Giardia

Cedar Ridge Beagles
c/o Toni Perdew
crbeagles@gmail.com
(the best method to reach me is via e-mail)
Bedford, Iowa
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Toni Perdew
3005 Lexington CT
Bedford, IA 50833

Liability Disclaimer: I am not a veterinarian, and do not wish for you to use this information to diagnose a problem. Instead, it is offered as "food for thought" for responsible and educated dog owners.

Pronunciation: (jee ahr' dee uh)

What is it?:  Giardia is a protozoan parasite that lives in the intestine of affected animals. Infection can occur from contact with the environment (streams, ponds, mud puddles, or animal stools) or with other animals carrying the protozoa. Therefore, any environmental water or any place that other dogs, cats, squirrels, raccoons, mice, etc. could have walked or left stools is a potential contamination source!

• It is in the environment, and may well be nearly unavoidable for dogs that go outdoors to play and potty....which is almost all dogs!
• It is estimated that as many as 70% of all dogs/puppies in the US have the protozoa in their systems, though relatively few ever develop signs. Not all animals with giardia show signs of carrying it.

What are the Symptoms?  Many dogs don't ever get sick or show signs. For dogs that do show symptoms, signs of giardia include weight loss, inability to gain weight at a proper rate during growth stages, diarrhea, vomiting, lack of appetite and greasy appearing stools that are often light in color.

Prevention: Since we don't believe in keeping dogs/puppies in stainless steel cages all their lives, we know our dogs could encounter this germ in our yard, at the beach, on the farm, etc. We try to prevent puppies from having it when they leave us, and are usually successful (but not perfect). Following our vet's recommended protocol, we deworm most of our puppies after weaning for 5-7 days with fenbendazole (Safe-Guard's medicine) or Valbazen. This not only controls common worms, but also treats giardia, if it exists. 

Don't hesitate to contact your veterinarian if your puppy has full blown diarrhea, bloody stools, or is losing weight. Act quickly, as they are too small to handle diarrhea for long.

Treatment

Giardia is NOT a worm, but a certain common and affordable worm medicine is used to treat it!

1. Give the fenbendazole for 3 days (more about meds below).
2. On the third day, bathe the puppy and wash his/her bedding (optional, but I do it).
3. Continue the fenbendazole for 2 or 3 more days, totaling 5+ days...it's so safe that I've seen some do 14 days.
4. On the last day, bathe the puppy and wash bedding.

The following are often chosen from as methods of treatment: Metronidazole (Flagyl), Furazolidone (Neftin), Tinadazole, Fenbendazole (Panacur or Safe-Guard, over the counter), and Albendazole (Valbazen, over the counter).

The most commonly-used medication for giardia infection is fenbendazole (Panacur or Safe-Guard dewormer) once daily for 5-7 days in a row, and/or  metronidazole (Flagyl) for 5 days in a row twice per day.

Fenbendazole (Panacur or Safe-Guard are both Fenbendazole) orally or on food. Fenbendazole is usually a liquid when it comes from our vet (though some use the powder), and we would squirt it to the roof of the mouth with a small syringe (no needle!) or eye dropper. It can also be purchased as Safe-Guard dog dewormer as a powder (follow instructions for the size range on the box). Fenbendazole is VERY SAFE.

Powdered form:  mix with dog food.
Liquid form: Squirt in the mouth or mix with food. The liquid form is actually the Panacur/Safe-Guard liquid dewormer bottles that come in larger quantity that is used for many species. For dogs, the dosage we have been told to use is 4.5 cc's per 20 lbs.

Metronidazole (Flagyl) is a pill, which we would split, crush, and then mix with water or tuna juice or orange juice, but is sometimes available as a thick liquid from a compounding pharmacy. Again, then we would squirt it to the roof of the mouth with a syringe (no needle on the syringe) or eye dropper. Or, a small cube of Velveeta cheese can be used to surround the pill, which can be given as a treat if the dog/puppy likes to wolf down Velveeta without chewing.  ***NOTE:  Some veterinarians do NOT recommend this medicine, especially for puppies. It does have side effects, so would be one I would definitely keep to a short duration. 

My veterinarian (and many others) prefers to use ONLY fenbendazole (SafeGuard/Panacur), and doesn't recommend the Flagyl (metronidazole) unless the dog/puppy is actually sick and needs more help.

Metronidazole apparently does not taste good. Most puppies won't eat food that has metronidazole stirred into it. But, you can trick them into eating it, or can force feed it. Options for getting puppies to take pills: http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Your-Dog-to-Swallow-a-Pill
***Veterinarians vary in opinion, but ours likes to try the Safe-Guard (Panacur) alone first before adding metronidazole, as metronidazole does have side effects if given for too long or if too much is given.

Cost of treatment from our vet: We can get fenbendazole (Panacur, liquid form) for about 12₵ (yes, that is cents) per cc to $1 per cc. For a 10-lb puppy, we'd give about 2 1/4 cc's per day. A 5-lb puppy would get just over 1 cc per day for 5 to 7 days, depending upon the vet's instructions.

We get metronidazole (Flagyl) pills for 17 to 30₵ each (2012), 250 mg (one pill would last for 2 days for a 5-lb puppy). Our vet would recommend 5 days of both medicines at the same time.  Here is a cost estimate I worked up in about 2012. I increased the actual cost, because we live in a rural area in a part of the US with a lower-than-average economy. But hopefully, it would be similar to the cost from your vet.

Not very expensive, thankfully. Wouldn't it be nice if human medicines were this cheap?  :-)

2020 update:  Our local vet charges 50 cents per pill (which is 4 doses for a 5-10 pound puppy) and $1 per cc of fenbendazole, so prices have risen but are still below $10 for the whole treatment.  Below is an example from a veterinarian at/near a larger population. It's still not bad at about $40, but definitely is higher than small-town vets.

Click image to enlarge

Also, we have to keep in mind that different veterinarians mark up their medicines differently. We've seen vets in cities (Pasadena, Boston) mark up and give dog wormer at 35,625% (you read that right...over 35 THOUSAND percent!) over our own cost. And remember, your vet gets it cheaper than I do.

But wait...THERE'S MORE!

Flagyl pills (above) are identical to the pills you can buy at pet supply stores for fish tanks, called FISH ZOLE. We can get generic Flagyl from our veterinarian for less than 30 cents per pill, but have heard of vets charging as much as $10 per pill. If our vet was charging ridiculous prices, we'd sure check out getting FISH ZOLE, which is identical at this time, instead of lining a vet's pockets! For a 25-lb dog, one 250 mg pill can be given daily for 5 to 7 days. A 10-lb puppy could get one half of one pill. (Note: some veterinarians suggest twice per day, some just once per day).

http://www.beaglesunlimited.com/beaglehealth_giardiasis.htm tells more about FISH ZOLE treatment for giardia.

Since contamination can occur from an activity as simple as taking your dog for a walk through a park, it is possible that treatment might have to be given more than once over the lifetime of any dog. There is a vaccination available, though it's efficacy is in question. Ask your vet if you feel you live in an area where giardia infection may be a problem (especially prevalent in Minnesota, Wisconsin, or near lakes/streams or in moist climates), or if you frequently camp or visit ponds, lakes, or streams with your dog.

STOP:

Stop here if you are only interested in reading about Giardia. If you came to this page by searching for information about dogs with diarrhea, read onward for other potential causes.

Giardia is not the cause of diarrhea all the time, though. The following information is not necessarily about giardia.