Intestinal Parasites?

shytown1552 · July 2012

Well we adopted our dog Bow about 2 months ago. He was having liquid poo. We had him all checked out and the vet thought he had intestinal parasites. We had him on medicine for it. While Bow was on the meds his bowels would be normal. A week after the last dose of meds his poo would start to go liquid again. We have had him on 4 rounds of this meds along with something stronger to knock out the rest. I have told the vet this and still they insist on parasites. I no longer believe it is. We slowly changed him to Blue Buffalo food when we got him and hes not a picky eater. We do not feed him table scraps and things like that because we are still worried that something else may be wrong. Any ideas of what this could be? Sick of spending all this money when it clearly isnt getting better.

spalko · July 2012

What parasite did the vet say it was? If it were something like giardia or coccidia, did you treat the environment as well? Basically, anywhere that Bow goes #2 needs to be treated. Diatomaceous earth can be used on the yard to kill these parasites and it can be purchased at Tractor Supply stores (or something similar). If the environment isn't being treated, the dog will continue to contract the parasites.

shytown1552 · July 2012

See here is the thing though. They did 2 stool samples and both came back negative for parasites. They dont really know what kind of intestinal parasites they are just treating it as if he has them. All they told me was they were treating him for the very common kind that usually comes from dogs from pounds ( I believe whipworm). They told me sometimes the test are not very clear. With the treating the ground thing well we live in a huge apartment complex sooo thats not really possible. I just really do not think he has this parasite thing. He is completely fine other than the extra soft stool. And I will mention that he doesn't pay any extra attention to his bottom area at all. I believe that was another sign of the parasites?

spalko · July 2012

If it is whipworm, they are very hard to treat since the majority of the parasite lives within the colon and getting a strong enough concentration of the drug to the colon isn't easy. So yes, multiple treatments (3-4 depending on severity) are necessary to ensure a thorough treatment. Fecal tests will not always show evidence of parasites since you are only testing a small portion of the feces so most doctors treat on principle. If you are truly unhappy, I would go for a second opinion at another vet and see what they believe is wrong. Bow may also have delevoped a type of colitis (inflammation of the colon) from the stress and strain of having the parasites and a anitbiotic can help clear that up as well as a bland diet.

Intestinal Parasites?

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