Cure Giardia In Dogs At Home

Whether it's giardia in dogs, coccidia or leptospirosis waging war in your dog's intestines, here's what you should know.

All disease (dis-ease) has a common factor.

The body is unable to control or rid itself of an invader.

The fact is, when a dog is truly healthy they are not at risk for many diseases at all.

What Is Guardia ?

If we look at guardia in dogs, this one cell protozoa can live in limited numbers in the intestinal tract without harming the dog. If giardia lives and breeds in the intestines and the dog is not healthy enough, the numbers flourish and create more health problems by causing malabsorbtion of food. Obviously, without nutrients, there can be no health or manner to fight disease so the problem escalates.

Here is an interesting excerpt taken from Doctors Foster & Smith:

There may be as many as 40 types of these canine internal parasites. Some can live in both dogs and humans but there is no reason to panic. Maybe it's time to improve both the health of your dog and yourself. (I'll also tell you about a treatment below you can both take.)

Therefore, whether the contact point is fecal matter, urine, water or any other environmental contaminant, the fact remains that good health is the ultimate answer.

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Symptoms of Guardia In Dogs

The symptoms of Giardia are the same as other intestinal protozoa. They include diarrhea, excess gas, stomach or abdominal cramps, upset stomach, and nausea.

Resulting dehydration and nutritional loss may need immediate treatment.

To top things off, giardiasis is very difficult to diagnose because the protozoa are so small and are not passed with every stool. Tests on serial stool samples (one stool sample every day for three days) are often required to find the organism.

Guardia Treatment

Now we get to treatment options. In case you've read this far just to find the at home cure, I'll give it to you but please finish reading the page.

One of the best guardia treatments is Liquid Silver Shield by Nature's Sunshine. It is one of the many high quality human supplements that work on our pets as well. And it has no taste!

Dosage

For Giardia and Coccidia, Lepto ( cycling protozoa of any type ) Give liquid Silver Shield 3 cc's ( about 1 tsp ) twice a day for two weeks, then stop for two weeks.

Since testing for giardia in dogs doesn't always work and 3 fecal samples done three days in a row are a usual routine, you may want to do one more two week dosage cycle.

The advantage here is that you will kill off all offending bacterial things at the same time! Now compare this to:

Veterinary Giardia Treatment

Fenbendazole (Panacur)

Is an antiparasitic drug (they say) that kills some intestinal worms and can help control giardia. It may be used alone or with metronidazole.

Possible Fenbendazole side effects (taken from the Patient Information Sheet):

• Facial swelling, hives, scratching, sudden onset of diarrhea, vomiting, shock, seizures, pale gums, cold limbs or coma.

Metronidazole

They go on to say, Metronidazole can kill some types of bacteria that could cause diarrhea. So if the diarrhea was caused by bacteria, and not Giardia in dogs, the bacteria can be killed and the symptoms eliminated.

Unfortunately, (they continue) metronidazole has some drawbacks. It has been found to be only 60-70% effective in eliminating Giardia and

Metronidazole side effects:

• Can be toxic to the liver. It is suspected of being a teratogen (an agent that causes physical defects in the developing embryo), so it should not be used in pregnant animals. Finally, it has a very bitter taste and many animals resent taking it.
• At Drugs.com, severe allergic reactions are listed as: rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); bloody stools; decreased coordination; increased or decreased urination; numbness, tingling, or burning of the limbs or feet; red, swollen, blistered, or peeling skin; seizures; severe diarrhea; severe or persistent dizziness or headache; sore throat, chills, or fever; speech problems; stiff neck; stomach pain or cramps; vaginal itching, odor, or discharge; vision loss or other vision changes; white patches in the mouth.

Somehow, I don't find either of those to be good answers to cure giardia in dogs. By the way, Liquid Silver Shield has no side effects and is tasteless.

If you have dog health problems, it's time to serve healthier foods. Please explore this website for more information. You can always contact me with specific questions.

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