How much canned pumpkin should I give my puppy?

My 6 month old 60 pound Saint Bernard has been dealing with giardia his whole life it seems. I just had my vet tell me to 'wait and see' what happens while she contacts a veterinary parasitologist which she said could take around two weeks. He's negative for the parasite, but is positive for the ELISA test. There's the background... my real question is how much canned pumpkin should I be giving him? He's currently getting a 1/4 cup in the morning and a 1/4 cup in the evening with his feedings. I'd say half of his bowel movements are firm and formed and the other half and runny and only partially formed. He's also on a probiotic to help with his bowel movements.Oh, and if anyone knows a veterinary parasitologist, please let me know!-Adam

He could be having a reaction from the medicine. If not, then the pumpkin isn't agreeing with him. I'd cut the amounts in half and when he gets older, gradually increase the amount. Pumpkin is a lot like sweet potatoes. Sometimes a little is too much. My sister's dog doesn't have a problem. The dog is about 45 pounds and eats about the amount you gave your dog. Plus her dog eats green beans with her regular food at night.

That amount sounds about right, IMO, but I was wondering if this puppy was also put on Metronidazole? If not, he sure as heck should have been, or at least, that should have been an option. I don't want to take up a lot of space here for no reason, but I want to tell you a little story about my current Doberman. I got her from a Craigslist add about 2 1/2 years ago. The day that she came to me, she pooped pooped at least 10 times, but she was on a low quality food. I gradually changed her food to a better food, and things even got worse. I suspected that she had either Giardia, Coccidia or possibly both. She tested negative THREE times for both, and I know that Giardia is hard to detect. While the ELISA snap test is a very old test, I don't find it to be very accurate, and I'll explain that in a minute. My dog WAS put on Metronidazole AND I did the *pumpkin* thing, which did not help at all. With that said, I HAVE used pumpkin before for both constipation and diarrhea, as FIBER works both ways. After nothing was improving with my Dobe, I switched to a grain free food, and found out that THAT was her problem all along. She doesn't tolerate grains.Now, let me get back to the ELISA tests. Yes, this is a tool for Vets, but IMO it isn't accurate. Back in the day, the ELISA test was done to determine whether a dog was a *bleeder* or not, regarding vWd in Dobermans, which is a blood clotting disorder. It was PROVEN not to be accurate, so now, breeders can have DNA testing done for this disorder. In the case of your dog, the ELISA test may show that Giardia is the problem, but as stated, I personally don't think it's accurate. With that said, you might want to do a little testing of your own, as I did. I'm NOT trying to say that your Vet is a quack, nor am I trying to say that grains are the issue for your dog's problem. I don't even know what you feed your dog. I'm just saying that sometimes Vets can be wrong and it can cost you big bucks to find out that they are wrong. I hope this isn't your case, and you should be able to trust your Vet, I'm just saying that you should open up to other possibilities of what this is, other than Giardia.Sorry for typing so much, but if your own Vet is contacting a Veterinary Parasitologist, that also seems fishy to me. You asked the general public if we KNOW of one. We don't even know where you live, and to be honest, I've never heard of such a thing.

As long has your dog has giardia the pumpkin is not going to change the form of the stool completely. I think 1/4 cup is alot. You dont want to unbalance the nutrition he needs from regular dog food. Hydration is imprtant. Feed canned food or add water to the dry food. What probiotic is your dog on? He needs forti flora or benabac gel or both. It is a probiotic that will help keep the balance of good bacteria. Has your dog been on flagyl (metronidazole)? That is usually the drug prescribed for giardia and diarrhea. Your dog may need to stay on it for a whole month if he's not already on it. Some vets dont treat for giardia if its just a positive elisa. It means their is the organism but does not appear to be shedding cysts in the dog.(like its inactive). Your dog must be repeatedly getting into something (other feces or dirty water) that's causing a reoccurence of the organism. In rare cases, maybe as your dogs, it can take several treatments to rid the giardia especially if antigens are in the bloodstream. Ive been a vet receptionist for 16 years so this is stuff I've learned! Wash his bedding frequently! There are other medications like pancreazyme and tylan powder that may help a little. But I think the stool wont be right untill the giardia is gone. So basically if its in the bloodstream it needs to be treated and will take time. If its not in the blood stream your dog may not even need to be treated and there is another cause for the loose stool. He may need to just change diet or maybe he has a whole other problem like an digestive/colon (IBD) issue. Thats where the last two meds mentioned may help too. Here are some links. http://ahdc.vet.cornell.edu/sects/Paras/tests/giardia.cfmhttp://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/03/19/giardia-infection-on-pets.aspxhttp://southbendanimalclinic.com/Handouts/Parasites/Giardia%20handout.pdfhttp://animalhealthcare.com/handouts/dogs/giardia.htm