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  1. #41
    Senior Dog voodoo's Avatar
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    even for an experienced lab technician giardia is the if not the hardest to ID under the microscope. It is super hard to cure. I wish you luck in finding the right vet that can handle it. most vets send their stuff out for analysis. and just prescribe meds off of the techs interpretations. in addition giardia is super resistant to drugs. get a handle on that.

    My dog eats any food around, dont put much credit in food anymore other than its food. eat a balanced diet. a doggy diet.
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  3. #42
    Senior Dog zd262's Avatar
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    Just heard back from the breeder! WindyCanyon I definitely think a food change is in order. He said they feed the pups whatever the mom had been doing best on, which was Diamond in this scenario, but that not every pup will necessarily do well on it in the future. His suggestion was to change to a salmon based formula, he recommended EVO as a high priced option, or Pro Plan sensitive stomach as a lower priced option. For the food change process, he said to first give Bubba's stomach a break and feed a rice & egg mixture for a week. Then start to slowly combine the new food with rice & egg mixture for another 1-2 weeks until he will finally be just on the new food.

    What's the difference between the different proplan options - sport, focus, select, etc?

    Also the breeder said that his brother, the only other male & chocolate in the litter, who they kept to train as a service dog, will be going out with the service crew soon so they will be putting pictures up. Excited to see how Bubba and his brother compare in looks!

  4. #43
    Senior Dog zd262's Avatar
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    Wanted to give an update on this in case anyone was interested.

    Waited for 1.5 weeks to hear back from my vet on a more intensive fecal test. By the time I heard back, we were about to move out of the area. In the meantime we switched to ProPlan sensitive stomach.

    The switch was fully complete about a week ago - no change.

    Went to the new vet today and filled her in on everything. Here is her suggestion:

    1. Another fecal because one negative fecal does not mean no giardia
    2. Another round of the metranodizole since it's the only thing that worked in the past
    3. Fast Balance GI Paste: has anyone used this before??

    If we're able to rule out giardia then she would want to go to a vet diet rather than do the intensive fecal because she says shes never seen the more expensive fecal analysis show her anything that she could actually use.

    Guess we'll see how this goes!

  5. #44
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    I don't recommend metronidazole for giardia. It never worked for us. it's like an anti-biotic pepto. It stops the runs and as soon as you stop the meds, the runs come back. You can Panacur.

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  7. #45
    Senior Dog Scoutpout's Avatar
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    Scout had a bad run with giardia when i 1st got him at not quite 2yrs old. it took 2 rounds of panacur and metro to get it calmed down. I don't believe it was actually truely gone, just vastly decreased numbers of the little organisms. i switched his food right when i got him, mixing his old and the new stuff to transition. he cameto me eating "whatever was cheap at the mill", which was often the "house brand". I switched him to Eukanuba, as my last 2 boys had done well on it for all their lives. Then came the above-mentioned giardia treatment, as the food switch hadn't fixed the diarrhea and soft-serve poop issues.
    Then we had a flair-up of the giardia. back on the panacur and metro, and this time also the fortiflora. for another 3 rounds. about 3 fecals afterwards, said it was cleared up. but still had quite soft poops. so, food search....switched to BB wilderness salmon. things improved (this is now almost a year after getting him). stayed with that until last year, and now have him on a Now go fresh senior largebreed grain free. his poops are really good, and he is also getting some raw (chicken or turkey necks) about 4 times a week. still is a bit "itchy", but nowhere near what he was. and am seriously looking at switching him to mostly raw, more for his itchies than anything else. plus i think its just got to be healthier than eating processed food all the time.
    I really would consider looking closely at Jeff's regime that finally got poor Hemi on the med.

  8. #46
    Senior Dog zd262's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scoutpout View Post
    I really would consider looking closely at Jeff's regime that finally got poor Hemi on the med.
    Thanks Scoutpout I definitely agree. I guess I'm not totally convinced yet that he doesn't still have giardia so I want to get that ruled out. Hopefully will hear back from his vet about the latest fecal today.

  9. #47
    Senior Dog zd262's Avatar
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    And the results are in...he still has giardia!! I'm glad we're with a new vet who believes that giardia can stick around and that you almost need 3 negative fecals to prove it's gone as opposed to our old vet who said that giardia was almost never reoccurring and didn't understand why Bubba still had it, and told us he didn't even though we really thought he still did!

  10. #48
    Senior Dog zd262's Avatar
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    But also now we need to figure out how to really kick this giardia since it's been around for a longgggg time

  11. #49
    Senior Dog Maxx&Emma's Avatar
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    Start with switching the med, as Jen suggested above. On for 10 days, off for 5 and back on for at least 5 more. Keep giving the probiotic. Also, clean all poop from yard really good.

    Poor Bubba, thank goodness you were persistent! Get better soon sweet boy!
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    Ozzy - 10/2002 - 06/2011 - Rest well my sweet boy. You are forever remembered, forever missed, forever in my heart.

  12. #50
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    Our boy had Giardia and the vet prescribed Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets EN Gastroenteric Naturals Dry Dog Food. We did a 100% change overnite. His condition cleared up immediately (next poop). We kept him on it for about 3 weeks and we are currently transitioning over to Purina Pro Plan Focus Adult Sensitive Skin & Stomach Formula Dry Dog Food. We about 3/4 of the way through it and it looks good with some noteable exceptions. 1) Gas 2) Larger poop volume but firm. We will give him this new food for about 1 month and then decide if we need to change to another food (Grain free).

 



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