# Ghiardia



## josephluplow (Nov 24, 2009)

Some of you have probably seen a couple previous posts about Emerson and how he had loose stools. Turns out after a sample sent to the lab he's got Ghiardia. To be honest I'm a little relieved to know that it's something treatable and not terribly serious.

I had a question I was hoping someone might be able to answer. Will him having Ghiardia for a couple weeks stunt his growth, or will he really start gaining now that his body doesn't have a parasite? 

Just curious as to how it affects the overall mature weight of the dog...Thanks!

Joseph


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## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

Glad to hear you got a diagnosis.

When Dante had Giardia it did take a couple runs of meds to get it taken care of, sorry I don't remember what they were or which was used first.

Who knows how long Dante had Giardia, I'm guessing from before I brought him home at 4.5 months. 

I do think that it may have contributed to a slow maturing GI tract, just my thought no medical word on that, but I don't think it impacted his growth in any way. At almost 6 years old he's 26 1/2" and 80-85 pounds.


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## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

Oh and because of that slow maturing GI tract I did feed him x3 a day for a long time to keep his poops happy.


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## Doc (Jan 13, 2009)

I hope they prescribed Albon. I would re-test in 3 to 4 weeks. Some Giardia is very difficult to eliminate.


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## Alto (Nov 18, 2008)

How was the Giardia diagnosis done?
- if a fecal shows Giardia, it is very extensive & expect complete recovery to take several weeks to months; if the fecal is negative but the SNAP test is positive for Giardia, then the case is much milder & I'd expect a couple of weeks for recovery.
Giardia is one of those diseases where the meds get it under control but the hosts immune system is responsible for eradication.


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## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

> Originally Posted By: Altothe hosts immune system is responsible for eradication.


Dante had a Giardia Antigen come back positive during his recent annual exam. Because he had none of the symtoms he had a few years ago, I chose not to use antibiotics to see if he could rid it on his own.

The next antigen came back negative


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## Alto (Nov 18, 2008)

oops ... forgot to add: 

hopefully your vet has explained that you need to disinfect the home environment to prevent re-infection (easy enough to do indoors, rather difficult to disinfect the yard) 
& that your puppy IS infectious ie he's shedding giardia organisms wherever he goes







(even after you've picked up the obvious)


Giardiasis Article


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## josephluplow (Nov 24, 2009)

Alto, they tested but couldn't find it in a normal fecal sample test, another sample was sent to a lab where it came back positive.

I'm glad if what you say is true Barb regarding it not impacting his overall mature weight. Does anyone else have any thoughts on whether he'll have a permanent decrease in size?

I think to prevent him getting into his own feces and eating dirt (he simply loves dirt...), etc. that may prolong the infection I'll probably go back to leashing him when he needs to potty and be sure to pick it up when he's done! This makes me think he's probably had it since we brought him home a few weeks ago.


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## Alto (Nov 18, 2008)

<span style="color: #FF0000">More than you ever wanted to know about Giardia</span> (OK really there's a ton more information but this is a pretty decent summary)

Incidence of Giardia in dogs of breeding kennels 

<u>361 dogs were tested in 14 kennels</u>
- positive fecals were seen in 37.4% (of the total specimens), interestingly this 37% value remained consisitent even when the feces were separated by appearance into normal, soft or diarrhea









- positive antigen ranged from 6.7% - 59.3% depending on the kennel, prevalence in puppies was 54.5% vs 30.9 % in adults

Zoonosis is possible (most commonly observed with _Giardia _genotypes A & B) but since you're unlikely to know which genotype your dog has, practise careful hygiene!


VIN transcript re giardia
Excerpts:

_*The most common manifestation of infection in dogs and cats is no clinical signs*. Most asymptomatic dogs and cats will spontaneously clear the infection. When clinical signs occur, acute mild diarrhea is the most common manifestation. Less commonly, severe diarrhea with dehydration can occur. Chronic small bowel diarrhea would be the next most common manifestation. Finally, chronic large bowel diarrhea, acute vomiting and chronic vomiting may occur rarely._

_Animals suspected of having a potentially life-threatening problem should receive: ...fecal examinations for parasites, ...complete blood count, ...biochemical profile, ...urinalysis, ...and survey abdominal radiographs. _

_Q: how long for *asymptomatic infections* to clear? 
A: in our experience *dogs can harbour giardia for up to 8 months* _

_Q: How "fresh" is a fresh sample of feces needed for giardia diagnosis 
A: fresh should not have been in the environment for longer than an 1 hour but can be kept at fridge temp for two-three days _

_Q: should you freeze the fecal samples? 
A: don't freeze, just refrigerate _

_The <u>Giardia vaccine</u> for dogs and cats appears to be safe. It <u>does not prevent infection, but does eliminate (dogs) diarrhea</u> or reduce the number of affected cats with diarrhea. It also reduces the number of animals shedding cysts after infection, the number of cysts shed (dogs), and the number of days of shedding (dogs). I recommend vaccination in endemic areas. Also, the vaccination should be used in high-risk populations, such as military or police dogs, research facilities, foxhound kennels, breeding operations, etc. In addition, animals that become reinfected in nonendemic areas should be vaccinated. Finally, further evidence may suggest a role for vaccination in the chronically infected animal that cannot be cleared with treatment. _

_Giardia cysts are not difficult to kill. Most <u>disinfectants</u> will destroy canine Giardia cysts if several minutes contact time is allowed. In general, the <u>quaternary ammonium compounds</u> may seem to have the highest efficacy in dilutions normally used. Bleach is also effective. If at all possible, allow the cleaned area to dry thoroughly before allowing people or animals to return._

_2. <u>In a situation where animals are coming in all time</u>, like an animal shelter, try to prevent new animals from bringing in more Giardia. Consider using fenbendazole as an initial treatment for worms and Giardia. Put each new dog on 3 days of fenbendazole in a quarantine area. At the end of that time, wash the dog (to remove cysts stuck to the hair coat) and move it to an disinfected, dry kennel. _


Don't forget to bathe your dog! parasites were found to persist on the coat & bathing was an important aspect of preventing reinfection: _what we did in our study was use a standard shampoo and then use a mild disinfectant rinse followed by a water rinse._

Diarrhea commonly occurs 5-7days after exposure, so if your pup comes home & a SNAP test indentifies _Giardia_ & you've had the pup for less than a week, chances are, the pup was contaminated at the breeders!


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## Alto (Nov 18, 2008)

One more link








3 yr intermittent PDB thread  - notable for it's mention/link to _Baycox_ ie *toltrazuril*


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## Alto (Nov 18, 2008)

> Quote: they tested but couldn't find it in a normal fecal sample test


this is often a deficiency in understanding of HOW to detect Giardia in fecal samples (collect 3 samples over 5 days, centrifugal preparation with zinc sulfate, using a hydrometer to ensure the concentration of the zinc sulfate solution, etc) - at this point it's cheaper to run the Idex SNAP test: vets can purchase these & use _in clinic_ for only a few $/sample: I don't understand why vets in areas where Giardia is endemic or seasonal, don't do this









If the SNAP test (an ELISA test) is negative, but vet still suspects Giardia, then a _pcr_ test is the most sensitive (but also rather more $$).

It's very unlikely that your pup would have any long term effects from Giardia unless it's overwhelming & persistent & then really, you're looking at effects of longterm medications & likely immunosuppression & other gut effects that go far beyond the scope of Giardia.


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## josephluplow (Nov 24, 2009)

Thanks for all the information Alto! That helps a ton. 

He hasn't had any blood/mucus or anything like that in his stool, and no water, it's just been very loose. So I'm hoping it's rather mild, and he'll be okay shortly. I just worry about long term, permanent side effects, but it doesn't sound like there will be any...Just need to get rid of the bug and move on! 

I think the vet did the ELISA test and I think that's what found the Giardia, but I could be wrong...Anyone else have any experience with dealing with this and how there pup handled it? 

Thanks for all the help!


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