Cleaning Areas Contaminated By Giardia

by Renee Richards
(Brackenridge, PA, USA)

Reader Question: How To Clean Areas Contaminated With Giardia

New Foundland, born Dec 19, 2011. 6 months old now and has had Giardia for a few months. Very soft stool, almost watery. 2 prescriptions of metronidazole, last week Panacur for 5 days. She is 71 lbs now but should be gaining more weight. Has developed little pus filled pimples on her stomach and a hot spot few inches about tail on her back. She still has soft stool and had diarrhea this morning. Not sure what to do. Called vet but may need to get 2nd opinion.

How do we move forward with dog and how do we clean up back yard of any contaminated areas? Pick up stool daily and wash down with hose.

Thank you,

Renee

Vet Answer To Reader Question Regarding Clean Up Of Dog Giardia

Hi,

I am concerned that your dog’s Giardia is a symptom of an underlying problem rather than the primary cause of her GI problems. Dogs with healthy guts and immune systems should not have chronic Giardia infections after being treated in the manner you describe. Your decontamination procedure sounds adequate as long as you are not letting her drink from stagnant ponds and the like if you take her out on walks.

I’m wondering whether a food allergy is a possibility. It fits with the combination of chronic diarrhea and skin problems, although other conditions are certainly possible as well. If your current veterinarian isn’t able to diagnose and effectively deal with your dog’s health problems, he or she should be more than willing to refer you to a veterinarian who can – an internal medicine specialist may be able to get to the bottom of things the quickest.

Best of luck,

Jennifer Coates, DVM