Giardia in Dogs: Everything You Need to Know
The treatment of these annoying intestinal parasites is often difficult. Giardiasis can cause serious health problems in the long term, especially in puppies and older dogs.
In order to avoid this, it is important that you recognise the parasite infestation early and treat it correctly.
Giardia in dogs: what is it?
Infestation with giardia triggers the diarrhoea disease giardia in dogs. Giardia are microscopic parasites that colonize the dog's small intestine and attach themselves to the mucous membranes there.
They feed on carbohydrates that the dog ingests with its food. Under the right conditions, Giardia can multiply very quickly in the dog's intestines.
There are a total of 41 different types of Giardia. The parasites are spread worldwide and infest not only dogs but also other hosts such as birds, rabbits, cats or even humans. The Giardia that occur in dogs are especially Giardia intestinalis and Giardia canis.
Giardia in dogs: this is how the infection occurs
The development of Giardia takes place in two different stages. The infection of the dog occurs through cysts, which the dog absorbs. In most cases a very small amount of cysts is enough to infect a dog with Giardia.
In the small intestine of the animal the cysts develop into trophozoites. These attach themselves to the mucous membranes of the intestine, where they themselves begin to form cysts. After about 4 to 15 days, the first of these are excreted with the faeces. As a result, the dog's giardia can spread very easily and be transferred to other hosts.
The cysts of the Giardia are extremely resistant. Without a host, they can remain infectious for up to three months under certain conditions. Giardia infection occurs mainly through contaminated food and water or through contact with the infected faeces of another animal.
In addition, cysts often stick to the dog's anus when it defecates, so that a dog already infected with Giardia can become infected by licking itself.
Giardia in dogs and humans
Giardia is highly contagious. If several dogs or cats live in a household, it is therefore very likely that all four-legged friends are infected with the parasites. In rare cases it even comes to an infection of humans.
If your dog is infected with Giardia, you should therefore be cautious with your four-legged friend until further notice. In any case, you should avoid letting your dog lick your face and make sure that your children keep their distance from your four-legged friend for the duration of the parasite infestation.
Giardia in dogs: these are the symptoms
An infection with giardia does not necessarily have to be accompanied by clear symptoms. Depending on the severity of the parasite infestation and the general condition of the affected animal, it is quite possible that significant symptoms will not occur for at least a while.
Especially puppies and dogs of weak age often suffer considerably from an infestation with giardia and have to fight with serious consequences without treatment.
The typical symptoms of a Giardia infection in dogs include the following complaints:
- Slimy and bloody diarrhoea
- stomach cramps and flatulence
- Vomiting
- Fever
- Feed refusal
- Weight loss
In between the symptoms of Giardia in the dog can certainly subside. This does not necessarily mean, however, that the quadruped has survived the parasite infestation.
Because in many cases the alleged recovery is only temporary and the complaints caused by the Giardiose become apparent again soon.
Giardia in dogs Diagnosis
An untreated giardiosis leads to a considerable strain on the intestinal health and the immune system. If you suspect that your dog is infected with giardia, we therefore recommend that you act promptly.
A visit to the vet can reveal whether your fear is justified. The veterinarian can perform a test for giardia in your dog. For this purpose he will examine a sample of the dog's excrement.
Apart from this, the excrement of dogs with giardia is usually yellowish in colour and also has a rancid to putrid odour.
Giardia in dogs Treatment
The treatment of a dog with Giardia is usually difficult. Because the tiny parasites of the small intestine are extremely persistent and can therefore only be eliminated with well thought-out countermeasures.
The successful treatment of a dog with Giardia basically involves the following three steps:
- Hygiene measures in the dog's environment
- Conversion to low carbohydrate dog food
- Food supplements for an intestinal environment hostile to giardiasis
Giardia in dogs and the right hygiene
Before you start the actual treatment of your dog infected with Giardia, it is first of all important to ensure perfect hygiene in the environment of the four-legged friend. Giardia are very resistant and can survive outside your dog's body for several weeks without any problems.
Without appropriate preventive measures, they often spread all over the house and your dog can become infected again and again. Without a steam cleaner and disinfectant it will be hard to beat your dog’s Giardia.
The following hygiene measures should be implemented without fail:
- Regular washing of dog blankets and pillows at 65 degrees or more
- Daily cleaning of food bowl and dog toys with boiling water
- Daily surface cleaning with a steam cleaner
- Immediate disposal of dog waste in a sealed plastic bag
- Daily cleaning of the anal region of the dog with a dog shampoo
- If necessary, use disinfectant to additionally clean surfaces
It is also important that you dry all objects and surfaces thoroughly after cleaning. Giardia are particularly comfortable in water, whereas a dry environment makes it difficult for them to survive.
Giardia in dogs and the right diet
Giardia feeds on carbohydrates in the intestines, which your dog ingests through his food. In order to deprive them of their livelihood and prevent them from reproducing indefinitely, it is therefore necessary to switch to a dog food with a low carbohydrate content.
As even dry dog food without cereals contains a comparatively high proportion of carbohydrates, feeding only wet food is the better choice for dogs with Giardia.
We recommend our tasty favourite menu for this purpose. The easily digestible wet food for dogs consists of carefully selected ingredients. It is grain-free and contains very few carbohydrates, making it ideal for feeding dogs with Giardia.
By consistently maintaining the change of food, you deprive the parasites in the intestines of your four-legged friend of the nutritional basis and thus contribute to the fact that the Giardia cannot survive in the long term.
Counteract Giardia in dogs with food supplements
In order to support the effect of the change in diet, we recommend that you supplement your dog's diet with Bellfor Vermal powder. This natural food supplement contains selected herbs that create an intestinal environment that is hostile to giardiasis.
In this way, Vermal powder can make a valuable contribution to the treatment of giardia with an appropriate diet and help your dog to hopefully survive the parasite infestation soon.
Our conclusion about Giardia in dogs
As you can see, an infestation with Giardia is a serious matter for your dog and, especially in animals with a weakened immune system, is often associated with massive discomfort. In the event of an infection, it is therefore important that you take prompt action.
It is often common practice to rely on active ingredients such as febantel or fenbendazole when treating dogs with Giardia. This may well work. At the same time, however, the administration of medication against giardia puts a considerable strain on the already weakened organism of the dog.
Natural alternatives such as Bellfor Vermal powder are much easier to digest and can effectively support the effect of a low-carbohydrate diet. We therefore recommend our Giardia economy set for dogs, which contains Vermal powder, low-carbohydrate wet food and tasty dried meat as a snack.
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