# Experience with giardia??



## Dragonrain (Apr 28, 2009)

Hellos 

In addition to our 3 rabbits, we have a new 4 month old papillon puppy who unfortuantly was just diagnosed with giardia. He's being treated with a 10 day course of 250mg metronidazole and then will be rechecked to see if he still has it.

I'm paranoid that the puppy could either have gotten the giardia from the rabbits in the first place (he tries to eat their poo and got to some a few times before I could stop him) or that he could pass it on to them. The rabbits have their own room that the dog doesn't have normal access too, but I do bring him in there with me once in awhile.

Is it common for rabbits to get giardia? Can they get it from or pass it on to dogs? I read on a few sites that rabbit giardia doesn't seem to be able to be passed on to humans, but I didn't find anything about dogs. 

What is the common treatment for rabbits? I'm going to take them to the vets, but just want to know what to expect. They arn't showing any signs of not feeling well and all seem perfectly healthy, but then again the puppy didn't seem like anything was wrong with him either.

Ahh it's always something! :rollseyes


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## pamnock (Apr 28, 2009)

I know a girl who contracted giardia from rabbits, so yes, it can be spread between species. I'd have the rabbit checked.

Pam


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## jcottonl02 (Apr 28, 2009)

Giardia is one of the most common parasites in dogs, cats and birds, but can be easily treatable for them.
Apparently it can affect cows, sheep and beavers too, but is deadly for chinchillas and calves, but is quite easily treatable for cats and dogs, as long as it's caught early.

I think that the rabbit strain of the parasite is different to the human one, and cannot be transmitted (but can be carried). (please correct me if I'm wrong- i could well be )

Even so, I would get you and all your pets checked, if ur dog has it, as you don't know whether it was from.


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## Maureen Las (Apr 28, 2009)

There are many articles discussing this superficially on the net; many of them state that giardia can be transmitted to other pets and humans, however, a few of them discuss thatsince there are different strains of giardia only some of them are zoonotic andone should just assume that giardia can be transmitted betweendifferent species( to be safe)


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## Dragonrain (Apr 28, 2009)

Yeah I have been reading about it a lot and have found some conflicting info. Either way the bunnies are about due for a check up anyways, so I'm just going to take them all in and talk to the vet. 

Thanks for the replies.


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## Flick (Apr 29, 2009)

Pixel contracted Giardia. We've no idea how, but nonetheless, she did. If your rabbits develop diarrhea, you'll need to take a sample of the diarrhea to your vet. If you have microscope slides at home, you can swab a very very thin amount of the diarrhea onto the slide, then pass a small flame (lighter or match) very quickly under the slide to "fix" the sample in place on the slide. 

Also, get some Hydrogen Peroxide and clean everything with it, including the carpet. DON'T use it on your dogs or rabbit or any other living tissue. But, it's great for killing bacteria on surfaces and it's a wonderful carpet cleaner, too. Especially use it if there's fecal material on the carpet.

Giardia is passed through fecal material. If your rabbits have it, then they'll have bouts of diarrhea every 2 - 3 weeks, expelling adult protozoa in the diarrhea. Then they'll have normal poops for a few weeks, then diarrhea. 

Really, Hydrogen Peroxide to kill off the Giardia. Again, though, don't use it on living tissue, human or animal. We think it played a huge part keeping Pixel from getting re-infected.


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## Maureen Las (Apr 29, 2009)

I use a combination of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide to clean all the time. Besides the disinfectant action it also will loosen poop stuck to a floor.


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