is a good one; it’s very similar to what I used to feed my Boxer when she had a chronic condition. However, I don’t think it’s necessary to keep giving them starches once they’re feeling better... Why not increase the protein and cut out the carbs? They don’t really provide any benefit to dogs.
I really hope your dog gets better, @boulis! Best of luck!
I agree with you. For us, the BARF side of things would be with cooked chicken breast as we don't want to give our girl raw food or any bones. I didn't know that about the fish. Thanks for your recipe, it looks really good.
At the risk of getting some stick from the BARF crowd, I wouldn't recommend switching to raw feeding just yet. The simple reason is that raw meat contains a certain amount of bacteria (and I’m not even talking about the really nasty stuff like salmonella). Healthy dogs have no trouble dealing with these bacteria; it’s actually beneficial for strengthening their gut flora. For a dog that's currently struggling with a parasite, it’s a different story. I personally went with a recipe given to me by my vet and tweaked it myself after doing plenty of reading: 50% protein, 25% veg, and 25% carbs. All of it cooked. These days, I’m giving my girl more and more raw food (veg and red meat), and she digests it all perfectly well.
One of the things I have an issue with regarding BARF is the whole business of chicken feet with bones... I can well believe a big dog could crunch through them with no trouble, but the only time I tried it with Lucy (she only weighs about 5 and a half pounds) and saw how hard and sharp the bone shards were, I nearly had a heart attack! I promised myself I’d never do that again!
Anyway, getting back to your question, chicken is great (breast, thighs, liver). Fish is good too, but avoid freshwater fish and don’t give it more than once a week. I can’t quite remember why, but it’s something to do with the presence of heavy metals...
Cheers 🙂
Regarding that thesis on Google Scholar about the epidemiological study of Giardia in breeding: these.vet-alfort.fr. It’s a thesis from the Alfort National Vet School from 2002.
As for the advice, I think you can never have too much of it. I’ve picked up loads of great tips on this forum, and it’s easy to miss things, so the support really helps. You’re right about the homemade meals—my wife wants to try a chicken or fish BARF diet. What do you reckon?
You and your wife are clearly taking this very seriously! 🙂 I reckon your place will provide the perfect environment for your little one to recover!
You’ve really done your homework, so I don’t think I have any more advice to give. Did you find that thesis online? If so, I’d love the link!
Oh, wait! One last tip: it would be great if you could do some home-cooked meals for her. She needs to get her gut flora back in balance, and some healthy, easily digestible home-cooked food will really help her out!
Fingers crossed for little Jena (and for you both, though I don’t think there’s much chance of you getting ill!). Keep us posted!
We’ve had some news about our little Frenchie, Jena.
For now, the vet has told us that she’s heading in the right direction. She’s active, she’s just not eating much yet, so they’re keeping her on a drip to keep her strength up. They started her on Panacur straight away. I’ve been reading a paper on giardia, so I’ve learned a fair bit. We’d already cleaned everything like we do for stomach bugs—we’re always careful, my wife always washes everything at 50°C plus—and now we’re going to disinfect everything with a product that kills the cysts, because bleach doesn’t work. I’ve even binned her fabric bed and bought a hard plastic one so I can properly disinfect it in case of a relapse, which is a real possibility (giardia is a right nightmare). Basically, I’m following a strict protocol to give her the best possible chance. On top of that, we’re going to the doctor tomorrow to see if we’ve caught it ourselves; it might just be stress, but (sorry for the TMI) we’ve got a bit of a stomach bug. Humans can definitely catch it. I might be being a bit paranoid, but at least I’ll know for sure. As for the breeder, we let her know via text, but she’s gone quiet—she’s playing it all down and thinks she’s in the right and it’s all our fault. I’ve told her exactly what I think and I’m fuming... I can’t stand people playing with your feelings and a life. We’ve also alerted her vet; I’m thinking of all the other dogs and buyers, because when this happens, it’s heartbreaking and it costs a fortune. We’re going to see a solicitor to see what we can do (I’m not letting this slide).
The main thing for us is that our dog is saved—we’re keeping everything tightly crossed.
If she doesn’t take this seriously (I’m thinking of the infected dogs), there’s not much more I can do besides reporting her to the RSPCA, but I’m waiting to find out more first. It’s a big deal to report a breeder, and I’m not taking it lightly.
I’m getting another update on Jena at the end of the afternoon.
Oh no! Poor little thing! What breed is she?
If you’ve spotted worms, it means that as well as having giardia, she hasn’t been properly wormed.
It’s great that you got her to the vet so quickly! Now the vet can clearly establish that the breeder sold you a sick puppy (that’s definitely why she got so cross when she found out you’d gone to the vet!). My Lucy’s giardia wasn’t diagnosed until two weeks in, so it was hard to prove she hadn’t caught it at my place... Have a word with your vet to see if there’s any way to take action against the breeder. It only seems right that she should reimburse your vet bills!
Make sure to thoroughly clean all the little one’s things and any spots where she might have been sick or had an accident to get rid of the parasites! Scrub her bowls with boiling water and put any bedding or fabrics through the wash at 90 degrees.
I really hope she’s better soon and you can have her back home quickly. What’s her name?
I don't know yet, she's still at the emergency vet—it's all very new to us.
Now that I've found this forum, I'm going to gather as much info as I can, because we only found out yesterday and I have to admit it's been a real shock.
Even though it's tough, we've found some great vets who caught it quickly so they could start treatment, and we're getting updates several times a day.
