Giardia Treatment making dog sicker?

bondi · Post by **bondi** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 7:31 am

I have a 6 month old Lab. He has been suffering from very soft stool- sometimes almost liquid so I took him to the vet Saturday and he tested positive for Giardia. His only symtpom is the soft stool- he hasn't had any of the others... lethargy, vomitting etc...

The vet prescribed Metronidazole, the white chalky liquid stuff (I forget the name- I think its the dewormer) and Lopermide for the diahrea.

After giving him his first dose ( 1 syringe of the liquid, 2 tab. of the Lopermide, and 1.5 tab. of the Metronidazole his stool was much worse - completely liquid. This morning I gave him his second dose of these... and soon after eating he regurgitated all of his food. His stool this morning was completely liqud again.

I thought the Lopermide was supposed to help with his stool. Something is really upsetting his stomach and he's more lethergic now.... I'm afraid the medicine was regurgitated too since I gave it to him after he ate.

Its the holidays and my vet isn't open until Teusday. I don't know whether to keep administering the medicine or stop.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Mark

RedGlitter · Post by **RedGlitter** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 7:38 am

Hi Mark,

We have some people here who might be able to help you but I'm not one of them when it comes to Giardia.

Not to send you somewhere else outside our forum but you need help quickly so try this group at Care2.com: http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/askthevettechs

You may have to sign up but it's free and painless and the vet techs there know their stuff.

bondi · Post by **bondi** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 7:46 am

thanks for the advice REDGLITTER, I signed up and applied for that group-waitng for approval- where in AZ? I'm in N.Phoenix (almost Cave creek).

RedGlitter · Post by **RedGlitter** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 7:59 am

I'm in Bullhead City. Have you always been an Arizonan? I've been here since 1975,

I'm very sorry about your little fur guy! I'm not very knowledgeable about giardia. I wonder if it's the metro...blabla stuff you mentioned that's irritating him worse. I don't understand vets not being open on weekends and holidays. They should have someone on call at least to answer questions. Grr! Is he drinking water? I'm tempted to suggest Pedialyte to replace electrolytes.

Edit: I'm also thinking replacing his standard food with a homemade chicken and rice gruel. That's what we feed our guys when they are off their feed.

bondi · Post by **bondi** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 8:09 am

I've been in AZ for about 2 years now- originally from Chicago.

I agree- vets should at least have a phone service staffed by vet technicians if not by vets.

He's still drinking water but the pedialites not a bad idea. I feel bad for him- he's obviously not feeling well right now- he's sleeping. I'll see how he does this afternoon.

Thanks! Mark

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 1:45 pm

Red's chicken and rice is a good idea, but I would also fast him for

24 hours first. After that, you can try a tablespoon of canned pumpkin

with his food, just regular canned pumpkin, NOT pumpkin pie filling.

The Metro very definitely can cause problems, one of those the cure is

worse than, etc.

As far as if you missed a dose, just keep on the sched and don't worry

about it for right now.

And do keep his fluids up however you can. Do you happen to have a kiddie

wading pool for him? Labs love the water, of course, and if you could

keep him from too vigorous of splashing, the water would be good for

him.

What is his regular food? Dry kibble? What brand? When you re-introduce

that, I'd do it VERY slowly.

Good luck, give puppers some hugs for me, and do let us know how

it goes.

:-6

bondi · Post by **bondi** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 2:08 pm

Hi Valerie,

Thanks for the info. I have a few questions about your suggestioins...

1. I've never heard of Red's chicken and rice. Is that a kibble? I've used Pumpkin in the past with success but not when he's had Giardia. Should I keep giving him the anti-diahrea medication that the vet prescribed and the pumpkin?

2. Regarding the Metro... even though its causing profuse diahrea- should I keep giving it to him? I'm trying to keep him hydrated. He'll drink water but he refuses it when I put any pedialite in it.

My thought was to keep giving him the anti-diahrea medication and post-pone the other two until Tuesday until I can see the vet. What do you think?

As far as food... I feed him Canidae Life Stage. I also bought some California Naturals Chicken & Rice and mixed them to bland the diet a bit. But, it didn't seem to do much.

Again, thanks for taking the time to write.

Mark (Bondi's dad)

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 2:55 pm

The chicken and rice is just regular "human food". Get some skinless

chicken breasts, boil them up and mix with some plain ol' white rice.

(The ten minute kind works well). What I usually do is one chicken

breast diced, one bag of the boil-in-bag rice, a couple large scoops

of low-fat cottage cheese, and a tablespoon of the pumpkin.

Yes, I'd keep giving him the Metro. The other thing I was thinking of

is that the giardia might have built up to such a level that THAT is

what is causing the poops to be so much worse, not the Metro itself.

At this point I'd fast him until tomorrow morning, then do the chicken

rice cottage cheese pumpkin for 2 meals tomorrow, then nothing until

hopefully you can at least call the vet Tuesday morning.

Canidae is pretty good food, so I think it will eventually be okay to

feed that, just not until his gut settles down a bit.

The other thing you might try is probiotics, because the Metro is

likely to kill off the good bacteria as well as the bad. Buy some plain

active-culture yogurt, trust me, he'll love it. BUT (important) give

it to him either 2 hours before or 2 hours AFTER he gets his Metro

dose.

It's okay if he's just drinking water without the pedialyte. Important

thing is to keep that available.

I know you care and you worry, try not to, he'll be fine, really!

Any other questions, feel free, I will check in here every so often.

:-6

bondi · Post by **bondi** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 3:09 pm

Thanks Valerie,

This all sounds like very good and practical advice. I have actually been giving him probiotics "Digest-All" in his food hoping that would help. I wasn't aware of the 2 hour before or after rule... that makes sense too.

It will be hard (for me) not to feed him tonight. I recently cut out his mid-day feeding since he is now 6 months old and that was hard enough...lol but I know if I feed him it will just end up coming out one way or the other anyway.

Again, Thanks. I feel better.

Mark

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 3:19 pm

You know, I'm thinking now of having you feed him just a little bit

tonight (of the chicken rice etc.) because he is SUCH a baby, their

little systems can't do like big dogs do. What is his weight, do you know?

And when you said you took him Saturday, meaning yesterday, not a

week ago?

Do you have any emergency clinics around? Sometimes they will do

a phone consult...

If you can get to a store and get him a little of that bland stuff, I'd

probably go ahead and try it.

Poor baby, doesn't it just half kill ya to have them uncomfortable?

>

bondi · Post by **bondi** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 6:05 pm

I'll try.. at least rice tonight. I'll wait at least an hour after giving him the metro...

I just took him out and he tried to do #2 and couldn't so maybe the anti-diahrea is starting to work.

I took him yesterday (Saturday). He weighs 52lbs. He's a big puppy..lol.

Thanks again.