Well yesterday I went over to my friends house to just get away for a while. Well I caged up Echo with her pups, and left. I came home a couple of hours later and walked in the house and first thing I did was go to the cage to let Echo out along with the other dogs (who where caged too) and I noticed some stool in on her blanket. The first thing I thought to myself was, That really weird her not cleaning up after the pups :?: So I opened the cage door and she ran out and vomited 2 times then started having this uncontrollable diarrhea :shock: ALL over the floor!!!! I freaked ran got the thermometer and her temp was 104.7 :shock: :shock: . As I am running around calling the vet she starts straining really hard and the next thing I know here come a lot of blood:shock: :shock: out of her rectum. I told the vet while I was on the phone with him and he said bring her in. SO I hurried and called a good friend of mine to come get the puppies and formula and 2 bottles because I didn't want the pups to get sick especially when we didn't know what was wrong with her. SO after she came to get the pups, which was about 5 mins. I rushed Echo to the Emergency vet. He knew it was not parvo because she drank alittle water and plus she is current on her Vaccs. SO he said it could have been a number of things, Something she ate thats didn't agree with her, but I said no cause I watch them VERY carefully, He said it could have been a spider bite reaction :shock: but no swelling anywhere, OR it could be Giardia. He gave her a shot of Penicillin and a steroid and sent her home with Amoxicillin She is back to herself today like nothing happened
I have never had such a scare with any of my dogs in my whole life!! Needless to say my carpet is ruined I cannot get all the blood out, even with the shampooer but I don't care as long as she is OK and doing better
And this is why you never drink the water in Mexcio!!!
Here is some info on Giardia
Giardia is a protozoan parasite that lives in the intestine of affected animals. It is unclear whether there are several species of this parasite or whether there is one species that affect several different animals, including people. These small parasites are very easy to miss on a fecal exam and may not be present in the stool of animals infected with the organism. Repeated fecal exams are sometimes necessary to identify this parasite. Not all animals in which infection can be demonstrated have clinical signs. This leads some people to believe that the parasite may not cause disease . Most vets think that there may just be other factors, like the animal's immune response to the parasite that cause some animals to develop disease and not others. Clinical signs of giardia include weight loss, inability to gain weight appropriately during growth, diarrhea, vomiting, lack of appetite and greasy appearing stools. Them most commonly used medication for giardia infection is metronidazole (Flagyl). The organisms come from the environment and live in moist to wet areas. They are susceptible to quatenary ammonium disinfectants, Lysol and dilute chlorine bleach. Keeping the dog's environment dry helps a lot.
This disease may be contagious to people from infected dogs so good sanitary practices, like washing your hands after handling an infected puppy, are very important. If a family member develops similar clinical signs, a physician should be consulted.
