"GIARDIA" By Alistair Mitchell B.V.M. & S., MRCVS.

Have you had a litter of puppies which have been difficult to rear, not eating well, diarrhoea intermittent with some blood on faeces, underweight and not the usual fat puppies you would expect. Then you may have a problem with Giardia in you kennel.

Giardia is a Protazoa [a "bug" which is slightly bigger than bacteria] which lives in the small intestine and is shed in the faeces as a small tough cyst which is then ingested by the pup or bitch while grooming, licking etc, this cyst can live in the environment for many weeks especially in damp conditions. So in the face of an outbreak rather than wash kennels daily it is wise to use paper or shavings for bedding and clean daily to decrease the concentration of these cysts in the pups environment.

Diagnosis is difficult as Giardia are difficult to find in faeces samples, but incidence of Giardia in dogs has been quoted as high as 10% so I now consider it to be a much more common cause of puppy diarrhoea than has been considered in the past. Clinically it is mainly due to the pup not absorbing it's food, ie large volumes of foul smelling light coloured watery diarrhoea.

For treatment I use Metronidazole for 7 days but Panacur can be used.