How long does it take to see a change after switching food?

[windycanyon]

One more suggestion if you can stand it. MSM is reported in the literature to help in vivo guard against giardia (and roundworms and other parasites). It also has anti-inflammatory properties, helps w/ connective tissue development and immune issues in general (ask me how well it helps me personally w/ springtime allergies..yea, nothing needed anymore!).

I think there is an underlying reason why some people have more problems than I do w/ parasites. I am a believer in doing things holistically like the MSM, probiotics (I use Bakpac Plus), fish oil/vit E, etc. And the psyllium husks w/ the puppies (some swear by slippery elm bark for really little ones).. things like that. Most general vets aren't going to know about them, let alone recommend them because drugs are easier. Then you get into possible vaccine ineffectiveness on top of all the other issues of wiping out the good gut bugs, etc.

How old is this puppy now? ~5 mos maybe? Yikes. You need to get to the bottom of this.

[JenC]

Leave the food alone and concentrate on the giardia. It can be TOUGH to cure and you could go through several rounds of Panacur, weeks on, weeks off, weeks on weeks off, before it's out. And his system will always be somewhat susceptible, and in times of stress you could see flare ups again. Metronidazole is kind of like an antibiotic Pepto pill. It really won't do much for giardia at all.

[zd262]

So overwhelmed AND incredibly thankful for all the advice! Jeff I read through your amazing PM and sent my vet a long email (which she of course has not responded to). I'm going to stop in there today and try to talk to her in person.

I guess I'm now pretty undecided about what I think my next step should be. I think a food change (now or in the coming weeks) is definitely in order. I'm balking a little at the price of the California Naturals, though of course if that's what Bubba needs I'll go for it.

Yes windycanyon he's a little over 4 months, with nonstop diarrhea so it is really bad.

[zd262]

I just emailed his breeder. They're pretty slow to respond to emails, better on the phone, but I thought maybe they'd have a suggestion.

[zd262]

Just spoke to the vet and she said that she will look up pricing to do a more involved fecal test. She said she hadn't mentioned it to me because she got the sense that "financially" I didn't want to do that...

I guess I did say that I felt like we were doing unnecessary fecals when I kept saying Bubba had giardia, she would make us test it, and then he'd still have giardia, but I would hope that as a vet she would present all possible treatment options & prices to a patient and not assume what they can do financially. Especially since if we had done a more involved fecal earlier I bet I would have saved a bunch of money on useless medications!

Sorry just feeling a little frustrated by this process.

[Jeff]

I totally understand. I have been there. Hemi had Diarhea from the time he was 10 weeks until he was 7 months. You have this great puppy who you just want to share life with and have a great normal time with but Diarrhea constantly is a battle. You get stressed and which stresses the pup and while I am sure it will get solved. You will feel so relieved when it does. I still remember how happy I was the first time I got a nice big healthy poop and no medications were involved. Of course I watched with a laser focus for weeks after but each happy healthy poop was a relief. I have games I still play with Hemi about good poops.

I think I mentioned this before but if you have not seen the capital one credit card commercials. Where the Russian guy is named Peggy. Those were big at the time Hemi was going through this. I think this is a link to it but can't be sure I can search YouTube at work but can't watch the videos. Peggy - USA Prime Credit - Transfer - YouTube Anyway the strong like bull comment in there always made me laugh. So When when Hemi would poop a good poop, I would say in my best russian accent. "You poop strong like bull. Daddy Like" This would make him super excited. It still does to this day. You can just see him smile and quite often this will cause a happy butt tucking zoomie to start.

So here is hoping you get a poop strong like bull.

[smartrock]

Strong, like bull!!! Bull crap??? Yes, here's wishing bull crap all around!

[JenC]

Stop worrying about the food and get the giardia cured.

[zd262]

According to the fecals the giardia is cured, that's why we're moving on to see what else could be the problem.

Hahaha Jeff, hopefully we'll see some of that strong like bull poop soon!

[windycanyon]

According to the fecals the giardia is cured, that's why we're moving on to see what else could be the problem.

Hahaha Jeff, hopefully we'll see some of that strong like bull poop soon!

Okay, so here is a story. I sold pup #1 to a guy a few years ago. He didn't like my food of choice, which puppy was doing very well on (and all of mine have done well on). Wasn't "good enough" quality. So he asked me about another brand which actually had similar Ca:P levels and I gave it the nod. A few months later, he emailed me to give me an update and told me all was great except for constantly soft poos (soft serve ice cream soft). Apparently this had been going on for months, since switching foods. I asked him to consider changing back to my recommended food.... finally at ~9-10 mos he did and emailed back. VOILA.... firm poops. Boy was he mad at himself! He came back for puppy #2 about 3 yrs later and stuck w/ my suggestion. LOL.

Anyhow, sometimes it is all about the food. Go figure.