Cryptosporidium Parasite in a puppy
I have 10 month old OES. She had trouble gaining weight or finding food she liked. She got sick before her spayed. It was rebooked and she has an infection on her incession. She was hospitalized for that and some tummy issues. The doctor mentioned diarrhea panel test but didn't think it would find anything. Most people don't do it because it cost over $500. The test came back that she had cryptosporidium. We started a 7 days antibotic then waited 2 weeks to retest. That takes a few days. Test 2 came back with 2 parasites ( cryptosporidium and giardia) We started a series of medications. 14 day of one antibotic then another 30 days. 10 days of medication for the new parasite. I retest her next week. She hasn't been able to go for walk, daycare, obedience school or socialization. She has been ill for 4 months. This is my 3rd OES. No one I talk to have heard of this in puppies ( vet staff and other OES owners) or the treatment. Does anyone have an experience with this illness or advice? Thanks |
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| I am sorry to hear about your pup, who seems to have similar issues to Oscar when he was a puppy. Oscar came to us at 10 weeks old with diarrhea, and a very rumbly digestive system. Over the span of months, we controlled his food to one protein source, did numerous food switches, fecal testing, blood work, various other tests, and multiple meds. Oscar had a chronic case of giardia as well. At 10 months old, though larger framed then our previous OES who was about 100 lbs at that age, Oscar weighed in at 67 lbs. We ended up doing an endoscopy, where we discovered that Oscar had a severely inflamed small intestine, and was diagnosed with Lymphacytic/Plasmacytic Inflammatory Bowel Disease. The internist prescribed prednisone, to get the inflammation under control, and it worked like a charm. For the first time, Oscar had normal stool, and his digestive system calmed down. At that point, he was taking 40 mg of famotidine (Pepcid AC) daily, as well as 500 mg of metronidazole (2 times a day), and we had switched him to a venison based food, and nothing else. No treats, no table food, just kibble. He finally started to fill out normally and put on weight. When the course of prednisone was done, we tried to wean him off of it, but he kept getting sick again, either with an IBD flare-up, or with skin infections. After months and months of this cycle, Oscar's vet along with his internist determined that Oscar has some underlying autoimmune issue causing his body to attack itself, and that the low dose of daily prednisone (down to 5 mg in a now 105 lb dog) was something his body needed to balance itself. (By this time, he had also been diagnosed as hypothyroid, common in OES.) He has been on the low dose of prednisone ever since, and he is now 11.5 years old. (We increase it to 10 mg when he has an IBD flare-up) Also, Oscar requires frequent bathing to help keep the bacteria load down on his skin. It helps to prevent infections. Figuring all of this out took a lot of trial and error, but we basically only tried to change one thing at a time if possible, so that we could better determine if it was beneficial. It is possible that your pup is not like Oscar, but the giardia, coupled with the infection in the incision sound like the issues I have dealt with over the years. Oscar has taken famotidine, metronidazole, prednisone, and diphenhydramine (generic benadryl) daily for his entire life. His digestive issues mean that he is fed 4 small meals throughout the day (when he takes his meds), so that there is always food moving through his system. Up until last year, he only got a canned version of his food (venison as the protein source) and kibble, nothing else. Last year he decided that he would no longer take his pills, which is not an option, so we now have to wrap them in american cheese (UGH) and roll them in parmesan.  His stool is a little softer, but better that than a full digestive meltdown which would happen if he didn't take his meds.I am really sorry to dump all of this information on you, as it looks a bit overwhelming, and it may have nothing to do with your puppy. If you have any questions, just PM me, or reply to this thread. Also, feel free to look through my posts over the years (we got Oscar in 2004) as they may help fill in some things I have forgotten, and those medical threads might contain solutions from other posters as well. Let me also say that Oscar has been worth all of it. He is the best boy in the entire world.  And I would do it all over for him again in a heartbeat.  Laurie and Oscar |
| It's not that uncommon what with dirty water, other animal feces infested areas, etc. Some big time antibiotics for your pup, hope all this has not left a permanent problem. Giardia especially is getting harder to cure. Poor pup and the tender tummy problems. |
| This is rather new problem around our area, we have never vaccinated for it before. On Odies' last visit with the Vet, he was telling us about all the Crypto cases he has treated this year. So a crypto booster is now on Odies' list of yearly shots. |
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