Facts about giardia

I am studying to be a vet tech and I though I should share with you all what I found about Giardia since it commonly effects puppies.

Giardia is one of the most nebulous bogeymen in veterinary medicine. Few vets agree about the degree of pathology (that’s a fancy way of saying sickness) that Giardia causes. Add in experts’ differing opinions on the transmissibility of canine Giardia to humans and you have a recipe for a quagmire.

Giardia is a one-celled microscopic intestinal parasite. It is linked to diarrhea in dogs. Some vets think it causes diarrhea. However, many dogs that are infected with Giardia don’t develop any symptoms or illness whatsoever. Many experts therefore feel that the parasite does little more than exacerbate pre-existing intestinal disorders. Some rogue veterinarians don’t think Giardia causes disease at all.

In other words, these experts feel that an infected dog may be fine until she breaks into the trash and gives herself food poisoning. The parasites may then spring into action and make the already certain case of diarrhea worse.

Here’s the bad news: it appears that some dogs never clear Giardia. But there is good news: a Giardia infected dog that isn’t sick doesn’t have a problem.

Dogs that test positive for Giardia, then test negative, and then test positive again probably aren’t contracting the disease anew. Most likely they were infected the whole time and they simply weren’t shedding organisms and certain proteins (called antigens) produced by the organisms when they tested negative.

My recommendation is to worry less about test results and worry more about how your dog feels. If she isn’t sick, let her lead a normal life and back off on the testing. Be especially wary of Giardia-specific tests called antigen tests. Focus instead on general stool tests that look for actual Giardia organisms microscopically.

If the organisms are in her stool your dog should be treated. If they aren’t, and if she doesn’t have diarrhea or any other symptoms, then I have a hard time justifying further treatments–or tests.

And by all means, let her get out to enjoy that nice Potrero Hill weather.

One final note: Giardia does pose a potential health risk to humans. Standard hygiene practices reduce this risk dramatically. Dogs that shed Giardia organisms pose the greatest (although still highly debatable) threat. Talk to your vet about this

List of good and bad dog food

This is just a short list of the foods out there, if these do not work for your dog there will be a different food to try. Please do your research on the food before you get it, some brands claim to be grain free but if you read the labels you will find grain in it.

 With allergy dogs the ingredient or ingredients they are allergic to cannot be in the food at all. The most common allergies are corn,wheat,soy,rice,and chicken. That's right dogs are commonly allergic to the protein chicken.

These are completely grain free

1. Taste of the Wild

2 Zignature

3. Fromm

4. NutriSource

5. Blue Buffalo Wilderness

6. Natural Balance L.I.D ( pretty pricey)

7. Blue Buffalo Freedom

8. GO!

9. Evangers

These have good grains, no wheat, corn, or soy

1. Canidae ( they make huge bags of food)

2. Fromm (they have three different lines of food)

3. Diamond Naturals (40lb bags)

4. Blue Buffalo

6.Dogswell

7. Pure Vita 

Controversial foods

Theses are foods that I personally would not trust but some people and vets still do.

1.  Science Diet, the reasone this is controversial is because it has corn and wheat in it. Dogs have a hard time digesting corn and wheat and frenchies are prone to food allergies.

2. Wellness, has had recalls 

3. Wellness Core, has had recalls

DO NOT GET

These foods have either been recalled a lot or are full of corn, wheat, and soy.

1. Inovva

2. California Natural

3. Nutro

4. Health Wise

5. Iams

6. Pedigree

7. EVO

8. Royal Canin

9. Eukanuba

10. Purina

Again this is just a short list that I put together to give you an idea of whats out there and what not to feed your baby. Some dogs will like these food choices and others wont. Just be sure that the food your dog is on is both healthy and works for any allergy they may have. Also if you want to take the time and money you can feed your dog on a raw diet.  Raw or at least home made is a great thing to do for your dog. Just make sure you do your research and do it the right way. I will gather information about raw feeding and home cooking and share it with  you all. I will try to answer any questions you have about dog foods. 

Fun facts week 1

Here are this weeks fun facts. I hope everyone enjoys them.

Tigers not only have stripes on their fur but they also have them on their skin. No two tigers have the same stripes, no matter how much they look alike to us.

Flamingos can only eat while it's head is upside down. Can you eat with your head upside down?

A group of cats is called a clowder. Unlike what most people think a colony or just simply cats is not the correct term fir a group of cats.

The basenji is the only breed of dog that does not bark. So if you want a dog but not a barking one this is the breed for you. They also self groom like a car does.

Dogs do dream! Dogs and humans have the same type of slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement. During rapid eye movement stage dogs can dream. The twitching and paw movements that occur during their sleep are signs they are dreaming.

How to make your own pet first aid kit

Hey everyone,

For my first post in the blogging world I decided to share an easy list of things that you should always have with you when you take your dog places. This list is meant for minor injuries or to help stop bleeding on major injuries for the trip to the vet.

1. You need a bag the has many different compartments that are able to zip, preferably red so you can always find it.

2. Benadryl. this is great for bee stings, spider bites, or any minor allergic reaction. The dose varies depending on the size of your dog, but one pill is safe to give any size dog. Even a tiny chihuahua puppy.

3. Antiseptic cleansing wipes, these are great for minor cuts caused by tree branches, cat scratches, cuts on their pads, etc.

4. Gauze pads, these are great to use when wrapping up cuts to keep them clean. They also are great to use to apply topical medication.

5. Vet Wrap, this stuff is amazing, it sticks to its self but not to the fur on the dog. This can be used for so many things but one thing would be to help wrap up a cut to keep it clean and prevent the dog from licking to wound.

6. Rubbing Alcohol, this is used to rinse any cuts and scrapes your dog may get. 

7. Tweezers, these are great to get cat tails out of the the dogs paws, ears, nose, etc. Also these are great to get any sticker or glass that may end up in its pad. 

8.  Hydrogen peroxide, this is used to induce vomiting if your pet eats something that is should not have. Such as your medication or to much of their pills. Only use this when directed by a vet or poison-control to do so.

9. Rectal thermometer, your pet's temperature should not rise above 103 F or fall below 100 F

10. Any type of lubricant for the thermometer 

12. A foil emergency blanket, use this if the temperature is to low, and call your vet right away.

11. Ice pack, this is to cool the dog off if it's temperature is to high, and call your vet right away.