My puppy has giardia. Is it safe for her to play with other dogs?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Mia. Giardia is spread through a fecal oral route. Typically good hygiene and washing your hands thoroughly prohibits this from occurring. I would not let her lick your mouth. Scoop the feces in the yard frequently and wash your hands afterwards. She should stay home from doggie daycare until the infection is resolved. I hope this information helps!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Unless she has feces on her hair and if she defecates when around other dogs, she will not pass on the worms just by playing with other dogs. However, you cannot say for sure whether or not she has microscopic eggs stuck to her fur or if she will defecate around the other dogs. I would play it safe and finish off the deworming medication and recheck the stool in 7 days (from starting the medication) before socializing her with any other dogs. If she defecates and you pick it up, there is no way to tell if you got every microscopic egg off the ground. If she does defecate outside, it is recommended to remove the top 8 inches of soil from the area to ensure you have removed all eggs. I would also recommend regularly cleaning her bedding so that she does not re-infect herself and that you are using a bleach solution (3 cups bleach to 1 cup water) to spray surfaces down. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Your dog can get it if your dog eats her stool or drinks water contaminated by the puppies stool. So your dog should be walked in a separate area from the puppy. As long as you prevent that you should be fine. Though it might be best to not bring your dog until the puppy has a confirmed negative stool. People can also get giardia so be careful. Good luck!

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The risk of contracting Giardia from your dog is pretty slim, but elderly, very young, or immunocompromised individuals are at a higher risk. If Kiddo is fully vaccinated, fully treated with an anti-parasitic agent, and house trained, it should not be a concern for Kiddo to reinfect herself. You do not need to steam/bleach/etc your home continuously after treatment. I am happy to answer any other questions you may have and wish you luck with your puppy!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Round worms are passed fecal-orally. So your friends dog would have to ingest Rogan's stool. Just clean up after him we'll and everything should be fine! I hope this helps and have a great day!

Hi there! Usually dogs that are infected with giardia can be tested after treatment to make sure they aren't still shedding the organism. You can always request the client retest after the completion of treatment, which is usually done anyway to make sure the organism is gone. Giardia can be hard to get rid of, so a lot of vets will do this. There is a client handout about giardia that I really like that I will paste below. It also gives you instructions as to how to eradicate the organism in the environment. A way to play it safe would be for you to have this dog be your last appointment of the day and then disinfect if that works with your schedule. Otherwise, I think a negative retest would be sufficient when the dog is finished with the treatment plan from its vet. Here is the client handout with some great information for you! https://www.vin.com/veterinarypartner/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952529

This is a really good question, with no perfect answer. With the giardia she is technically still considered to be potentially shedding eggs until she has a negative fecal exam. With the kennel cough, depending on which virus is causing it she can still be shedding virus up to 3 weeks even though she may be symptom free. I hope this helps answer your question. Thanks for using Pet Coach.