VET Techs Please, When you Bring your Puppy in for a STOOL???

Question

We brought our 10 week old puppy in for her first shots and they asked us to collect her stool in one of their special containers. We brought back a fresh sample a few day laters and they told us she had roundworms and treated her. Two days later, she develops diarrhea and we took her to a 24 hr vet and they do another stool and find she has Giardia. Why wasn't this detected during the first stool sample, Are they different tests? What exactly is run during the initial 20 dollar stool sample??? PLEASE help, we'd like to know if we picked a compentent VET.

Answer 1

Honestly, techs usually inspect the stool samples under the scope. Worms are easy to see as well as their larva. Giardia may have been present in the inital stool sample, but maybe not in an amount that alerted the technician. Giardia is a bacteria and was probably secondary to the worm problem. I would certainly ask for your medical record of the fecal profile done originally and look for yourself if the technician marked ++ or ++++ next to cocci or giardia, it is hard to say as my dog has battled to bouts of giardia with little to be seen under the scope and I the one looking! Bring it to the doctors attention and ask them to alert you of even minor findings. Giardia is transferralble to humans, avoid all the puppy kisses and clean up pooh asap. Other dogs can get it too if you have more pets.

Answer 2

unless your vet does a fecal smear they will not detect the giardia protozoan....they have a SNAP test to look for giardia...its a special test thats done once everything else has been cleared and thats the only thing left. what initially is run is the stool sample is diluted and shook up and the eggs float to the top. the techs then put it on a slide and look for the eggs. Only eggs are seen on the slide. Giardia is too small to be seen unless you have had a fecal smear done. Even then its sort of hard to identify Giardia. Oh yes you did pick a good vet...Giardia is an expensive test so they do it as a last option. if you have any questions feel free to email me.

Answer 3

Parasites are not always shedding, so a dog can have a parasite and it may not always be detected in a stool sample the first time. Also, if a dog has multiple parasites, one parasite may be "overpowering" (for lack of a better word---it's late) the other parasite. Giardia does not develop into a visible parasite as roundworms do, it is always microscopic and sometimes hard to detect, esp. in the presence of other parasites. The test done is called a fecal flotation test and some vets will also do a direct smear. There is a separate test for giardia available, if it's in question, but generally when dogs show the symptoms like diarrhea and "oily" stool, it can be detected on the fecal flotation or direct smear. It is very common for one parasite to be treated, then another one found, so I don't think your vet is incompetent at all. Make sure to keep your dog's food and water bowls clean while he's being treated, try to distract him from licking his anus (a hard task I know) as he can reinfect himself this way, and don't let him lick your face as both of these parasites are transmittable to humans (and of course, thorough handwashing after handling him!!!) Good luck!

Answer 4

As previously stated above by "A Veterinarian", the tests are completely different for detecting Roundworms and Giardia. Roundworm eggs can be seen under a microscope after a fecal float test (this is the test the vet or vet tech runs when doing an intestinal parisite check). Giardia, however, has to be seen under a direct smear (which is not the common fecal test) or the stool sample has to be run in a special SNAP test device specially made for Giardia.

Answer 5

I'm not a tech, just a veterinarian. However, this question isn't as simple as it seems.

First, technicians read the stool samples in most hospitals, not the veterinarians. They are trained to do this, and should be able to easily pick out parasites.

Second, giardia is much more difficult to see than round worms. It could be that the tech wasn't seasoned enough to know to look deeper. Still, no excuse, I agree...

Third, maybe the sample didn't contain giardia. It is possible, and not unlikely.

The point is, I wouldn't judge the vet by this circumstance. Instead, I would tell the vet bout it, and then judge them by their reaction:)

Good Luck:)


Also... people keep saying that gardia cannot be seen on a float and that is simply not true. Please contact your state veterinary office and they will confirm.
The SNAP test only confirms 85% of positive cases. For the other 15% of positive animals, the test misses.
A smear is a good idea, but to imply that giardia can only be diagnosed this way is false.

Answer 6

Would you accept an answer from an actual veterinarian, or does it have to be a vet tech? ;-)

It's 2 different tests.

Roundworms are detected by finding their eggs under the microscope after a fecal flotation. Giardia don't generally show up that way....and they're not always being shed every day, anyway.

Giardia are detected by 2 methods:
1. A direct fecal smear (not a flotation) with a special stain.
2. A commercial test, similar to the parvo test.

Next week, coccidia that weren't there previously might show up. Same with hookworms. Just all depends on where in the life cycle each parasite is.

That's why we like to check puppies and kittens so frequently....and why we ALWAYS look at the feces again whenever diarrhea develops, even if the patient just had a negative test the week before.

Does that make you feel any better? :-)


10 wks old is a little late for 'first' shots....did you just get her??? She's a few weeks behind getting started, but if you stay on time with her next visits whenever they told you, you'll be okay.


PLEASE NOTE: When most practitioners talk about a fecal flotation, we're referring to a standard fecal flotation....NOT a zinc sulfate flotation, which is a special solution that's better for detecting Giardia cysts on a flotation test. Giardia are only RARELY seen on standard flotation tests, even if they are present in the stool....as can be easily confirmed by the parasitology dept in any veterinary college.

That's how many 'false positives' come about, actually....because someone might THINK they're seeing Giardia on a standard float, but really aren't. But yes, a *zinc sulfate* flotation test will be much more likely to reveal Giardia if they're there. (Still not as reliable as a stained direct smear, however.)

Here...it's even confirmed by VIN:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&C=15&A=2386&S=1



Sorry, Tenners, but your post is so FULL of major errors that I don't believe for a second you are really a vet tech. If you were, you would KNOW that Giardia are protozoan parasites, not bacteria....the problem is not secondary to roundworms; they are a primary pathogen on their own....and that it's not cocci on the fecal results, but coccidia (another protozoan parasite.) Fecal cocci (which ARE bacteria) cannot be identified without a stained fecal smear. If you ARE a vet tech, please focus on a parasitology refresher for your next continuing education course ASAP.

Git 'em Gang....the medication used to treat coccidia is not without potential side effects, so it shouldn't be given unless coccidia are confirmed or the pups have the type of diarrhea that is associated with their presence. I know many breeders do it routinely, but coccidia is a parasite of poor sanitation and immune system strength. The indiscriminant treatment of coccidia is one of the reasons it has become so resistant to our most commonly-used medication, and a new one is under development.

Answer 7

Giardia is a different test and they can get it from standing water.. anywhere like that.. it can actually be brought in on shoes. It's a nasty little disease that usually takes awhile to get rid of.
The initial test that they do for worming is very easy. They get a little plastic bottle, like a pill bottle and put a fecasol solution in it... (basically salt water)...they stir a small sample of the stool in with the fecasol and put a little microscope slide over the top. They let it sit there for a certain number of minutes... then pick up the slide, turn it over, put a cover slip on it and read it under the microscope looking for worms. That is the extent of the fecal check.

Answer 8

they are basically the same test. Giardia is very hard to see. maybe the first sample didn't show any or maybe the first tech saw roundworms and look no further. As far as competant or not, I always go with my gut feeling. Good luck

Answer 9

becuase they search for different thing on some cases or
maybe during the two days she got Giardia its truly a case
that should be resolved by your first vet ask him/her your
question they can awnser

Answer 10

YES! ***DIFFERENT*** tests...*&* like coccidia,giardia doen't always show-up on every fecal!!

Tell vet you want to treat for coccidia TOO!!! Which needs DIFFERENT med!
If you got a pup w/ROUNDS *&* giardia...lord knows what ELSE it HAS!!!
Do a COMPLETE "clean-out"!!!