

Sometimes they may even prescribe a combination of two of these medications.īut none of these three drugs is FDA-approved for animals. There are three drugs vets commonly prescribe to get rid of giardia. Why You Shouldn’t Treat Giardia in Dogs With Medication Keeping your environment dry (giardia likes damp conditions).If you garden, wearing gloves to avoid contact with infected poop.Cleaning your dog’s bedding, toys, food and water bowls.Washing your hands regularly (especially after poop pick-up!).

If your dog has giardia, just take reasonable precautions, like … Even the CDC says the risk is small … because dogs and people get different types of giardia. So if your dog tests positive for giardia, can you catch it from him?įortunately, research says it’s not that easy for giardia to transfer between species. Technically, giardia is a zoonotic disease … meaning different species can get it.

Label the container with your dog’s name along with your last name.If you don’t have this, any small plastic container will do. For storage, place it in an old pill bottle that’s prewashed.Collect one that’s the size of about 2 or 3 sugar cubes. So first, bring your dog outside and let him take care of his business. You’ll need a fresh stool sample … nothing older than a day.Collect a sample using the following four-step process recommended by canine herbalist Rita Hogan. You can bring a stool sample to get tested. If your think your dog might have giardia, contact your holistic vet. If the infection lasts a few weeks, your dog may lose weight. Your dog may have recurring, intermittent diarrhea. Keep an eye on your dog’s stool for these symptoms … If you suspect your dog has giardia, there are signs you can watch for. Giardia isn’t an easy parasite to detect … so it can live unnoticed inside your dog for a while. If you don’t take extra measures to deep clean her space, she may need more treatment. Giardia is a difficult parasite to get rid of because it’s easy for your dog’s environment to stay contaminated. How long does it take for giardia to go away in dogs? The answer to that is … it depends on its environment. If your dog drinks from the melted snow puddles … she could pick up giardia. As the snow melts, it can contain fecal residues that carry the giardia protozoa. In fact, it’s quite common for dogs to get giardia in the spring. Meanwhile, in water temps that are 98.6º F or higher, it survives less than 4 days.In water temperatures below 50º F, it can live for 1 to 3 months.Take the following two scenarios for example: Licking himself after contacting a contaminated surface, like a kennelĪccording to the CDC, giardia survives longer in cold temperatures.Rolling or playing in contaminated soil.Contacting the infected stool of another animal.There are several reasons why dogs are so susceptible. After about 5 to 12 days, your dog may pass infectious cysts in his stool. Some trophozoites transform into the cystic form. Once there, it transforms to the trophozoite form and feeds from your dog’s intestinal wall. If your dog swallows the cyst, it enters his intestines. The cyst form can survive several months in the environment … especially in water or damp conditions. A trophozoite that lives in the gut of infected animals.Giardia is a very common protozoal parasite that dogs can catch. Four natural remedies you can use instead.Why you should avoid treating your dog with prescription medications.How your pup can become a host for this microscopic parasite.In this article, I’ll cover what you need to know about giardia in dogs. So, you may be wondering: “Can dogs recover from giardia without medication?” But drugs can cause avoidable and unnecessary side effects. Your vet may want to prescribe medication for treatment. This can cause malabsorptive diarrhea … leading to difficulty in gaining weight or keeping it on. It starts to have trouble absorbing water, electrolytes, and nutrients. This leads to weakening of your dog’s small intestine. Once inside your dog, giardia calls your pet’s intestines home and creates an infection. That means it feeds off other living organisms (like dogs) to survive. In case you’re unfamiliar with giardia … it’s a parasite. One possibility to consider is that he may have giardia, or giardiasis. If your dog’s digestive system has been acting strange, there could be many reasons.
