My dog has giardia, but vet won't treat. Why isn't treatment needed?

Ths can be a tricky disease to get rid of. The diarrhea caused by Giardia can lead to colitis, an inflammation in the bowel wall, which can make the diarrhea worse and/or persist despite the treatment. You will need to make sure you are cleaning up all of Kenai’s feces daily so that he does not become reinfected. It may also be helpful to ask your veterinarian about adding a probiotic to Kenai’s treatment plan. This can help the diarrhea clear up more quickly. And finally, it may be worth retesting Kenai’s feces to make sure nothing else is going on. He may need an additional antibiotic to help clear up the diarrhea. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

Some dogs will shed giardia with no clinical signs, so it may not be worth retesting the other ones if they are normal. If any of them start having loose stool again though it may be worth testing them as they may be reinfecting each other.

It sounds like you are doing everything right. I would keep treating her if she still has cysts in the stools. When they "clear" the giardia is completely dependent on the dog. There is not cut and dry answer to that question. Same goes with how many rounds of treatment they will need. Some puppies clear it with one course of medication. Others take months of treatment. Just keep working closely with your vet. Here is a link to more information about giardia in dogs. I think you should consider using a probiotic along with treatment. Any probiotic made for dogs would be OK but I highly recommend you use Fortiflora. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/giardia-in-dogs https://www.allivet.com/p-1130-purina-pro-plan-veterinary-diets-fortiflora-dog-supplement-box-of-30.aspx

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!

I recommend to call your veterinarian. When pets don't respond to treatment as expected, it can mean that the real cause of illness has not been identified. The veterinarian may try a different medication or recommend further diagnostics such as a fecal culture, parasite testing or ultrasound. Mia may also need additional testing of the liver such as a bile acids or endocrine testing. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

I would recommend monitoring the others for signs, have the fecals of all checked when done w medications. I also recommend picking up feces right away to help decrease chance of spread as well. If you feel more comfortable treating all at once that is ok too, and you can talk to your veterinarian about it too. Good luck

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. if they were using an antigen test then testing immediately after treatment can lead to false positive results. I would recommend following your veterinarians recommendations as different tests and different labs may have varying sensitivity.