Giardia consequences

[FrederykBlot]

Hello everyone,

 

I'm sad I haven't been active lately, but there were some troubles at home : poor Loki contracted Giardia during our holidays end of January

And this s**t is like impossible to destroy, until today, he has soft or liquid stools, and wake up in the night 1 time over 2 or 3

He already made 2 times one week of treatment, and also one week of probiotics, and still there

We also spend an awful amount of time cleaning, rinsing, steaming, everything related to him...

I do not sleep correctly anymore since then, we had to cancel one latest holidays as the pension wouldn't take him while infected, and there is good chances that I would have to cancel another holidays we have planned end or March

This is sooooo annoying and getting on ours nerves in everyday life, and we feel like blocked for all, and it's like everything revolve around that !

Sorry for the venting :)

 

 

That being said, I'm worrying about consequences on poor Loki : not on health level, he has treatments, and stuff, and is quite ok except for the stools

but in terms of socialization, it has been like 1 months and a half that he couldn't play with any doggy friend, as it's contagious and we avoid spreading the stuff

but Loki is very social, kind, and keen on meeting other dogs and playing with them, and other humans too

 

Is there something special we should / can do ?

Is it ok as it will last only weeks (we hope so) ?

He doesn't appear specially distressed, or anxious, but I wonder if he is troubled by that

 

Thank you for your help

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi there!

I am sorry to hear you are going through this with poor Loki. It has to be frustrating for both of you. Giardia sucks! 

My neighbors' dogs got it last year and his dogs had to go through multiple treatments, baths with special shampoo during and after treatment (special attention to hair by the rear end), no drinking from puddles, methodical cleaning, picking up stools asap, etc. 

Unfortunately, until Loki is cured, you can't  really socialize him with other dogs without risking the possibility of giving them the same issue, so not many options socialization-wise. 

So your best bet is keeping him active mentally, through training and brain games. Mind-stimulating toys may also help with any boredom. Clicker training and training some tricks can help prevent boredom with just obedience exercises.  I am sure you are already doing all of this. 

Again, so sorry your are both going through this, I hope things look better for Loki soon!

[FrederykBlot]

Hello

Sorry I didn't update much on this subject, but everything is alright now.
Giardia is pain though, we hope he won't contract it again as it's a bit stressful and time consuming

One of the good thing (at least we think it is) following the disease is the change in the diet : we went from full dry food to mixing wet and dry

We found out that less carbs is better to avoid giardia as the parasite feeds on carbs

Loki is bit picky, weirdly on the wet food,  but we really notice a major improvement in the stools, specially is firmness (almost never soft now except for big heat days) and frequency (about 2-3 times each walk - we do 3 per day - to 1-2 the morning and 1 the evening)

 

we're crossing fingers, specially with big holidays coming for us

 

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Glad to hear things have been going better giardia-wise. 

I can imagine how stressful and time-consuming it can be, just listening to all the stuff my neighbor had to do made me feel exhausted as I was imaging them in my head. 

So many diseases and conditions seem to be linked to sugars and carbs. Even I have started a low-carb diet!

There is also a lot of research going on showing how the immune system is for a good part in our gut and the importance of having healthy gut microbiomes. 

I hope you'll be able to enjoy your holidays without worries!