# Lifetime of Giardia outside of the body



## bboylayz (Sep 7, 2010)

Poor guy was diagnosed with Giardia. He's been treated and is doing a little better as far as stools go. He's always had loose stool so we suspect he may have some other issues like slight SIBO. My vet told us to wait it out and see if he gets better in the next week before taking further action.

Anyways, my question is how long can Giardia live outside of the body? I've read multiple times that it can survive weeks to months in cold wet environments. But I live in SF Bay area (San Jose) and it is pretty dry here. It only gets about 65 degrees now since its almost winter. And it is starting to rain a bit but not very often at all. How long can Giardia live in the dirt where he defecates? I pick up his poop right away now as to not risk him reinfecting himself later, but he tends to poop in the same general area so he is bound to step on a spot that used to have poop on it.

Also, today he stepped in his poop and then ran inside! Got it everywhere so I tried my best to clean it with an enzyme cleaner. He was treated for Giardia over a week ago so I am pretty confident (or at least kind of confident) that the Giardia is gone. But in the case that their were cysts in his stool and he tracked it inside, how long can it live indoors? It isn't a "wet environment" so I can suspect it lives too long. No sources online seem to have an estimate on this. The closest I got was finding this excerpt online: "Giardia do not survive in hot, dry environments. Letting surfaces dry out well will help."

So how long after the surface dries will it take for the Giardia to die? I know I can clean with a bleach solution but he tracked it everywhere and it will take hours to clean it all. Is bleach absolutely necessary if its dry inside?


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## GSDAlphaMom (Jul 20, 2010)

It can live in soil. I would spray the yard with a bleach/water solution. I think it's 15 or 20:1 to be effective and not kill the grass. You can find it online. Make sure you pick up each time he goes and keep a spray bottle on hand with the solution to spray those areas as well.

Also it very often takes more than one round of treatment to rid a dog of giardia. When Sig was a pup she ended up doing 2 rounds of 3 wk treatments. They may
or may not show up in a fecal test depending on if they are sluffing off or not.

If the stool improves and then there is a setback that would be my first inclination.

Also, you need to make sure you practice good hygiene as well as it can be passed to humans.


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## bboylayz (Sep 7, 2010)

Not too worried about the grass back there! The SJ sun successfully scorched it all before I moved here haha. I will fill up my bug spraying tank (the bug spray solution is very safe for pets don't worry so no harm if there is any residual bug solution) with bleach and go to town this weekend! I did read you may need multiple treatments as well. My vet only gave me treatment for 3 days of Panacur. But I was reading online that it is a good idea to treat again in 2 weeks over the course of 10 days to kill it in all stages of its cycle. So I went and purchased more Panacur online (much cheaper than I purchased it at the vet!).

He was on Metranodazole (Flagyl) as well for a week before we found out it was Giardia so hopefully it is gone but doesn't hurt to be cautious I guess. They did say he was LOADED with Giardia though so I assume the risk of him reinfecting himself in the soil is high, or even the risk that not all of it was killed with treatment, since his stool is still fairly soft with a little straining and wetness at the end.

GSDAlphaMom, what were you doing for treatments? Was it Panacur or were you using something else?


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## GSDAlphaMom (Jul 20, 2010)

She was on metranodazole for 3 weeks each round. I added panacur with it the 2nd round for 3 days. I did the bleach/water solution and sprayed the entire yard then used the spray bottle for clean up each time she went I wanted it gone! 

We thought it was gone after the first round because her poops were better but about a week later then were loose again. We also had an issue with food as she was on Wellness and could not tolerate it (alot of dogs can't).

You can get metranodazole much cheaper online under the name Fish Zole. It comes in 250mg and 500mg (not sure how big your pup is). It's the exact same stuff, I took it to my vet and she verfied it for me.


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## bboylayz (Sep 7, 2010)

Thanks for that tip! I am definitely going to carry a bleach solution spray with me when I take him out now.

His stool is still slightly soft and during treatment it didn't seem to improve as fast as expected by the vet. So I'm thinking there are still other factors in play. We have him on Orijen LBP and will consider trying something new if further Giardia treatment doesn't help the rest of the way. I prefer grain free, hopefully it isn't the food thats causing the semi loose stool. His consistency today was solid but sticky. Semi formed. Followed by straining (which he's alwasy done) with a couple splashes of liquid. Sorry if thats TMI 

Also, how much Fish Zole should I give him? I forgot what the amount was on the bottle of Metranodazole the vet gave me. He is about 60 pounds and 9 months old. I know he is a bit small, especially for being an East German working line. Seems like the Giardia has been holding his growth back sadly. I hope he will still fill out given time and that this didn't permanently stunt his growth.


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## GSDAlphaMom (Jul 20, 2010)

Mine did not do well on Orijen either, ended up going with Innova. Also grainfree isn't good for puppies as it has too much calcium. Consensus seems to be once the growth platlets close it's go to go to grain free.

As for the fish zole (metro), check with your vet. When I was giving it, dose was 500mg over 40lbs and 250mg under unless they are really young/small pups then 125mg. One tab 2x daily with food.

They grow at different rates so I wouldn't worry about his weight right now, get rid of the parasites and he will start to flourish. Good luck!


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