Giardia

Giardia

Giardia is a shortened form of Giardiasis, the parasite that invades your dog’s intestines and causes the symptoms. Dog giardia interferes with absorption of food and can cause serious complications such as malnutrition if not treated.

Symptoms of Giardia

Symptoms of giardia in dogs include frequent vomiting, loss of appetite, significant weight loss, lack of energy and loss of fur. Some dogs also have a persistent fever that lasts three or four days, or a recurring fever over a period of time. The most telling symptom is diarrhea, with watery, grease-like feces that emit a particularly pungent odor.

Causes of Giardia

The giardiasis parasite is transmitted through the ingestion of animal feces containing dormant cysts, or through contaminated food or water. Many dogs are infected with giardia by swimming in water containing the parasite, since dogs frequently drink the water as they swim. No specific species are at greater risk of infection than others, but frequent exposure to affected areas does create a greater risk of infection.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Giardia

Since the symptoms of giardia in dogs are similar to signs of other conditions, your veterinarian will have to rule out other possible causes of infection such as salmonella. Giardia is diagnosed by examining three separate stool samples taken at two-day intervals for the presence of giardia cysts.

If giardia parasites are present, your veterinarian can prescribe a medication such as Metronidazole, which is commonly used to treat the symptoms of parasite infections

While a vaccine has been developed, it is still in the experimental stages and has not yet proven effective in preventing infection. However, the vaccination can help treat an existing giardia condition.

About National Pet Pharmacy

National Pet Pharmacy is your pet health superstore. From prescription only
pet medications to organic
dog food, National Pet Pharmacy knows that pet health is more than just
medicine; it is pet
supplies, pet
beds and pet food. From nose to tail, National Pet Pharmacy cares for your
whole pet.

Related Articles

Search for More Information

         Search over 10,000 Pet Health Articles

Salmonella Poisoning in dogs Cats and humans

Salmonella is a bacteria that can cause disease in both humans and animals. Salmonella found in cold and warm blooded animals and the environment they cause salmonellosis, but can cause typhoid.

Dogs and cats will become the leader of the salmonella bacteria, these can cause salmonellosis infection on gastrointestinal Salmonella can also catch other species of animals or birds can be found salmonella in raw meat, raw eggs or poultry products. Milk and cheese

Healthy animals can protect themselves colonization of digestion by salmonella, however when the disruption of the mechanisms that protect the walkway. Dogs and cats become infected

Salmonella poisoning involve vomiting nausea marks such as diarrhea or fever. Dogs and cats, some may even die from salmonella poisoning, although the percentage is quite low. Animals that are infected may be old or very young, or suffer from other disease Salmonellosis caused by contamination of food or water toys or other objects, raw food and cooked or stored food may be the cause of the disease. Pet food is a tower, sometimes because it is contaminated with Salmonella.

The Pet can spread infection to salmonellosis man as some diseases can be transmitted between one type of good luck. The symptoms may disappear within one week. However, most of the animals may loose fuel during this period and conditions may deteriorate. Cats or dogs, most able to survive a disease but not bout ill chronically must treat with caution. Start treatment earlier. There is a better opportunity for dinner can recover quickly and easily.

Dry pet food can be contaminated with Salmonella and pets healthy, it may only become unknown source for human infection, especially in young children in the United States. Infants more than one year represent a group with the highest rate of salmonellosis caused by pollution from animal.

Owners of pets with a young father must be interested in the proper handling and storage of food, pets, special. A second study that addresses these needs to be done recently by researchers from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Ohio Department of Health and the FDA.

FDA finds problems that involve food, pets, produced in factories in Pennsylvania 2007 and 2008 study examines link between inflammatory illnesses in humans reported that during this period, the result shows that a certain correlation between children with general contact with pets that brand of pet food under investigation. More recently, in 2009 the three brands of pet treats is the tower that they found salmonella peanut butter is tainted.

Pet food ad claims that the product offers a complete and balanced nutrition, however the growth of veterinarians are concerned that processed pet food is the main cause of illness and premature death in dogs and cats. Pet food processing is thought to suppress the immune system. And can lead to liver kidney or heart disease.

giardia | Lacey"s Maltipoo Blog

Dr Kaya reports that Lacey does not have giardia in her bloody stool!That’s great to hear…and should clear up within a few days..It’s weird because even the little things her body recovers so fast nowadays.It’s like the recovery time is cut in half.

I am happy & excited to say that although we got Dr Kaya’s message late that our pup,Lacey,is free from giardia & heartworms after she had her blood drawn last month.Dr Kaya mentioned the last time we saw him back in November that they wanted to draw her blood to be sure that the giardia and worms didn’t return.Much to our blessings she’s free from these diseases!Now,it’s been about a month since November 13 2009 since I started Lacey on organic dog food.Hoping her medical conditions and expenses continue to get less as the years go on in her lifetime!
To see how Lacey’s last visit to Dr Kaya was please follow this link:

http://laceyakaminemaltipoo.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/lacey-goes-to-the-vetnovember-14-2009

Dr John Kaya has reported that Lacey does not have any signs of Giardia and no returns of worms!I told Lacey that she did it and is free from worms,no giardia and no meds in a excited tone and she jumped up,gave hi5′s,rolled over and even gave her a piece of chips to celebrate her health status is better than ever!

On Saturday we will be taking Lacey’s stool sample to VCA to see if she is clear from giardia.Am hoping she is.Her appetite seems to be a lot better and we are so grateful that the medicine didn’t have any effects on her!

Thursday was the last day for Lacey to take her meds for her giardia.We need to bring her stool sample to VCA in two weeks.On Friday she got a new bone (Redbarn)http://www.redbarninc.com/images/product/medium/15.jpg
and she also had her teeth brushed.She usually gets her teeth brushed on Fridays.Lacey thought we were still giving her medicine so when we picked her up she hid her face in my mom’s arms but once we got her to open her mouth so we could brush her teeth she let us brush her teeth.Hopefully the Giardia will be negative in a few weeks.

Yesterday was my birthday and Lacey gave me a lot of “love” with lots of kisses.Later in the night she became “jumpy” because 1)she’s still taking her medicine which she really does not like even to put the syringe in her mouth is something else altogether.2)she was given a bath right after her medicine 3)she had to be brushed 4)she had to get her ears cleaned.I think it got to be too much for her so it scared her to even come near us for a while.Instead she was hiding from us probably afraid….Think next time we need to space things out a little more so she does not get scared.Having a scared puppy is not good at all.

Lacey is on 250 mg of Metronidazole and needs to take a half tablet once a day for 6 days.We tried giving it to her orally but she wouldn’t take it.She’d sniff and turn away.We tried taking a piece of chicken and cutting it and stuffing her medicine in the chicken but she ate the chicken and spit out the pill.So we had two more chances.That was to grind up her medicine and put it in chicken noodle soup from the can not heated and see if she’d drink her soup.She did drink a few sips but after a couple licks she didn’t want anymore so we went to the last resort which was take the chicken noodle soup base mixed with her grinded pill and put it in a syringe to squirt it into her mouth.Well,she didn’t like it one bit.After she was trying to get the taste of the medicine out of her mouth.So far she’s got no side effects from it.Her appetite is good.We’ll see and I will be watching out for the side effects if any.Otherwise we will be sure to call Dr Kaya.Don’t want anything to hurt her body.

Today Dr Kaya called and told us our pup Lacey is FREE  from worms and it came back NEGATIVE!Best news I heard today but he went on and told us that she has Giardia.Usually he gives the dog 2 medicines.One we tried to give her before but she wouldn’t eat which was for the worms.So we have to give her Metronidazole once a day for 5 days.We are going to ask VCA how else can we give it to her if she does not take it on her own with food.I told Lacey she needs to take medicine again and she gave me a look (with her head tilted slightly to one side and gave me a 3 second look)as if to say”Again?I have to take medicine again?”I am not sure of the dosage but I will find out when my parents pick it up.I am also saving a piece of chicken for her as a back up way to get her to take her medicine.

Today we took Lacy’s stool to the vet at VCA Animal Hospital to see if our girl is cleared from worms(hookworms and roundworms which she took Pyrantel and was dewormed twice).The telephone person,Jackie,said that it would take about 2 days to see if she’s cleared from it and that they will call us with the results.They are also going to check for Giardia.According to Jackie,at VCA,it’s going around a lot in dogs lately.So if you have any dogs be sure to keep up with your vaccinations for your pets.It’s important to keep them happy and healthy so they can have a lot of time to spend with you!

giardia | DoggyTownUSA

A Common and Unpleasant Problem – or – Jumpin Giardia, Batman!

February 10, 2009

When you work in dog daycare, you live in constant fear of three things: Dog fights, high-maintenance customers, and the dreaded Giardia.

Giardia is not a life-threatening disease, but it sure is messy and there’s a chance you could become infected, too. Not pleasant. The symptoms are diarrhea and vomiting, but symptoms are only shown once the condition is advanced and most likely has already spread to other dogs (or your co-workers!).

Dogs become infected with Giardia when they ingest the cysts of the parasite found in feces or in contaminated water. That dog can then lick another dog’s or person’s face and spread the cysts to the recipients of their kisses. The cysts open in the intestine, reproduce, form more cysts, and are passed on through the feces. Once there is an over-abundance of the parasite, that’s when the symptoms begin. Hooray!

Treatment is simple. A few days on Fenbendazole or Metronidazol, and they (or you)  should be ok. Diagnosing the condition is another story, though. Cysts may not occur in every sample of feces your dog makes, so the vet might need multiple samples to confirm the presence of Giardia before treatment, and the absence of the parasites after treatment.

If your dog is diagnosed with Giardia, or if you even suspect he has it, don’t expose him to other dogs, and clean up after him thoroughly. The cysts can live in cold, wet environments for weeks or even months. Avoid boarding him or taking him to daycare. If you must, notify the staff of his condition so they can keep him separate from the playgroup. Understand that your dog will likely spend most of the day in a crate, isolated, to prevent the condition spreading to other dogs.

“So, how do I prevent my dog from getting into this mess in the first place,” you say? If your dog socializes with other dogs, in fact, as long as your dog is a dog, there’s a very good chance he will get Giardia at some point. He can pick it up at the park, the dog beach, kennels, on a walk around the block, pretty much anywhere he might encounter feces. Definitely discourage him from eating, or even sniffing poo. If he steps in some, clean it off of him before he cleans himself.

And I know it seems cruel and heartbreaking and awful to say this, but, don’t kiss your dog! and do your best not to let dogs lick your face. Sure Giardia has helped some of my co-workers lose some weight, but it ain’t pretty. Every time we suspect a case of Giardia in the dogs, each one of us flutters around the daycare weilding a spray bottle of bleach in one hand and Lysol in the other, hoping to exorcise the place of the evil cysts. Whether our obsessive disinfecting has any effect on the spread of the bugs in the daycare, there’s no way to know. But at least we feel like we’re doing something to fight back against the dreaded Giardia.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged city life, dog boarding, dog daycare, doggie daycare, doggy daycare, dogs, giardia, icky, life, pet boarding, pet care, pet sitting, petcare, pets | Leave a Comment »

Giardia is a protozoal Parasite that can cause diarrhea in your dog

Giardia is a threat to dogs and humans

BY JULIE IRWIN, VMD, SEATTLE VETERINARY ASSOCIATES

Giardia is a protozoan parasite that is infectious to both humans and pets all over the world. It infects nearly 2% of adults and 6% to 8% of children in developed countries worldwide. Nearly 33% of people in developing countries have had giardiasis. According to the CDC, Giardia infection is the most common intestinal parasitic disease affecting people in the United States.

We are certainly seeing a rise in the numbers of our veterinary patients being diagnosed with Giardiasis. However, it is unclear whether the rise in the number of cases is due to a true increase inthe incidence of the disease or whether it is due to better methods of detection.

Method of transmission 
Giardia cysts are shed in the feces from infected people or animals and can persist in the environment for extended periods of time. When animals or humans ingest these cysts, the parasite attaches to the lining of the intestine in the new host. 

An infected person might shed 1-10 billion cysts daily in their feces and this might last for several months. However, swallowing as few as 10 cysts might cause someone to become ill. Giardia may be passed from person-to-person and from animal-to-animal. There is also some concern that certain subspecies can be passed from animal-to-person. 

Contaminated water is the classical source of a Giardia infection. This is one of the reasons that backpackers and campers are advised to boil or treat water obtained from fresh rivers or lakes prior to drinking. 

Symptoms 
Infection with Giardia causes problems with normal intestinal absorption of vitamins and other nutrients. This leads to a profuse, watery foul-smelling diarrhea. Animals and humans can also be carriers of the organism without showing any symptoms. 

Diagnosis
In the past, diagnosis in our veterinary patients was difficult. The stool sample being examined needed to be fresh, plus Giardia rarely show up on the usual fecal flotation testing methods used to detect other parasites. Additionally, Giardia cysts can be shed intermittently, so infections can be missed on a single fecal float. 

Recently a commercial ELISA test has become available, which tests for the presence of Giardia proteins in the feces. This method has dramatically improved the ability to detect Giardiainfections and the test can be completed in the office. 

Treatment 
A broad spectrum dewormer called fenbendazole (Panacur®) seems to be the most reliable treatment at this time. Metronidazole (Flagyl®) in relatively high doses has been a classical treatment for Giardia but studies show that it is not always effective as a sole agent. In some cases, the medications are used together. 

Environmental Decontamination
Treatment with medication should also be combined with environmental decontamination.Because infected pets may have been shedding cysts into the environment for some period of time before detection, it is important to thoroughly clean the environment to prevent re-infection. Guidelines from the CDC for cleaning of the environmental are listed below. In addition, because cysts can stick to the fur of the infected patient and be a source for re-infection, the positive animal should be bathed at least once in the course of treatment. 

Carpets: Steam clean the area at 158° F for 5 minutes or 212 F for 1 minute. Read the product labels for specifications, and follow all instructions.

Other items: Dishwasher-safe toys and water and food bowls can be disinfected in a dishwasher that has a dry cycle or a final rinse that exceeds one of the following: 113° F for 20 minutes, 122° Ffor 5 minutes or 162° F for 1 minute. If a dishwasher is not available, submerge dishwasher-safe items in boiling water for at least 1 minute. Toys and bedding can be washed in the washing machine and then heat-dried on the highest heat setting for 30 minutes. If a clothes dryer is not available, allow items to thoroughly air dry under direct sunlight. 

The Yard: 

• 
  Wear gloves when handling feces.


• 
  Remove feces promptly and put it in a plastic bag.


• 
  Limit access to common outdoor spaces, where possible, if pets have diarrhea or are being treated for Giardia. It has been demonstrated that dogs that play at dog parks are at greater risk for infection.
  


• 
  Eliminate any source of standing water.


• 
  Do not allow any new animals, especially young ones, to enter the yard or other outdoor spaces until the patient has been shown to be free of Giardia.

Giardia is hard to completely eliminate from the environment, but there are things you can do to help decrease the risk of pet reinfection and of human infection. Please remember that despite your best efforts to clean the environment, Giardia can persist in outdoor spaces and pet reinfection is possible. 

Follow up
In most cases, we do recommend follow up after treatment for Giardia to ensure that the organism has been completely cleared. In general, a fecal flotation is checked two weeks post-treatment to ensure that the animal is no longer shedding cysts. The ELISA test can be repeated 6-8 weeks post-treatment to ensure that the organism is no longer present. 

Julie Irwin, VMD

Julie Irwin, VMD was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. She attended Cornell University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree with a dual major in Mathematics and Biology. She then attended the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, graduating in 1998. Julie and Steve met in veterinary school and were married shortly after graduation. Julie’s other interests include rowing, cross-country skiing and hiking. She and Steve, along with their three children, have recently relocated to Seattle and are enjoying exploring the Pacific Northwest.

Source: http://www.seattledogspot.com/blog/dog-blog/post/giardia-is-a-threat-to-dogs-and-humans

Dogs Need Good Water Too

Water is not just important of us but also for our dogs. Drinking enough water is important for healthy living. Animals can lose all of their fat and still survive. However, if they lose 10% of body water, they can face serious illness. The quality of water is also something to take into account.

Facts about Water:

Pharmaceuticals like sex hormones, antibiotics, and anti-depressants are often found in drinking water.

Chlorine is toxin used to kill dangerous bacteria.

Fluoride has been linked to cancer in pets.

Dogs can develop giardia from drinking lake, pond, or stream water.

Unfiltered water can contain parasites, bacteria, and other harmful viruses.

Farming chemicals and lawn contaminants have been reported to cause cancer in dogs.

Often found in plastic dog food containers and water bowls BPA can leak out and seep into your dog’s food and water. BPA increases estrogen, decreases testosterone, and harmful to kids. It is also linked to some cancers and Type 2 diabetes.

Knowing this, how do you know what water to give your dog?

Best Water Practices for Your Dog:

Reusing water bottles for your dog’s water is a big No-No. Most water bottles were only meant to be used once.

For reusable plastic water bottles, look for plastic with #2 HDPE (high density polyethylene), #4 LDPE (low density polyethylene) or #5 PP (polypropylene). These types of bottles do not normally leak out dangerous chemicals. Although, the best option is to use stainless steel.

Even though you can find distilled water in your grocery store, it lacks the beneficial minerals and important nutrients your dog needs.

Invest in a water filter that filters out chlorine and fluoride.

Water fountains are a great way to encourage your dog to drink more fresh, filtered water.

Wash your dog’s bowl at least once a day with hot water and vinegar.

Keep your dog from drinking out of puddles, rivers, and streams.

Use organic fertilizers and keep your dog away from dangerous lawn chemicals.

Purchase in a filtered bath or showered for bathing your dog.

Merchants are nice in putting a public dog water bowl outside their establishment, but this can do more bad than good.

Use only green shampoos, cleaning products, and other household products.
Drinking out of a garden hose has the dual negative effect- leaching plastic and consuming chlorine and fluoride.

The Best Water Choice:
It really comes down to investing in a Whole House Water Filtration System. It is beneficial for everyone, and you will not have to doubt if the water is safe to drink.

If money is tight, there are other types of filtered products that are less expensive and better than the standard filtered pitcher found at your local store.

Visit Our Website for More Information On Our Numerous Water Filtering Products or Call Us at 1-800-550-1995