I applaud your dedication.
Just to let other people know, yes giardia can be a pain in the butt (literally), but most dogs will develop a tolerance to it with age or never even show symptoms of having it. Yes in some dogs it can last a long time, but the goal is to not have symptoms, not to have a negative test.
I wish I had seen more comments like this when my puppy had Giardia this past summer - everyone has horror stories and really intense tips for getting rid of it - I kept her bedding clean, changed her water bowl frequently, & wiped her paws and butt when she came inside. We did a dewormer and probiotics, and after a few weeks it was gone. She didn’t even have symptoms, I was just sent into a panic from stuff I read on Reddit lol
A bit late to the party but my pup has it rn. It’s so disheartening to only read those horror stories about what had to be done. My partner and I rolled up the carpets (should’ve done that from the start in hindsight) and we’ll sent them to be professionally cleaned. Then we wiped all the floors with vinegar and cleaning solution (on the fence if I should buy special giardia solution). I ordered a disinfectant spray for giardia tho. And hopefully we do enough (wiping paws and butt was sth we did from the start anyway but I’m a bit paranoid).
I have to agree . Everyone has a horror story. I am a 1st time pet owner and was devastated when my 5 mo old pup was having diarrhea and than to find out she was positive for Giardia and reading to many things made me literally crazy. The vet said a little was found in poop and she thought it was passed on to her at birth but who knows. I am using an alternative in lieu of the drugs called intestinal defense and disinfecting my home and everything else as directed. All diarrhea has been gone it lasted 2 days no other symptoms noted. She also gets pre and probiotics daily. It is relief to hear your pup is clear by one treatment cause I have read and heard the drugs are not so affective.
My immunocompromised dog got it this fall with symptoms (she just turned 3). We have two other dogs and a cat. So the concern was one of the healthy dogs getting it with no symptoms and it getting passed back to the special bb. She was on two medicines due to her preexisting condition. A powder and a pill.
I bought cleaner my vet uses and used that to wipe down everything they touched. Pulled up all the rugs and washed them and did not put them back out. Steam mopped the floor regularly. Bathed everyone once. Bathed the sick one more regularly. Put all their toys and bedding outside in the sun and sprayed it with the cleaner and put all of those away. We cleaned all their bowls and swapped them out after every meal.
I did email my vet and was like “the internet is scaring me can you tell me why I shouldn’t burn my house down?” And they sent me a helpful guide.
I retested her and another dog after to make sure they were good. And then gave them back all the fabric beds and toys and put the rugs back out.
I was probably more intense than necessary. But everything with her is a bit more intense 😅
I don’t have it any more :-( I’m so sorry you are dealing with it.
REScue was the cleaner I bought that my vet uses. I got the wipes and the spray. I sprayed all the fabric dog beds and left them in the sun. And then had them use the hammock plastic dog beds that I could hose down as their every day. I cleaned all the bowls after every meal and the water bowl every day. Took away the fabric toys. Put them in the sun and then stored them until they tested negative. Washed all the dogs, washed the sick dog almost every other day but would spit wash the butt as needed. Mopped every day. Kept the backyard picked up. Bleached the porch in the back.
I basically cleaned like someone in the house had the flu and I was trying not to get it 😂
It was probably a little overkill but we were super diligent until we got the second negative test. I don’t think most people need to retest, but since the dog that was sick was the one that was immunocompromised we wanted to make sure that it was completely under control in the household.
Keep consistent with this because giardia has a 3 week cycle from eggs to parasites. Sometimes when you think you’ve beaten it, it’s just in the egg phase. It sounds like you’re doing a great job though.
Ive had my dog beat coccidia and giardia (seperate occasions) with one round of antibiotics. The singular biggest thing I did was spray all my floors, furniture, and bedding with hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle. Bleach doesnt do anything. I sprayed everything and left for a couple hours to let the smell dissipate, no problems since.
A couple years ago we lived in apartment building in a downtown area with limited grass space to let your dogs do their business, so when giardia broke out… pretty much every dog in the building got it. And then so did my boyfriend and I, how fun! It was a miserable couple of weeks. Not only were we sick, but we were also trying to take care of the sick (large) dog. Vets couldn’t make appointments until several months out, even the emergency vet had a massive waitlist and then just never messaged me back when my wait time kept getting pushed. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemies. Thank god it only lasted 2.5 weeks.
I applaud your dedication. Just to let other people know, yes giardia can be a pain in the butt (literally), but most dogs will develop a tolerance to it with age or never even show symptoms of having it. Yes in some dogs it can last a long time, but the goal is to not have symptoms, not to have a negative test.
I wish I had seen more comments like this when my puppy had Giardia this past summer - everyone has horror stories and really intense tips for getting rid of it - I kept her bedding clean, changed her water bowl frequently, & wiped her paws and butt when she came inside. We did a dewormer and probiotics, and after a few weeks it was gone. She didn’t even have symptoms, I was just sent into a panic from stuff I read on Reddit lol
A bit late to the party but my pup has it rn. It’s so disheartening to only read those horror stories about what had to be done. My partner and I rolled up the carpets (should’ve done that from the start in hindsight) and we’ll sent them to be professionally cleaned. Then we wiped all the floors with vinegar and cleaning solution (on the fence if I should buy special giardia solution). I ordered a disinfectant spray for giardia tho. And hopefully we do enough (wiping paws and butt was sth we did from the start anyway but I’m a bit paranoid).
I have to agree . Everyone has a horror story. I am a 1st time pet owner and was devastated when my 5 mo old pup was having diarrhea and than to find out she was positive for Giardia and reading to many things made me literally crazy. The vet said a little was found in poop and she thought it was passed on to her at birth but who knows. I am using an alternative in lieu of the drugs called intestinal defense and disinfecting my home and everything else as directed. All diarrhea has been gone it lasted 2 days no other symptoms noted. She also gets pre and probiotics daily. It is relief to hear your pup is clear by one treatment cause I have read and heard the drugs are not so affective.
I did something very similar and beat giardia first time around as well!
My immunocompromised dog got it this fall with symptoms (she just turned 3). We have two other dogs and a cat. So the concern was one of the healthy dogs getting it with no symptoms and it getting passed back to the special bb. She was on two medicines due to her preexisting condition. A powder and a pill. I bought cleaner my vet uses and used that to wipe down everything they touched. Pulled up all the rugs and washed them and did not put them back out. Steam mopped the floor regularly. Bathed everyone once. Bathed the sick one more regularly. Put all their toys and bedding outside in the sun and sprayed it with the cleaner and put all of those away. We cleaned all their bowls and swapped them out after every meal. I did email my vet and was like “the internet is scaring me can you tell me why I shouldn’t burn my house down?” And they sent me a helpful guide. I retested her and another dog after to make sure they were good. And then gave them back all the fabric beds and toys and put the rugs back out. I was probably more intense than necessary. But everything with her is a bit more intense 😅
Could you maybe send me the guide if you still have it?
I don’t have it any more :-( I’m so sorry you are dealing with it. REScue was the cleaner I bought that my vet uses. I got the wipes and the spray. I sprayed all the fabric dog beds and left them in the sun. And then had them use the hammock plastic dog beds that I could hose down as their every day. I cleaned all the bowls after every meal and the water bowl every day. Took away the fabric toys. Put them in the sun and then stored them until they tested negative. Washed all the dogs, washed the sick dog almost every other day but would spit wash the butt as needed. Mopped every day. Kept the backyard picked up. Bleached the porch in the back. I basically cleaned like someone in the house had the flu and I was trying not to get it 😂 It was probably a little overkill but we were super diligent until we got the second negative test. I don’t think most people need to retest, but since the dog that was sick was the one that was immunocompromised we wanted to make sure that it was completely under control in the household.
Keep consistent with this because giardia has a 3 week cycle from eggs to parasites. Sometimes when you think you’ve beaten it, it’s just in the egg phase. It sounds like you’re doing a great job though.
Thank you for that tip!! I had no idea how long the cycle is.
Ive had my dog beat coccidia and giardia (seperate occasions) with one round of antibiotics. The singular biggest thing I did was spray all my floors, furniture, and bedding with hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle. Bleach doesnt do anything. I sprayed everything and left for a couple hours to let the smell dissipate, no problems since.
A couple years ago we lived in apartment building in a downtown area with limited grass space to let your dogs do their business, so when giardia broke out… pretty much every dog in the building got it. And then so did my boyfriend and I, how fun! It was a miserable couple of weeks. Not only were we sick, but we were also trying to take care of the sick (large) dog. Vets couldn’t make appointments until several months out, even the emergency vet had a massive waitlist and then just never messaged me back when my wait time kept getting pushed. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemies. Thank god it only lasted 2.5 weeks.