# Giardia Questions and treatment



## RunAround (Feb 17, 2008)

Anyone have any experience with this stuff. My vet said Bambi's fecal came up positive for it. They also said he was positive for cocci but I find that had to believe. I am sure it was a very small amount of cocci and they just want to sell me some drugs so they can make some money. 

But if anyone has any info on the Giardia, treatment, and general info that would be great.


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

RunAround said:


> Anyone have any experience with this stuff. My vet said Bambi's fecal came up positive for it. They also said he was positive for cocci but I find that had to believe. I am sure it was a very small amount of cocci and they just want to sell me some drugs so they can make some money.


 Why do you fine that hard to believe? All goats have it. Did you ask what the count was or if you could see the slide? I have a vet here that is as dumb about goats as I would be about Monkeys. He said that I had a goat with a few cocci and they need to be treated. I told him that I wanted to see the slide. YEP he was right. We found ONE cocci. He said to treat with Corid and to put it in the water. i told him I could not do that because I have horses. He was dumb enough to ask what does that have to do with anything? I had to tell the VET that horses can NOT have Chorid. He said why not? SO I grabbed HIS medical book, opened it to the page that says to keep it away from horses.

As I walked out of the office I said "and I pay YOU to give me veterinary advice for my animals? I think it should be the other way around". I will not ever take a animals to see him again, and he knows it so does all the staff at the place. They do have a vet that is WONDERFUL with goats. But I figured how bad can me mess up a fecal float? I guess he answered that for me.


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## Candy (May 14, 2008)

metronidazole or tinidazole or paramomycin are used in human tx for Giardia. Paramomycin is the safest for humans, because the other 2 can cause birth defects and nausea/vimiting. It is a parasite that you can get only from ingestion. You have to eat or drink the parasite. I've never heard of it in goats, but then it might be that ALL goats have it and it NORMALLY dosen't cause a problem :shrug: 
Candy


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## Sonrise Farm (Sep 18, 2008)

Okay clue me in . . . what is cocee? or Giardia or whatever? Back-up and info wanted here! :shocked:


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I just checked on this...Giardia in goats isnot as common as coccidia, but can have the same symptoms... http://www.sheepandgoat.com/articles/scours.html says that Giardia is treated and controlled by SafeGuard and Valbazen.


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## RunAround (Feb 17, 2008)

I was only talking about the cocci. I am sure he had some, since I know all goats have some. He is also on Cocci preventative so I am sure he can still get it but he shows no signs of it. Just fed up with the vet. This vet is just stupid and I can't stand them but they are the only vet that will treat goats around here. Sorry to sound so negative, but there are more things going on in my life that I don't feel like talking about right now. 

No I couldn't look at the slide because they had to send it out. I guess they ran out of the fecal stuff.


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## RunAround (Feb 17, 2008)

liz said:


> I just checked on this...Giardia in goats isnot as common as coccidia, but can have the same symptoms... http://www.sheepandgoat.com says that Giardia is treated and controlled by SafeGuard and Valbazen.


Weird, he was just wormed with safeguard.

I have no idea how he would have gotten it, unless the well water at the barn is contaminated.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

It's possible that since this vet has no clue that he "doesn't know" that it's normal for a goat to have a few oocysts....the giardia is similar to cocci so maybe he was just "dumb" to that......I don't think you need to worry because their are no symptoms and the preventative they are on would keep the numbers in check. Hope your day gets better :hug:


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## RunAround (Feb 17, 2008)

Thanks, i'm just :hair: with all the things that are going on. 

He is a bit skinnier than the other goats and I think he should be bigger. Thats why I had the fecal done in the first place. I am waiting for the vet to call me back to tell me what I should do. I am going to give him a couple day treatment with the herbal dewormer I have and I guess give him a couple day treatment with safeguard(unless the vet wants me to give something stronger). I am also going to ask my vet for the exact counts of each. :sigh: Sorry just frustrated.


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## Sonrise Farm (Sep 18, 2008)

:sigh: *sniff* I hate it when my questions go ignored . . . .


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

RunAround....Bambi is around 7-8 months old right? And he is a buck....you say he seems "skinney" compared to your others, this is his first rut so maybe that has something to do with the weight issue. Just as reference here, but Teddy my little pygmy/nigi cross is just over 7 months old and in spite of worming and calf manna supplement he is seeming skinney also, now Teddy is also more preoccuied with the girls than he is in eating.....I hope you can get your questions answered and just to be safe you can add a little bit of bleach to the water, just in case it is contaminated.


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## FunnyRiverFarm (Sep 13, 2008)

Sonrise Farm--Cocci and Giardia are both a type of single cell parasite that live in the intestine that can cause infection if a goat is overwhelmed with them. Most adult goats with healthy immune systems can fight them off naturally but kids and stressed/sick goats sometimes can't. This is one reason why, If a goat is under a lot of stress or gets sick, it is usually a good idea to give them some kind of immune-support like Probios.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

And breeding/rut woul be a great way for them to get stressed....bucks or does :wink:


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## RunAround (Feb 17, 2008)

True, he is in rut and peeing all over himself like crazy.  

Besides being a little under weight he is acting fine. Flirting, eating, pooping, sleeping. lol. Hopefully I just worry too much.


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## RunAround (Feb 17, 2008)

Vet still hasn't contacted me. Grr. :angry:


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## Julie (Oct 6, 2007)

Interesting Post :type:


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## SDK (Jun 26, 2008)

hey be grateful .. at least a little bit

i don't have a vet who will look at goats, the closest i have is my 4h leader who's a vet tech and married to a vet, but her husband wont see the goats, and she has sheep.

just found my microscope so im going to learn how to do fecal checks on my own and the vet tech can get the wormer for me


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## RunAround (Feb 17, 2008)

The vet finally called me today. I guess the count for both things was 2+ which he said means between 5-10.
Started him on albon and safe-guard. Started the other two bucks in the pen with him with those to. Going to re-test him a week after treatment is done. At that time I will do a fecal on a couple of the does to. 

Vet was like, "so he prob has explosive diarrhea right?" LOL No he is fine except being a bit skinny. He seemed very surprised.


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