DIS Veterinarians and dog owners: Coccidia question, need help!

[JustHolly]

Please, please help!

We rescued a pathetic, malnourished puppy three weeks ago. He will be 14 weeks old tomorrow. A few days after we got the puppy, our Vet diagnosed him with Coccidia. At that time, no symptoms were present, but they found much evidence in a stool sample.

They put him on 2.5cc's of Albon per day for 7 days. Stools before and during treatment were soft.

Treatment with Albon ended last Wednesday, and extremely soft stools began on Thursday. Saturday brought about 8 episodes of uncontrolled diarrhea. We d/c'd all food, and fed him only water for 12 hours. He became very dehydrated and thin and was acting very lethargic. Our Vet was not available on the weekend.

After doing some research on the internet, we gave him 2cc's of pediatric immodium every 4 hours for 16 hours, and low sodium chicken broth mixed with pedialyte every few hours. Slowly, last night and today, we have reintroduced food.

Stools this morning were firm, but gradually have turned into watery diarrhea this evening.

The Vet could not see him today despite our perceived severity of the situation and we have an appointment first thing tomorrow.

Please give me your input on the severity of coccidia and could this be the cause of this diarrhea. From what I have read, it is very difficult to treat. Do you have any suggestions?

We are very worried about our little puppy! Please help!

 

[wdwmom2]

Coccidia causes SEVERE diarrhea!!!! And boy does it have a horrible odor. I ran into this once with a litter of pups. I kept my pups hydrated with an IV that I got from my vet. They all recovered but lost alot of weight in the meantime. Good luck with your pup!!! Hope he's feeling better soon.

ETA: I also used Albon.

 

[JustHolly]

Thanks for the info and it IS STINKY!!! You are so right! I haven't had much experience with puppies, but I figured the smell is not normal.

He drinks the chicken stock like he's never eaten before, so that's how he's keeping hydrated. I hope we don't have to go the IV route.

Poor baby!

 

[wdwmom2]

Thanks for the info and it IS STINKY!!! You are so right! I haven't had much experience with puppies, but I figured the smell is not normal.

Yes, coccida has an odor all it's own. It makes your nose want to curl, and your stomach hurl!!!!!

 

[Cindyluwho]

I've had a bout of coccidiosis run through a batch of week old chicks. What a mess! Lots of runny bloody smelly poo. We treat with Sulfa which is very tricky. If you don't give enough the coccidia remains, too much and the birds die. If there's blood in your puppy's stool please let you vet know so he'll take you right away. Best of luck.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Not to scare you, but I almost lost Harley to it. He was underweight from it and very very sick. My vet actually told me he was not going to make it through the night and stayed there, by Harley's side, until midnight that night so Harley wouldn't die alone.

Crazy puppy pulled through with the vet's help, though, and is a wild 13 pound Shih Tzu now. But it was very very scary that first week.

Coccydia is hard to get rid of and can cause death. I am very surprised your vet didn't get you in today. When Harley made it to the vet, he was in and out of consciousness and couldn't hold his head up. He crashed quickly, it seemed.

Do you have a 24 vet nearby just in case?

That whole week is a blur, I don't remember all the treatment we gave him. He was in ICU in an incubator for 3 days, came home, then crashed again and went back to the vet for another 2 days. Very pricey little adventure as well.

Because Harley was so sick, he had hypoglycemia. This was causing him to continue to be lethargic. My vet, a good ol' traditional guy, had us forcefeed molasses! It's loaded in sugar and kept his bloodsugar up until his body got well and he started to put on weight. We also fed him very high protein canned food.

If I were you, I'd feed him something to boost his bloodsugar as you mentioned he's lethargic. You might have found something online about that.

Poor puppy!!

 

[Pugdog007]

I'd find a new vet if they turned you away today. In an emergency I don't even make an appointment, I just take mine down there and they fit them in. We also have 24 hr/7 days a week emergency vet hospitals as a back-up.

I'd get that baby into a vet... any vet... as soon as possible.

 

[Cindyluwho]

Because Harley was so sick, he had hypoglycemia. This was causing him to continue to be lethargic. My vet, a good ol' traditional guy, had us forcefeed molasses! It's loaded in sugar and kept his bloodsugar up until his body got well and he started to put on weight. We also fed him very high protein canned food.
Poor puppy!!

I wasn't going to mention my using the good old "molasses flush", I thought you all would think I was crazy! In all seriousness, it's filled with nutrients and will flush all the bad stuff from the system.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I wasn't going to mention my using the good old "molasses flush", I thought you all would think I was crazy! In all seriousness, it's filled with nutrients and will flush all the bad stuff from the system.

Hey, I've seen firsthand the miracles of molasses! You're not crazy! I know it's what kept Harley alive those first few weeks as we nursed him back to health. He HATED it but DH would pry that mouth open and I would squirt it in there with a medicine dropper thingy.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I was going to say the same thing. If my vet knew my 14 wk old pup (ie a baby) was sick with diarrhea all weekend and still wouldn't see him today, I would also be finding a new vet. (My vet always squeezes us in if it's an emergency; he's even had us come in when the office is closed.) I hope he's better soon.

 

[JustHolly]

Thanks for the advice!

I was very concerned that the Vetcould not get me in right away. I'm going to wait until after my appointment today to see how they are and what they say about not getting us in. This vet came highly recommended by several people I trust, but as I told my husband last night, I only want the best for our dog, and if they're not the best, we're going to find another place.

It sounds like we may have quite a long road ahead of us with this! I bet he'll like molasses. I'm just afraid to put anything in his little belly right now except clear liquids. The chicken broth and pediatric Immodium are keeping him stable right now.

I'll keep you posted!

Thanks everyone!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I would be careful in giving immodium. In human medicine, it is not given for infectious diarrhea because basically what's in there needs to come out (it could be different in veterinary medicine, I'm not sure. I do know that oftentimes for prolonged diarrhea in dogs they will give flagyl). I hope you can get in to see your vet asap this am. If you can't, I'd suggest taking the dog elsewhere. How does he seem today? Best of luck today, let us know how it goes.

 

[ducklite]

I'm not a vet, but I've got a lot of experience with animals.

Albon is a sulfa based drug (and most animals actually like the taste ) that is generally indicated in the treatment of Coccidia and a variety of other GI issues that can cause diarreah.

However trating coccidia takes generally a four prong approach.

1. the Albon to help control the diaareah.

2. Flagyl (Metronidazole) which pets HATE to take. This is a broad spectrum anitbiotic that will help to knock out the coccidia bacteria.

3. Often the vet will also prescribe Carafate to help sooth the GI tract.

4. You must keep the animal hydrated, fed, and his surroundings must be cleaned and disinfected on a daily basis--regular cleaning solutions and laundry detergent aren't enough. You need to clean with a parvacide type cleaner, and use super hot water and bleach in the laundry.

Coccidia is highly contagious, and can infect other pets in the house, so you need to keep them away from each other. The other thing you need to do is hose down the area you walk your pet in, because they can pick up traces of infected feces on their fur and paws, and reinfect themselves during the grooming process.

It can take up to a month of treatment to get rid of this nasty bug. treatment must be agressive, and you have to be sure to not miss a single dose of medicine.

Anne

 

[JustHolly]

We stopped giving Imodium until he sees the vet. I hope she doesn't yell at us for doing it. He was becoming severely dehydrated quickly and I thought that was priority.

Our appointment is in a couple of hours.

He has lots of energy this morning... had one solid stool last night and then soft/almost diarrhea this morning.

I'm going to ask about the Flagyl and the Carafate at our appointment if they only try to give us more Albon.

As far as sanitation, we hose the whole area after each BM and we have been sprinkling our lawn extra. For the couple of accidents on the kitchen floor, we have been cleaning with ammonia and we bought a steam sprayer to disinfect the floor as well.

Thank you thank you thank you for all of your wisdom and advice!

I'll let you know what the vet says!

 

[ducklite]

Unfortunately ammonia isn't going to disinfect--you need to use either bleach or something like Odo-Ban or Synphenol 3 (that you can get from your vet.)

You might also ask the vet about adding in acidophilus to the dogs food, it's a probiotic--the good bacteria that the digestive tract needs. It's available in the vitamin section, and is basically tasteless, you sprikle it on the food and the animal won't even know. I've never heard a vet say anything but "it can't hurt to try". It's NOT a herbal remedy.

Anne

 

[Cindyluwho]

Ducklite - good point on the Acidophilus, I'd completely forgotten about that. It really does help reintroduce "good" bacteria back into the digestive tract.

 

[JustHolly]

Update! We saw the vet this morning. He's not dehydrated, and they said we did the right thing by giving him Imodium and chicken stock with pedialyte.

Jack has coccidia worse than before. The Albon did absolutely nothing, so the vet is trying a much more agressive approach.

He prescribed Flagyl, Tribissen, Panacur, and Centrine. They also gave him a shot of something that is supposed to make his stomach cramps/diarrhea go away immediately (which it has so far!)

We also have to treat the yard with lime to help get rid of the oocysts he has already shed. Apparently, he can re-infest himself by licking his paws.

The vet recommended yogurt, and mentioned Acidophilus as an option if the yogurt doesn't help.

I might try the molasses too. I forgot to ask about it.

Thanks again everyone! We'll post pictures soon! He's so cute!

 

[airhead]

I know it sounds pretty serious,but the fact is,most adult dogs have it in their gut. It can be treated,but never "cured". Adult dogs' systems deal with it fine,its young pups that are severely affected by it because their immune systems aren't strong enough to fight it. Its really very common and a lot of dogs have it without their owners ever knowing it. Stress will be the thing that brings back bouts of the diarrhea. Keep some Flagyl on hand and you'll be able to treat it as it occurs. Don't worry too much about it.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Update! We saw the vet this morning. He's not dehydrated, and they said we did the right thing by giving him Imodium and chicken stock with pedialyte.

Jack has coccidia worse than before. The Albon did absolutely nothing, so the vet is trying a much more agressive approach.

He prescribed Flagyl, Tribissen, Panacur, and Centrine. They also gave him a shot of something that is supposed to make his stomach cramps/diarrhea go away immediately (which it has so far!)

We also have to treat the yard with lime to help get rid of the oocysts he has already shed. Apparently, he can re-infest himself by licking his paws.

The vet recommended yogurt, and mentioned Acidophilus as an option if the yogurt doesn't help.

I might try the molasses too. I forgot to ask about it.

Thanks again everyone! We'll post pictures soon! He's so cute!

First of all, I meant to tell you how much I admire that you've taken this little guy in!!! I can't wait to see pics of him.

Secondly, I'm glad the vet was promising and willing to step up the meds.

Yogurt is one of those foods we feed regularly in our house - it's so good for them, fights off yeast infections in their ears, and they LOVE IT. If you haven't bought the guy a Kong yet, I'd get him one and stuff it full of yogurt then freeze it overnight. It will occupy him for hours, esp if he's crated while you are gone, and is healthy. Feel free to PM me and I can tell you some other "good for him" foods that are affordable healthy treats. We feed a high quality diet but also supplement with yummy foods.

I hope he continues to feel better

 

[JustHolly]

I just posted a thread of pictures. His first picture is so pathetic. It reminds me how far he's come.

The meds haven't quite kicked in. We had another "incident" this evening. The yard, blankets, floor, and puppy have been treated. Now we keep up with it and wait it out.

Wish us luck!