Our recently bought puppy was diagnosed with Giardia and Kennel Cough. He is about 2 months old. I am worried because he was bought from Petland, and I have heard many bad things about them, but we fell in love with him and had to take him home.

I've been researching both topics but have many unanswered questions. Should I disinfect his toys? His crate? Feeding bowls? The vet said that Percy will be ok but bring him to the Emergency Room if he gets worse, which scares me! Will my puppy be OK? The vet prescribed Metronidazle for the Giardia and Doxycycline for the Kennel Cough. Im asking if there is anything else I should do for my puppy to quicken his illnesses, help him through it, and will he be alright???
Thank You.


***Edited By: percy1234 on 3/7/2009 10:13:08 PM***
Reason: spelling error

With medication....your puppy will be ok. Metronidazole is very good for Giardia but I would use Pancur wormer also to back it up. This is common practice. Kennel cough will go away with out antibiotics but sometimes the secondary stuff moves in so I would use antibiotics.
Clean everything. Giardia will live on toys, haircoat, etc as it is shed via feces. Wash once when u start treatment and once when you are done with the meds.

will aggreviating::: these are easily cured. Your silver lining is THIS COULD BE SOMETHING MUCH WORSE!!!

Thank you so much, the doctor also gave him those heartworm pills too. He is much better, no more cough and more energetic. Thank you!

Follow up info... you should also repeat the Metronidizole and Panacur 2 weeks after the initial dosing. The first dose kills the live Giardia. The second knocks out anything that was sticking around. 5-7 days of Panacur is a good idea. Not every dog responds ideally to Metronidizole or Panacur - so to avoid having this be a long term cycle, just dose the puppy with both.

It also wouldn't be a bad idea to pick up some Probiotics and start the puppy on them (mix in with it's food). Probiotics help encourage a happy digestive system. As you're dosing with antibiotics and wormers you're killing off both the good and bad bacteria in the puppy's system. The Probiotics will put the good bacteria back. I usually use the Probios probiotics. In a pinch, a little plain yogurt also helps - but the probiotics work better.

Neither problem is life threatening if treated right away. It sounds like you have things under control. Keep the puppy on a good quality dog food, watch it's weight, and keep things clean. Wash bedding in color safe bleach, wash toys every couple days (you can actually put most toys in the washing machine or dishwasher - I usually run plastic/latex toys in the dishwasher and soft toys in the washing machine with color safe bleach on a hot wash). Bathe the puppy once a week and don't be afraid to do daily washings of their rear end.

The thing your vet probably didn't mention... if you can get him over this now, usually puppies are much more susceptible to parasites than adult dogs. Puppies have incompletely developed immune systems so are much more prone to picking up parasites as a result. Depending on the part of the country you're in, giardia can be a fairly common problem. In fact, most people don't run fecals on their adult dogs unless they have loose stools - more pets have a parasite problem than most people realize. Adult dogs are just very resilient and don't show symptoms unless the parasite load gets out of control.

Thank you VERY much your advice is really helpful!! Also my dog is doing ok, but still breathing very heavily at night? He gained a lot of weight since we have got him. And bathing him once a week is ok? Some of the vets say its bad for the puppy's skin or something, you seem like you know a lot and ill follow your instructions, THANK YOU.

Remember to Giardia was probably gotten from puppy eating his own poop. Typical. But make sure to clean up after he poops. You don't want him to get into the habit of doing it forever too. I have to stick to my poodle like glue or she will try to eat poo. Right now I am trying out probiotics. Not sure if her obsessive habit can be cured but I am trying. I also give yogurt, have for a few years.
I have a friend that helps with our rescue. When she was in Mexico she got really sick with giardia. I think from the water. Ohhh and my sis inlaw from water in the mountains. So fresh water always.

Thank you all again! Percy is fit and healthy again. I also gave him pineapple after every meal because it makes his poo smell bad and it works great:)