Coccidia and Giardia – The “Non-Worm” Parasites | Frontier Veterinary Hospital

by Dr. Yung

If they aren’t worms, what are Coccidia and Giardia?

Giardia and Coccidia are intestinal parasites.  However, unlike what we commonly consider a “worm” – like roundworms, hookworms, whipworms and tapeworms – giardia and coccidia organisms are small, microscopic organisms that do not develop into visible worms.

Giardia organisms are protozoan parasites that, when mature, have two little tails, called ‘flagellas’, that are the mode of movement.  These more mature trophozoites harbor in the intestines and cause gastrointestinal (GI) illness.  There are many species of giardia, and some are species-specific, meaning they will only cause illness in that particular species, but many can cross species lines to cause illness in say, both a dog and a human.

Coccidia organisms are single-celled parasites that infect and reproduce inside intestinal cells.  As these organisms reproduce, they kill the intestinal cells as they divide.  Like giardia, there are several types of coccidia, and for dogs and cats a subset called isospora is the infective species.

What are the symptoms?

Both giardia and coccidia cause varying degrees of diarrhea.  Giardia diarrhea can run (pun intended) from mild soft stools to voluminous mucousy stool.  Giardia can also cause nausea and minor vomiting in some dogs.

Coccidia can vary from being somewhat asymptomatic in a mature animal (with a mature immune system), to severe and profuse watery diarrhea with or without blood in puppies and kittens.

How does a pet get these parasites?

Like most other intestinal parasites, the primary route of infection is through a fecal-oral contamination.  Giardia cysts, which are the “eggs” of the parasite, are shed from the fecal material of an infected animal and contaminate the environment.  Giardia cysts can survive for a significant period of time in a cool and wet environment (love that rainy Oregon weather!), so contaminated water and water sources are the most common sources of infection.

Coccidia/isospora oocytes are also shed from the stool of an infected pet.  These oocytes mature in the environment and are ingested when a pet licks or grooms infected dirt off their fur.

Who gets these parasites?

Giardia affects pets of all ages.  Dogs are very commonly affected in our area, cats are less so (they likely have a better immunity to giardia).  In theory, an animal’s immune system will develop a degree of immunity after infection with giardia.  However, we still see recurring giardia infections, likely due to:

1. The immunity is not complete and/or
2. There are several species of giardia, each of which requites it own type of immunity.

Coccidia can cause significant illness in puppies and kittens.  The diarrhea can be so severe that the small puppy or kitten can quickly become dehydrated.  In a mature animal with no signs of GI illness, who does not have contact with a young puppy or kitten that could become infected, a positive coccidia/isospora fecal exam may be incidental, and may not require treatment.

How do I know if my pet has giardia or coccidia, and how do you treat it?

A fecal exam is performed to look for the giardia cysts or the coddician oocysts.  In the past, diagnosis of giardia was difficult because the cycsts can be sporadically shed, so if you tested an infected pet at a time when cysts were not being shed the pet would test negative despite being infected.  Recently, our detection of giardia has been greatly enhanced by the availability of an ELISA test, which tests the fecal sample immunologically for giardia proteins, instead of looking for the actual cysts.

Giardia is often treated with a round of fenbendazole dewormer, and sometimes with the anti-bacterial metronidazole in severe cases.  Because the giardia cysts shed in hundreds, it is often helpful to bathe the pet once or twice during the treatment time, particularly around the tail feathers, to prevent re-infection.

Coccidia is treated with coccidiostats.  These medications halt the reproductive cycle of the coccidia organisms and allow the animal’s own immunity to finish combating the parasite.  We typically prescribe a sulfa-type antibiotic for coccidian/isosporan infections in puppies and kittens.

Rarely does giardia itself cause diarrhea or GI signs so severe that it requires more treatment.  Coccidia, however, can cause severe dehydration in puppies and kittens due to the tremendous water loss and sloughing of intestinal cells.  These pets may require hospitalization for fluid therapy.

We recheck a fecal sample about a week or two after the last dewormer dose to confirm resolution of the infection.

What’s the prognosis?

Generally excellent, especially if caught early, before more severe illness occurs.

frontieradmin | Pet Health Blog, Uncategorized

Time To Clean Up The Dog Park!! « Countryside Animal Hospital & Kennels

By Jess CVT, on April 22nd, 2013

That’s right. It’s that time of year. Time to pick up the poop!

Please come out and help us keep our dog park clean.

When: Saturday, April 27th

Start time: 8am

Where: The Dundas Dog Park

Please leave your pup at home and wear appropriate clothes.

Gloves, trash bags, hand sanitizer and a search grid will all be provided.

If we finish early enough, we may go to the Northfield Dog Park as well.

Here are a few facts:

1) Dog Poop is NOT Fertilizer!

Dog poop in particular is not fertilizer like cow manure. Contrary to popular opinion not all poop is created equal. Dog’s have a high protein based diet that creates a very acidic excrement or waste product. Far more info than you ever wanted to know about your favorite furry friend’s business, right? But, it’s true. Cow manure is in fact good for vegitation because it in fact started out that way. Dog’s diets are very different. Most dog foods today are composed of beef, chicken and/or pork products. This creates a high acidic waste product that is bad for your grass and can leave your back yard looking like, well, not looking like much of a yard at all.

2) Dog are a very signifcant host of bacteria that is harmful to humans

One gram of dog waste can contain 23 million fecal coliform bacteria. Dog waste can spread giardia and salmonella as well.

3) Not picking up after your dog may be illegal

Most metropolitan areas have impossed fines, some cities up to $ 750 if you don’t pick up after your dog in a public place. Many cities are looking into legislation that will apply to private property as well because of its impact on the enviorment.

4) Parasites form dog waste can be passed on to childern, other dogs, and even themselves

Some of the possible ways a dog or cat can obtain various different parasities, viruses and stages of bacteria from their own poop include: rolling in their feces, pawing at it, and in rare instances even eating it-coprophagy. Some alments that can affect humas are: Parvo Virus, Trichinosis, Whipworms, Hookworms, Roundworms, Giardia and Coccidia.

5) One pile of pet waste can take a year or more to fully breakdown.

If you have any questions, you can contact Dr. Peggy Anne Hawkins DVM at 507-649-0798

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August | 2012 | Ingram Park Animal Hospital

What if your pet was diagnosed with Giardiasis?

Clinical Signs and Transmission

Giardia is protozoa that infect the intestines. Giardia can cause vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss, and dehydration. Generally, giardia is transmitted from water contamination in the environment, although water is not necessary for it to survive in the environment. Rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, cattle tanks, etc. are classic problem areas for giardia.

It is important to treat giardia because they pose a serious health risk to humans, including diarrhea. If you have any human medical questions, please contact your family physician for advice.

Treatment

Your pet will go home with an anti-giardia medication (usually either metronidazole or fenbendazole depending on the Doctor’s preference). Please follow all instructions on the label accordingly. If your pet is on metronidazole, please monitor for any neurological side affects including stumbling, “drunkenness,” rapid eye movement back and forth, seizures, etc. Your pet should be bathed at least once while being treated in order to wash away any giardia cysts that might be stuck to the coat.

If needed, anti-nausea medications, appetite stimulants, probiotics, and temporary therapeutic diets may be prescribed by the Doctor based on the individual pet’s case. Please follow all label instructions accordingly. Severe cases could necessitate hospitalization for IV fluids and injectable medications.

Environment

Please keep the yard picked up from all feces and remove any sources of stagnant water. Please minimize exposure to river, lake, or cattle tank water. Please make sure that everyone washes his or her hands in warm soapy water for at least 30 seconds after handling any pet.

Indoor areas should be thoroughly cleaned, and if possible disinfected with a solution of 1 part bleach to 32 parts water. Please check the surface for color safeness before applying bleach solution. Allow the solution to set for one minute before drying. Steam cleaning carpets may be helpful since those surfaces are not safe to bleach. Any pet should be thoroughly bathed before being put back into the cleaned environment.

Outdoor areas, if concrete, can be cleaned and disinfected as above. Dirt and vegetation unfortunately cannot be disinfected without destroying the plants.

Follow-up

We recommend a Follow-Up Examination and recheck Intestinal Parasite Examination in 5-8 days depending on medication prescribed to make sure that treatment was successful. Please monitor appetite, energy level, vomiting, diarrhea, or neurological problems and call for a recheck appointment if your pet stops eating or has continued problems. Please call IPAH at (210) 680-1800 if you have any questions or concerns.

IPAH recommends annual heartworm testing and year round administration of monthly Heartworm, Intestinal Parasite, and Flea prevention for all dogs and cats. Not only is this important for preventing illness in your companions, but it is important for preventing illness in your human family, too. Please contact us today about getting your companions on this vital part of their preventive wellness care.

by Charlotte Means, DVM

Magoo was a big, playful Labrador retriever who often got himself into some sticky situations. Usually, his escapades were harmless. But one day, he managed to snag a box of raisins from the pantry and ended up eating an entire pound of the sweet treats. Other than being exasperated by Magoo’s behavior, his guardians didn’t think much about it. They knew that lots of people shared grapes with their dogs and often used raisins as training rewards. So it hardly seemed the kind of emergency that required a call to the veterinarian. In fact, if Magoo’s parents had called the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) just a few years ago, they would have been told not to worry about it.

Through the Grapevine

Enter the APCC AnToxTM database, a computerized system that contains nearly 500,000 animal-related medical conditions and that enables veterinarians to quickly identify toxic-substance exposures, recognize clinical signs and administer proper treatment. By tracking cases in this registry, similarities in animal medical conditions nationwide can be logged and syndromes can be identified.

Around 1999, the APCC began noticing a trend in dogs who had eaten grapes or raisins: Nearly all developed acute renal (kidney) failure. As more cases were reported, enough data was generated in the database to help veterinarians identify and treat dogs at risk. In all of the cases, the ingredients for potential acute renal failure were the same. Whether the ingested grapes were purchased fresh from grocery stores or grown in private yards didn’t seem to matter, nor did the brand eaten. And the ingested amounts varied considerably, from over a pound of grapes to as little as a single serving of raisins. The cases weren’t from any specific region, but instead came from across the United States.

The database showed that dogs who ate the grapes and raisins typically vomited within a few hours of ingestion. Most of the time, partially digested grapes and raisins could be seen in the vomit, fecal material, or both. At this point, some dogs would stop eating (anorexia), and develop diarrhea. The dogs often became quiet and lethargic, and showed signs of abdominal pain. These clinical signs lasted for several days — sometimes even weeks.

When medical care was sought, blood chemistry panels showed consistent patterns.  Hypercalcemia (elevated blood calcium levels) was frequently present, as well as elevated levels of blood urea nitrogen, creatinine and phosphorous (substances that reflect kidney function). These chemistries began to increase anywhere from 24 hours to several days after the dogs ate the fruit.  As the kidney damage developed, the dogs would produce little urine. When they could no longer produce urine, death occurred. In some cases, dogs who received timely veterinary care still had to be euthanized.

Why did the fruit cause the dogs to become ill? No one knows. Suspect grapes and raisins have been screened for various pesticides, heavy metals (such as zinc or lead), and mycotoxins (fungal contaminants) and so far, all results have come back negative. In the cases where the grapes were grown in private yards, owners confirmed that no insecticides, fertilizers or antifungals had been used on the fruit.

“Raisin” the Success Rate

Even though the exact cause of the renal failure is unknown, dogs who ingest grapes and raisins can be treated successfully to prevent its development. The first line of defense is decontamination. Inducing vomiting in recent ingestions and administering activated charcoal helps prevent absorption of potential toxins. Dogs should be hospitalized and placed on intravenous fluids for a minimum of 48 hours. A veterinarian should monitor blood chemistry daily for at least three days following the ingestion. If all blood work is normal after three days, it’s unlikely that kidney failure will occur. If a dog shows evidence of renal failure, fluids must be continued, and other medications should be used to stimulate urine production. Some dogs may need peritoneal dialysis, a process where the peritoneum (the membranes surrounding the abdominal organs) is used to filter waste products that are normally filtered by the kidney.

Thanks in part to the AnTox database, grape or raisin ingestion can be easily identified and treated. Today, a dog can make a complete recovery from this potentially fatal condition. They can be reached at 1-888-426-4435.

Dr. Means is a veterinary toxicologist at the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center in Urbana, Illinois.

Reprinted from ASPCA Animal Watch, Summer 2002, Volume 22, Number 2, with permission from The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 424 East 92nd Street, New York, NY 10128-6804.

The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center is the only animal poison control center in North America. Established in 1978, at the University of IllinoisCollege of Veterinary Medicine. The Center is the only facility of its kind. Located in Urbana, Illinois, the specially trained staff provides assistance to pet owners and specific diagnostic and treatment recommendations to veterinarians.  In 2001, the Center handled over 65,000 cases.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact IPAH at (210) 680-1800.

IPAH recommends annual heartworm testing and year round administration of monthly Heartworm, Intestinal Parasite, and Flea prevention for all dogs and cats. Not only is this important for preventing illness in your companions, but it is important for preventing illness in your human family, too. Please contact us today about getting your companions on this vital part of their preventive wellness care.

It’s important to keep your medicines out of your pet’s reach at all times, because human medication can be toxic to your pets! When your pet feels sick or is acting under the weather, never give them a human medicine, but bring them in for veterinary care instead. Even if you mean well, a dose of human medicine could be fatal to your pet.