Gyahh need to vent...
My poor 12-week old pup has Giardia and has been combatting diarhhea for the past week and a half. I live on the 3rd floor of a pet-friendly apartment complex and I thought I had him pretty potty-trained in the first 2 weeks. Well, in his first 2 weeks, the vet treated him for Coccidia, but after a post-treatment fecal screening, they found Giardia.
Needless to say the last 1.5 weeks have been the most trying. With a communal poop lawn, it's very hard to keep my Shiba releiving himself in an uncontaminated zone (picky pooper). However, I just took him out where he tried and successfully pooped 3 different times, only to come up to the apartment to poop diarhea on the patio and on the carpet in the living room. Thank god I bought bleach last night.
*sigh*, I know it's not his fault but good lord this disease can really wear away a dog's control and training...and my patience.
Thanks in advance for lending an ear.
As always, advice and tips from owners who have also gone through this would be much appreciated.
Jesse
Needless to say the last 1.5 weeks have been the most trying. With a communal poop lawn, it's very hard to keep my Shiba releiving himself in an uncontaminated zone (picky pooper). However, I just took him out where he tried and successfully pooped 3 different times, only to come up to the apartment to poop diarhea on the patio and on the carpet in the living room. Thank god I bought bleach last night.
*sigh*, I know it's not his fault but good lord this disease can really wear away a dog's control and training...and my patience.
Thanks in advance for lending an ear.
As always, advice and tips from owners who have also gone through this would be much appreciated.
Jesse
Comments
But I agree with Romi. You may have to buy some puppy pee pads to help him out since you may not be able to get him out in time. It will help save your patience and perhaps your carpets.
Sending good vibes your way, and I hope he feels better soon!
I think Romi had a good suggestion about the poop on the carpet.
Giardia can be tough parasite to bust and it takes time for it to work out of the system. 4 to 8 weeks in some cases. Sometimes getting on another medication has better results after you are finished with the current prescription dose provided by your vet.
I don’t recall, I think you said the vet put your pup on Panacure. Sometimes that works and sometimes it does not. Complete the dosage and keep in touch with your vet about the progress and retest. Note: sometimes the test will come back negative and dog will still have the parasite. So if you pup still has the poops when all is said and done you will need another RX.
As suggested by others, X-pen with news paper and pee pad are a really good idea! I also would wipe the paws with baby wipes to get off anything your dog might have stepped in and prevent it being carried about back up to your apt. Also wiping the bum with the wipes will ease irritation and keep him/her from licking and re-ingestion of eggs. Keep some baggies with you to put trash in at the potty spots.
Use of chlorox on carpets is probably not a good thing for the fabric so I would go get some natures miracle or a similar product from petsmart instead. Renting or investing in a small rug shampooer might help with the base clean up, after you have scooped up the major mess with a spatula or paint scraper.
Yeah it’s pretty yucky and it does not always go away quickly, so containing the mess indoors and looking for clean outdoor potty spots are a good idea.
Hope you pup gets better soon!
Snf
Good luck, and feel free to vent on here anytime. I know it always makes me feel better when I do.
Hey Dave,
Did you alter Lucy's exercise regimen at all while she was undergoing treatment? The doctor suggested I limit Ichi's activity, but since the Giardia has cyclical phases, he's as energetic and rambuctuous as ever now that he practically got it all out of his system yesterday. Of course, taking him out for walks risks exposure (both to him, and from him). I'm not sure how you guys knew (maybe it's a common treatment because I don't remember mentioning on this forum what treatment he's on), but yes Ichi is on Panacur and was given a bit of Centrine to calm his gut.
I'll ask my vet about Flagyl RX when I see her later this afternoon.
UPDATE: Vet tech just called me for a follow-up and the doctor is going to prescribe more Centrine for Ichi (thank god). They are also gonna put him on a diet to try and rule out Origen Puppy as a possible cause for upset stomach. I'd find that hard to believe since I've had Ichi for almost a month now (10/3) and the first 1.5 weeks worth of stools were fine (well except for the first 2 days when he first arrived to me but I was attributing that to trans-continental flight stress). However, I won't rule it out, he does have some downright stinky farts.
Thanks again for everyone's advice and support, it has been invaluable to know others have gone through this. I'm trying to stay positive and hope he'll be a happy and healthy UTD puppy by Thanksgiving. My partner and I already have puppy play dates lined up!
Jesse
Pancur is a standard dewormer used for giardia. I've never heard of Centrine, but I assume its similar to Sucralfate which is designed to reduce acidity in the gut and help calm the stomach.
Hang in there, it'll get better soon!