# Royal Canin- IVD



## graceandmartin (Feb 25, 2008)

Since we've brought Dini home, she's had a bout of Giardia. Poor baby has been on 3 different antibiotics (all at different times), and even got 2 rounds of the Giardia Vaccine. As early as of yesterday, her fecal sample still showed positive for Giardia. The vet said that sometimes this was just a hard to shake parasite that can affect small pups, and in rare cases, it can be completely resistant. 

However, despite the test results, Dini shows no symptoms or problems. Her stools are normal (she hasn't had runny poops in like 2 months!), she eats normally and shows no signs of lethargy at all. 

So, here is what the vet recommended:
-wait it out and see if this is something that she'll just outgrow as she gets older and builds more of a resistance to the parasite
and lastly:
-switch her diet to IVD by Royal Canin to see if maybe her current diet is contributing to the giardia being resistant (she is currently on Evo Innova beef canned & Evo Innova Chicken kibble)

However, when I checked into IVD's ingredient list, I noticed that the second ingredient listed was "Meat By-Product!  From what I know, I thought by-products were no-nos for dogs and considered unhealthy. But I also know that the reason why the doctor recommended IVD was because it had limited ingredients and non chicken or beef meats. We're doing the Venison & Potato version to try.

Hubby thinks that maybe we're just being sold by the vet to purchase their food (which btw is REALLY expensive and can only be bought there because its by prescription!)

What to do??!! :smpullhair::new_shocked: I only want to make sure that Dini is ok, so of course I'll do whatever I can (no matter what it costs) but at the same time, I don't want to have to things that may be unnecessary. Any insight would be extremely helpful!!! :smhelp:


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

Poor Dini. :grouphug: 

There are other venison foods out there that don't contain meat by products, like Nature's Variety Prairie
and many others, I'm sure you can do a google search, and others here can recommend them.

If you feed your dog by-products it would be eating offal. 
That is what you would be paying all that money for. 

How would feeding this food help your dog's immune system? Maybe someone who know more than I could answer that question. I'm not a vet or a nutritionist, but I'd want to give my dog probiotics, digestive enzymes, and a high quality food. But like I said, I'm not qualified to give that kind of advice.


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## wooflife (Aug 8, 2007)

I feel for Dini - my cat had Giardia as a kitten and it was excruting to watch him go through it, he was miserable and in pain -crying. 

My understanding is that Giardia is a parasite that has inactive cysts - they don't necessarily bother the animal unless it's immune system is lowered at which point the cysts then become an all out bout of excruciating Giardia. I guess animals in the wild cancarry these cysts and show no signs or symptoms, when they poop these cysts can get into water and that's how a lot of animals wind up with it. 

I'm not sure about the food suggestion, that seems like a stretch and the only thing your vet can think of to try next, it can't hurt her but I don't expect it would help much either. Maybe there are others on the forum that know more.

Leslie


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

A dog can always test positive for giardia on the snap test and not have symptoms. Giardia can always be present, but not active. If she's not having a flare up, then it sounds like she's on track. 

A novel protein diet like the IVD venison/potato is a treatment for food allergies. 

If you want to give her system a rest and a gentle diet, I would move away from Evo which is high in fat. California Natural chick/rice or lamb/rice are rather gentle diets.


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## cloey70 (Jan 6, 2008)

I would wait it out 3 days and see how she is doing. If things persist then look into the Royal Canin your vet recommended or another brand. I perfer not to use the Royal due to fillers and by products they use, but if its better for them while they are sick then maybe going with your vets opinion would be the way to go. I swore I saw the Royal IV at a feed store near me, are u sure you need a prescription for it? I don't know but just a thought to think about....


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## graceandmartin (Feb 25, 2008)

Thank you everyone so much for your insight!

Just to clear things up- her stools tested positive for the Giardia cysts. She's not having a flare up, meaning like diarrhea or frequent, uncontrollable pooping. 

Currently we have the IVD food (we pretty much bought it that moment at the vet's) and are mixing it in with her Evo until we can eventually wean her from it. 

I checked on the internet today if I could find IVD for cheaper than my vets- and unforunately I had no luck. I paid $25 for a 10lb bag of kibble and $3.79 for a 14oz can. If anyone else knows a place around them that will ship to California for cheaper than what I currently pay, please let me know!! :biggrin: 

In the meantime, I'll follow the vet's recommendations and see how things go for a while. They said to bring her back in about 2-3 months for another fecal test and see how it goes.

Thank you again!!!


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