Giardia and now 3 years old, 12.4 lbs

It's been a while since our last update, but no news is usually good news.  We now have experience with Giardia that we want to share with those having similar symptoms. Giardia is an intestinal infection caused by the parasite Giardia.

https://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/infectious-parasitic/c_multi_giardiasis

https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2016/02/10/excessive-licking-surfaces-dogs.aspx

The most common cause of Giardia is from the ingestion of infected fecal material.  A symptom of Giardia is diarrhea.  It took us 2 months, before confirming that Mochi was positive for Giardia.  Mochi had intermittent, cyclical diarrhea.  It's the first time she would wine in the middle of the night wanting to go out and then have explosive diarrhea.  Fortunately, it wasn't everyday, just intermittent, complicating the diagnosis.  At first, it was diarrhea, soft, mucinous, poop about 3 times a week.  We thought she ingested something bad at the park and this would resolve itself in a few days.  There was no blood in the stool, no loss of appetite, no weight loss and no dehydration.  After 3 weeks, it was time to see the vet.  Vet prescribed ProGut Plus probiotic and we collected 3 poop samples for her 1st fecal test. Test was negative for any parasites.  Now, we were thinking it was food intolerance
and started an elimination diet to figure out what protein was causing diarrhea.

After a month, we insisted on another fecal test and began collecting poop samples again.  This time, the test was positive for Giardia and immediately started on a 7 day course of Metronidazole 50mg.  Almost, immediately, her poop was solid.  We read that Giardia could return since the parasite is in the house or yard, but fortunately, Mochi hasn't had diarrhea for 4 months.

We observed that Mochi started to excessively lick the floors during this period of Giardia.  This was not normal for her, but we didn't think much of it.  But articles online have said that "excessive licking of surfaces" (ELS) can be due to a GI disorder.  But unfortunately, Mochi has not stopped this habit.

We have also tried slippery elm powder supplement for diarrhea, but there was no significant improvement.  No surprise since the cause was Giardia.

We also now regularly add a probiotic, and other supplements to Mochi's raw food. 

Thanks for reading, we hope this helps someone in the future.