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Giardia & IBD/IBS


Does your dog have chronic diarrhea? Is he/she a picky eater? Is your dog's stool loose? Does your dog eat food but not gain weight? Are you fearing that your dog may have Inflammatory Bowel Disease and/or Irritable Bowel Syndrom? Think again!

Giardia is a nasty little single celled organism that are commonly found in the intestines of dogs and other animals. It is believed that many dogs carry the Giardia organism but do not show any signs. For those dogs that have symptoms of Giardia, proper treatment should be started right away. Treatment should first start with attempting a diagnosis by your veterinarian. In most cases Giardia will NOT show up with a regular fecal exam. The most accurate method of diagnosing the condition is the "enzyme linked immunosorbent assay" also known as ELISA. This test is considered to be about 90% accurate. Even if the tests come back negative you still may want to consider a course of treatment just to play it safe - discuss this with your vet.

Signs and Symptoms

soft stool
recurring diarrhea
acute explosive diarrhea
poor appetite
weight loss
listlessness
eating regular but not gaining weight
on/off food
sensitive digestion
the stool and/or diarrhea may appear light in color, have a bad odor and may appear greasy.
gassy
graze on grass excessively
throwing up

I truly believe you may see other symptoms that could probably be catagorized under "sensitive digestion" My Sara was diagnosed with having Giardia and I do believe she has had the parasite for most of her life. I do not know for sure if these symptoms were truly caused by Giardia but I can't help but think that they probably were. When Sara was very young - about 4 months old - she would spit up. It didn't seem to matter what she was doing, sleeping, playing, sitting, she would do this burp and spit up. It seemed to be very similar to acid reflux. This condition did resolve itself over time and I would say at about 9 months old she stopped doing this. I have had a few other dog owners/breeders tell me they had a young dog do this so perhaps this is unrelated to anything. On two occassions Sara has thrown up uncotrollably. The second episode occured about a month after the first episode. I brought her to the vet both times and it was during her second visit that my vet decided to check her for Giardia. Although throwing up isn't a "normal" symptom of Giardia it was in Sara's case. She tested positive and treatment was immediatly started. Sara was 11 months old at that time and has not had any other throwing up episodes since her initial treatment. At about 9 months old Sara had very smelly breath and siliva. I thought she was eating poop. If you put a finger in her mouth near her back teeth it would smell kind of like poop. That odor also resolved after her second Giardia treatment. Sara probably stopped having formed stools at 8 months old. Before that time her stools would be formed at times and mush at other times. Her stools looked more like a pile of oatmeal and they did seem to stink more than usual. She would also stop eating her food - forcing me to try a new brand and she got to the point where it was not abnormal for her to skip a meal. She also did not have the high energy that she has or any gusto to eat her food. While at the vet with another dog I brought up about Sara's stools and he said to treat her for Giardia again. I did another search on the web and found this fantastic article by The Great Dane Lady. I am now following her protocol for Giardia and I must say Sara is on her way to having a healthy digestive system once again! Her breath does not stink, her stools are great and she is eating up a storm. Oh, and her energy is back up to over drive instead of the just plain high while symtomatic. In Sara's case, I think it's a matter of "what came first the chicken or the egg". Meaning, were Sara's issues at an early age caused from Giardia or was my XL breed puppy's immune system/digestive system compromised to begin with which caused her to become symptomatic for Giardia? I am sure that all 4 of the bloodhounds in my house have Giardia - how could they not? But Sara is the only one who has ever shown signs of it.


I did not go into detail about where Giardia is found or how to get rid of it. I can tell you that it is found in clean water. I can also tell you that people can get it. Oh, and it is also VERY difficult to get rid of in the enviroment (your yard). Also, there seems to be more and more cases of dogs being symptomatic for Giardia which is something to keep in mind.

Please check out the Great Dane Lady website at: http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/giardia_protozoa_diarrhea_vomiting_weight-loss..htm to learn more about Giardia and how you can help your dog become symptom free.


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