# Colitis after Giardia...advice needed please.



## Astraea (Nov 7, 2011)

Hi everyone, this is a very long post so thanks for taking the time to read it :thumbsup:

A few days after we brought our puppy home her stools turned very sloppy with mucus and blood present. We took her to the vets the next day and a sample was taken to check for parasites; the sample came back as positive for Giardia. She was then given 7 days worth of metronidazole and she seemed to be improving. A couple of days after finishing the antibiotics she went downhill again and the loose stools and blood returned so we took her back to the vets. The vet took another sample, gave her 3 days worth of Panacur and told us to put her on Royal Canin Sensitivity Wet. This time, the sample came back as negative and the vet said that he thinks the reason why she still has diarrhoea is because Giardia leaves dogs very sensitive and because of this we should be very careful with what we feed her. He advised us to leave her on the Royal Canin for another 1-2 weeks. 

After a couple of days and not seeing much improvement, I set to researching for any supplements which may help her. Each day Ive been giving her:

1 scoop Protexin Pro-Soluble
½ teaspoon Dorwest Tree Barks Powder
1 scoop Protexin Pro-Fibre
1 spoon goats yogurt 

Whatever food shes been on shes always been itchy and nibbled at her back legs, tail and feet, I thought that maybe she has an allergy to chicken and so I started to change her to Wainwrights Lamb and Rice wet, plus I couldnt afford to continue paying out £25 a week for the Royal Canin! She had 25% of WW for three days, I then gave her 50% on the fourth day and she then did the worst poop yet, which was the consistency of mayonnaise with some blood, so Ive now taken her back to 25% WW and added 3ml of Pro-Kolin twice a day. 

Im now at a bit of a loss on what to do; should I continue as Im doing now and hope she improves, or shall I take her back to the vets? Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated. 

Additional Info: 
14 week old standard labradoodle, 7.7kg. Came from breeders on Chudleys Puppy food. After 1 week began gradual change to Acana Wild Prairie topped with Natures Harvest Puppy. Put on chicken and rice until sample results came back. Now on 75% Royal Canin Sensitivity wet (chicken & rice) and 25% Wainwrights Lamb and Rice wet.


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Astraea said:


> Hi everyone, this is a very long post so thanks for taking the time to read it :thumbsup:
> 
> A few days after we brought our puppy home her stools turned very sloppy with mucus and blood present. We took her to the vets the next day and a sample was taken to check for parasites; the sample came back as positive for Giardia. She was then given 7 days worth of metronidazole and she seemed to be improving. A couple of days after finishing the antibiotics she went downhill again and the loose stools and blood returned so we took her back to the vets. The vet took another sample, gave her 3 days worth of Panacur and told us to put her on Royal Canin Sensitivity Wet. This time, the sample came back as negative and the vet said that he thinks the reason why she still has diarrhoea is because Giardia leaves dogs very sensitive and because of this we should be very careful with what we feed her. He advised us to leave her on the Royal Canin for another 1-2 weeks.
> 
> ...


If she is otherwise completly well in herself lively, interested in things, alert, eating and drinking well, then personally I would try her on Pro texin pro kolin and plain white rice and with that something like chicken boiled or grilled no skin (the skin is full of fat, or white boiled fish (ccheck for bones) or even scrambled egg just scrambled plain and mix it in with the rice. In 24/36 hours you should see an improvement if not entirely back to normal, if there is progress then I would keep her on it and the pro texin pro kolin until its back to normal and even then keep her on the easily digestible diet for another couple of days maybe until you are sure the bouts over.

Obviously goes without saying any other symptoms appear or there is no improvement or its gets worse instead of better, contact vet in view of taking her in.

Likewise even if it does clear up again and re-occurs then you need to likely see him too to rule out other things and maybe fecal test again. Sometimes a 3 day fecal test, 3 separate fecal sample over 3 consequetive days is a lot better as just one small sample can miss things, there are other protozoan parasites, and bacterial and yeast infections too, some bacterial infections like campylobacter need combined and specific ABs and for a lot longer period. Giardia I think to can take several attempts to get rid of.

One thing I have been trying on mine, which you can keep in mnd perhaps is Bionic Biotic, one of mine used to get iffy tums on hot days when a pup and for the first year. She was Ok last year but it seems to have re-occured again if you get more then one hot day plus I have to be careful what I feed on hot days too. So far so good on the BB, its a supplement you add to food. See link, 
Probiotic for Dogs | Dog digestion / skin + coat supplement | Pooch and Mutt


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## Astraea (Nov 7, 2011)

Thanks for your help, i've ordered some of the Bionic Biotic and she's having 3ml of the Pro-Kolin twice per day. She seems well in herself, is playing, being very naughty and has a big appetite :laugh: I've taken her off the WW completely as she had another bad bout of diarrhea yesterday. We did try the chicken and rice before, she was on it for about 4 days while we waited for the results from the second sample analysis, but she was still the same. We're keeping our eyes on her for the next few days and if she doesn't seem to be getting any better then we're taking her back to the vets.


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## smokeybear (Oct 19, 2011)

I think you are doing a lot of changing of foods and a lot of medicating without understanding what the issue is.

To begin with diarrhoea strips the gut of beneficial bacteria thus using a good probiotic, preferably with a prebiotic would be a good idea and Lintbells product two excellent products.

Unlike some other supplements, they do not contain any ingredient which is superfluous to gut health.

Yumpro Bioactiv

YUMPRO BioActiv - Lintbells

And Yumpro Bioactiv plus

YUMPRO BioActiv PLUS - Lintbells

I would avoid rice like the plague, especially in this weather, as it is a prime trigger of food poisoning and in any case could be what your dog cannot tolerate.

All dairy products should be avoided during an upset stomach (apart from live yoghurt) so eggs should be off the menu, especially if scrambled with milk.

Dogs generally cannot handle lactose as they do not have the enzyme lactase with which to digest it. Yoghurt is different as bacteria has broken it down.

Also many dogs are not only lactose intolerant (milk sugar) but casein intolerant (milk protein).

You could feed her just live yoghurt for meals with a banana (prebiotic), tree bark powder, manuka honey plus the Yumpro.

This is soothing, healing and will repopulate the gut flora.

I would consider looking at a dog food without rice for your pup, but I would also go back to the vet.

Giardia can linger, and obviously you should be taking precautions too re Giardia.


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## Galadriel17 (Jan 22, 2012)

I'd swap the rice for potato or sweet potato and maybe the chicken for fish and see how she goes on that.

An elimination diet it always better starting on fish and potato IMO 

Hope she starts to improve soon.


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

I cant add anymore than has already been suggested other than to say my little one got a nasty tum upset that I couldnt resolve. Nearly got back right and it would start up again.

I found Bionic Biotics a godsend and used it along with WW wet trays. Dried food aggrevated her gut. It's harder to digest and as soon as we got from fish and rice (which worked) back to 50/50 with kibble, she was poorly. Ditched the kibble and she continued to improve.
I used a full pouch of BB at normal dose and another at half dose and didnt need anymore.

Tried to reintroduce kibble on various occasions but even a small amount mixed with her food causes trouble eventually. She manages a few bits with treats.
Hope your little one is much better v soon.


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## emmaviolet (Oct 24, 2011)

hello! you have my sympathy!

alfie had a bad tummy 2 days after we got him at 8 weeks. we took him to the vets, after a few bouts we got a stool sample, it revealed campylobactor, treated, and then still loose stools.

another sample revealed giardia, we treated as you did and the vet said for 3 days but it didnt work but after researching i found a 7 day course of panacur a 2 week break and then another should do the job and thankfully he is much, much better now.

he is prone to a sensitive tummy now (although having had many rough collies they all do!) and like sled dog said too, this heat has made him a bit softer. he is also on prokolin once a day. 

maybe talk to your vet, a weeks dose again at some stage may help, i know the sample came back clear but the parasite is extremely hard to detect, many times it is not present in a sample even though the dog has it!

hope your pup gets better soon, ive been there and its no picnic!


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

If you read my post I did say plain scrambled egg as in Plain no milk because Im aware some dogs cannot tolerate the make up of cows milk which is why I said plain.

Yumpro Bioactive is brand new and ony just launched so Have not used it but maybe someone has and can confirm how effective. Bionic both I have used with success and I know mum2heidi found it a godsend.

I fail to see how Fresh cooked human grade rice can cause food poinsoning personally. Ive successfully used it for 20 years on six dogs and found it works with either human grade fresh chicken, fresh cooked white boiled fish and PLAIN
as previously stated scrambled egg.


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## Galadriel17 (Jan 22, 2012)

Sled dog hotel said:


> If you read my post I did say plain scrambled egg as in Plain no milk because Im aware some dogs cannot tolerate the make up of cows milk which is why I said plain.
> 
> Yumpro Bioactive is brand new and ony just launched so Have not used it but maybe someone has and can confirm how effective. Bionic both I have used with success and I know mum2heidi found it a godsend.
> 
> ...


I don't think freshly cooked rice would cause food poisoning but people tend to leave rice on the side especially if it's for the dog and don't realise it's actually a high risk food...


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## Dimwit (Nov 10, 2011)

My dog had something similar when he was a puppy (never tested but I am fairly sure it was Giardia. It took him several weeks to recover properly and during that time I gave him boiled chicken with boiled potato/sweet potato (and he had this in 4 small meals a day). He also had pro-kolin from the vet and I started him on probiotics. TBH, I am surprised that your vet recommended starting her on any dog food - my own vet and several vet friends would all say boiled chiken until better...
He still has a sensitive digestive system now and I have to be careful about what I feed him as he now has to have grain-free diet.


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## Astraea (Nov 7, 2011)

smokeybear said:


> I think you are doing a lot of changing of foods and a lot of medicating without understanding what the issue is.


Thanks to everyone for your help and kind words. In terms of medication, I agree that it does seem like a lot but I am going by my vets opinion which is that she now has a sensitive digestive tract and all that I have been giving her is to do with soothing and encouraging normal digestive function.



smokeybear said:


> To begin with diarrhoea strips the gut of beneficial bacteria thus using a good probiotic, preferably with a prebiotic would be a good idea and Lintbells product two excellent products. .


The Protexin Pro-Soluble is a probiotic, she's been having this for about two weeks now. The Pro-Fibre contains a prebiotic.



emmaviolet said:


> another sample revealed giardia, we treated as you did and the vet said for 3 days but it didnt work but after researching i found a 7 day course of panacur a 2 week break and then another should do the job and thankfully he is much, much better now.


We were thinking about giving the panacur again after two weeks over a longer period but she is due for worming soon anyway so we decided to wait a bit longer (shes normally wormed with panacur) and to be honest, I dont think that she does have Giardia anymore. When she definitely did have it she was very thin and her pelvis stuck out (weight loss is a symptom) but now she looks much healthier and the vet said she is putting on weight correctly, the quality of her coat is also much improved.



Dimwit said:


> TBH, I am surprised that your vet recommended starting her on any dog food - my own vet and several vet friends would all say boiled chiken until better...


The food he told us to put her on was the Royal Canin Sensitivity control which is supposed to be for the treatment of food intolerance, colitis and diarrhoea. He said to give her it for 1-2 weeks, it's nearly been two weeks now which is why i'm considering going back again.


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