Please help! Two kittens with coccidia!

Hello! Thank you for any answers and for reading!

About two weeks ago I picked up two kittens, brother and sister. About 7-8 weeks when we picked them up. Think they're hitting nine weeks now.
We first noticed that the female had very runny stools and a 'Pop belly' and noticed that this could be due to worms. So we called in for their vet appointment and picked up a dewormer and treated them both over the weekend : She was loaded, the brother we never really saw anything.

Come last Monday their appointment runs around. We found out they're pretty healthy: but have coccidia. (We picked them up from a women where people just drop cats off too her in a box by her door. They said any cat that walks in their doors is loaded with coccidia coming from her.) -- So. The vet gave them one dose of I think Albon? And we were too give them the other half the next day. (We did). 

It's now been almost a week and they both have very runny stools. I never really noticed it from the brother, but now he's the worse out of the two. 

I'm a little flustered and stressed as I've never had cat problems like this. The worst I've ever dealt with is fleas (And my last cat had feline leukemia). -- Still. Nothing of this measure. It's getting tedious to keep wiping their butts, when the brother has more hair in his rear for it too get stuck too. And I know they don't like me poking around their back end! 

The Vet's office opens Monday morning, where I will give them a call but we're in the process of saving money too move across town in two weeks, and If I can help it: I really don't want to take them to the vet until their visit from three weeks from now.

So. Exactly how long does it take for coccidia to run it's course? I've done a little research on my own and people say that Albon doesn't actually kill coccidia, just prevents it from reproducing - and then you usually wait for the kitten to run it's course. 

I want to love and cuddle these two to death: but wiping their butts and being worried about getting poo all over me or my things makes it very frustrating. 

I'm so sorry you're going through this.  I would call the vet on Monday and explain the situation and see if they need another test to determine if it's the coccidia is gone and if something else is causing the problem.  In the meantime, keep them hydrated.  Hopefully someone will come along with more advice.
 

In the meantime, I did a search in the forums for you on the subject:  http://www.thecatsite.com/search.php?search=coccidia

I don't any experience with Coccidia personally but I 've helped friends get through it.  It generally lasts between 7-10 days and there are different types of coccidia.  Antibiotics were given to the cats I know about.  The owners were also encouraged to be pristine with the cats, bedding litter etc. by keeping it very clean and as "sterile" as possible.

Followup treatment is usually beneficial after the initial 10 day period.  I'd for sure keep on top of this with the vet.  A bland diet and liquids were also important during the treatment phase IIRC.  Best of luck to you and the 2 babies!
 

Thank-you! I'm giving a good read. 

I just feel terrible. I recently lost my cat (I'll post sob story below), and picked up these kittens to help ease the loss as every time I think about him I break into tears. 

But the brother, (Mister) has been very mopey lately and hasn't played around or anything the past couple days. I'm sure getting a waist down shower and constantly having to wipe him is stressful. I'm just a bit worried - And it's causing me too get frustrated towards their innocent little faces.

 
I just sound like a bundle of joy tonight, huh? It's been a long couple of weeks! I'm just glad I recently found some cat forums and can hopefully get some answers and help with these kittens. 

Oh geez. 

After reading some posts I'm finding that it can be fatal in kittens, and now I'm even more worried about Mister. 

What I've gathered; Some people have had to treat Coccidia for a month or-so! But that doesn't seem like a peach at all, as neither one of them are anywhere near easy giving medicine too. 
Though. I read that a women who had a really bad case saw improvement the next day of a [color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]Albon shot.[/color]

 Hopefully we can all get through one more day before we can call into the vet and see what they say. 

[color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]I'm still very open to any suggestions, thoughts, or personal experiences. [/color]

I have LOTS of experience with coccidia.

I have a non profit rescue group and many kittens that come to me have it.

What makes it deadly in kittens is the dehydration factor, kittens have such small bodies, and don't hold much fluid as it is, but when they are losing the fluids instead of absorption, it's critical to keep them well hydrated.

Stop feeding them dry if you are. The dry food will suck up what fluid they do have. Instead, while the diarrhea is so prominent you can give them chicken babyfood diluted with pediolyte or water.

This is not nutrition sufficient for long term but it will certainly keep them hydrated until they stop losing the fluids as quickly as they go in.

Treatment wise, it's a bit puzzling why the vet thinks that 2 doses of albon will cure then, this is no where near enough.

Yes, albon works eventually but is slow at work and must be given daily for a minimum of 5-7 days, and up to weeks.

I have discovered an EXCELLENT alternative, Ponazuril.

Albon does not kill coccidia it prevents it from reproducing. Ponazuril on the other hand kills coccidia. It also works very fast. You will see a difference after the first day!

I'm not exactly sure why ponazuril has not become the drug of choice, but it is wonderful!

If your vet doesn't carry ponazuril ask him to get it for you. Sometimes you have to really press the issue with a vet who is stuck in the standard treatments used.

Also since he has already diagnosed coccidia there should NOT be an additional charge for any follow up visit regarding the treatment,. Vets generally do not charge again for the same problem.

One more note, sometimes Ghiardia is found in cats/kittens with coccidia. Don't despair!

Thank you! 

I did find out she was treating with [color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]ponazuril, even the first time. - I think I had just read Albon so many times that it sunk in. (Doh!)
We went back and the vet treated them with [/color][color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]ponazuril for five more days: We were told we would see a great improvement in 72 Hours - We didn't. But they've been much better for days now! Finally came around the last day. Thank gods  [/color]

[color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]Now we suddenly have a litterbox problem with one of them. -sigh-! [/color]

[color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]But thank you for all the answers! May have went a little overboard on my emotions: but that's nasty stuff. [/color]

[color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]No more wiping butts! [/color]

Catwoman707, question for you. So glad to have found a recent post about Ponazuril in cats and someone who knows about it! Sorry for the long-winded post!

We fostered a litter of kittens in the last couple of months. While I already had 5 adult cats, I had never heard of coccidia. I've just never had a cat with it and didn't have any experience with it. Now after doing a lot of reading, I am finding out how prevalent it is in kittens b/c their immune systems don't fight it off like adult cats. The kittens had a fecal done around 6-8 weeks and nothing showed up. So I felt ok letting other cats be around them. Well we found out a couple of weeks after that they had coccidia. And this was after everyone had been exposed to each other. Little did I know then that often worms and parasites don't show up in kittens until later even when they are infected. I wish someone had explained this to me!

Anyway, our vet said most likely our adult cats would be ok. Well one of them got it, Petey. Ugh. Poor guy feels like crap. He spent a lot of time with one of the kittens that we ended up adopting (P.S., the kittens were previously treated with Albon from the rescue vet). The other cats seems to be fine, all poop from them is normal. I took Petey to the vet last Thursday after finally realizing which cat had the diarrhea (had seen diarrhea in boxes for a couple of days). They unfortunately were almost out of Ponazuril, but had enough to give him one dose. The full doses of medicine came in yesterday. We treated him last night (along with our other cats since they had been exposed) and will give everyone a second dose tonight. That is all our vet prescribed for them. (Plus the infected cat is also on metronidazole and fortiflora). I'm been trying to keep Petey up in our bedroom during all of this to minimize spreading, but that is starting to get annoying and he is not happy. I let him out for a couple of hours when we get home and if he goes in one of the boxes that the others are using, I scoop it out right away.

So my question is about cleaning. I have read how it is extremely difficult to kill coccidia and that you have to steam, use ammonia, etc. We plan to do a full blast of our house the next night following their last dose - so we will give them the last dose tonight, then we will clean tomorrow night. I guess I want to give it a full 24 hours after the last does for hopefully most of the coccidia to be killed before spending hours disinfecting. But I am seriously stressing out about being able to get everything clean enough. I have bought new litter boxes, mats, etc and will throw all the old ones away and put out the new ones tomorrow night. I plan to steam the floors with our steam cleaner and wash their bedding in an ammonia solution, plus mop with ammonia in areas near the litter boxes. I will also make sure there are new water and crunchie bowls out everyday. But what else can I do? I can't put ammonia on the sofas, the rugs, etc....all the various places that the cats walk all over. I know I won't be able to get rid of it all.

What is your experience with the cleaning and reinfection? Should I keep Petey seperate for so many days following the last dose? Or can he come out and I just make sure to scoop boxes like crazy and maybe dump litter and refresh in a few days, then again in another few days, etc? I am going to use litter pan liners so that I can just lift out and the box will be clean. I was also thinking of putting towels out by the boxes instead of mats for a week or so, so I can just put a new one down everyday and ammonia wash the dirty ones.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

I found that Toltrazuril (Baycox) is the same product as Ponazuril (Marquis).

I wonder if this is correct. I also found the product pretty expensive.

I also found the most convenient way to buy is at this site.

I really hope this will help my situation, I have a sweet cat that has it since she was adopted as kitten, and although I though she was clear (she was only treated with clavamox), she actually infected some kittens I was fostering as well as developed symptoms helserf again after 2 years. (maybe she was just infected again ?)

To reply to mstyles, it would be worth to understand if an how long can the coccidia survive outside of the body of their carrier, this way you would know that the sofa and other fabric are fine.

Baycox and Marquis paste are closely related but not the same.

They are however, both coccidia cyst killers, while Albon is simply an inhibitor, which means it does not actually kill the cysts but inhibits their growth and allows an immature immune system to eventually fight this off.

This is why my drug of choice is ponazuril.

Once a day for 3 days, occasionally up to 5 days, and it is gone for good.

Albon treatments often times will be able to reinfect a cat/kitten since the cysts do still live.

You would not want to buy the ponazuril (marquis paste) because it comes in a large 127 ml tube, and costs about $200.00+ and needs a prescription.

But you can get it from some vets who have the tube and will dilute it for you to make the ponazuril.

(marquis paste becomes ponazuril when mixed 5 parts to 12 parts water)

More and more vets are carrying ponazuril these days since they are seeing how fast and effective it actually is!

Good luck!

Also meant to say, if you treat with the ponazuril or baycox you won't need to worry about reinfecting or disinfecting since the cysts are killed.

With albon you do, and this is why so many cats do get reinfected, through litter boxes, etc.

Mstyles, so sorry I didn't see your question many months ago!

Hi! I also found this page in case it might be helpful to anyone. http://www.sheltermedicine.com/node/394

My problem seems to be that the vets fecal tests come out "negative" (at least last time but I think that the vet didn't do it right since she did it quickly and I read it takes 20 minutes for the suspension or something). I also read that coccidia might not be visible on a fecal test. So I have no clue how to find a vet to give the Ponazuril it to me. Maybe I could call around and ask who carries it, but I know they charge a lot simply for the visit, then for the fecal tests (assuming they would want to make it before giving me the med) and ultimately for the medicine which I know they overcharge.

I would like to ask on the basis of what information do you say that Baycox and Marquis are not the same?

I found this place where it says that Toltrazuril sulfone is the generic name of the Ponazuril.

hey there, I'm new to these forums and we recently adopted a wee little stray ( about a month old). Took him to the vet on Friday (today is Satureday) and she diagnosed him with Coccidia  and put him on three doses of Ponazuril. She gave the first dose in the office and I have given the second dose this morning. I'm wondering if anyone has a ballpark on how long the diarrhea can last. The little booger wants to sleep in bed with me but.... he keeps either leaking or having accidents. He's pretty good at getting in the litter box but he does have quite a few messes. We are supposed to go back in about three weeks for a recheck. I'm feeding him soft kitten food and he's been eating pretty well, but just not sure how long i can expect this all to last! Thanks all!

Hi Pennie. I'm new here too. Same problem with mine when we took him home. 6 days of antibiotics.Took about two weeks before he had semi formed stools. It will get better! I would hold him and hold a warm cloth to his bottom to keep him clean. Covered the furniture with sheets. I washed more sheets everyday than I can count. He never had any accidents, just seemed to drip out of him. Scooped everytime he went in his box, and dumped and washed his box daily. It may seem bad now, but it will get better.

We are dealing with a coccidia infestation. The question is how do we disinfect the furniture, we have both leather & upholstered couches. We do not have a steam cleaner & obviously you can't use ammonia or bleach on fabric. So, what type of disinfectant would you use on leather furniture & what type of disinfectant do you use on upholstered furniture to kill coccidia? We are treating our animals with a vet's supervision & they are taking the proper meds in order to solve the infestation. Any response to this would be very helpful.

Unfortunately, it's best to rent a steamer. Bleach and most disinfectants will not kill coccidia oocysts. Neither will just washing with hot water. LARGE amounts of ammonia will (usually) kill the oocysts, but that's not really an option on furniture.

Hopefully the vet is treating the coccidia with ponazuril and not albon, as albon takes alot more time.

It is spread through poop, so be sure there is not drops of poop anywhere. If so, clean it well and spot clean with an ammonia solution.

It's not usually a problem to reinfest once cured unless it is in a shelter-like, multiple cat area. Furniture should be okay. Until the coccidia is history though, I would recommend covering with sheets for the "just-in-case" accidents.

Hi everyone. I am so relieved to find this post! I've had cats all of my life, 4 in all, each living well past 15 years, but never have I had one with coccidia. My husband and I adopted 2 girls from the local shelter, and one of the little ones has coccidia. However, and this is where the posts, particularly Catwoman's posts, have helped the most: Leeloo's been on Albon going on one month. The vet has had us bring in a poop sample from both girls each week costing $67, then we trek back to pick up the meds, a $14 charge each time. After having read about ponazuril, I am a just a tad frustrated (and feeling a tad sarcastic to boot). I've just placed a call in to see if we can get a prescription of ponazuril and be done with this already. I feel like we've been led around to line someone's wallet.

I have noticed that Leeloo's feeling better, she is putting on a bit of weight, but you can still feel her hip/bottom bones. I do feed them dry food (4 health from Tractor Supply Company as recommended by the adoption agency).

Any other advice? I surely wish we could purchase such medications without the aid or prescription from a vet.

Thank you for all of your advice, and your shared stories. I'll be giving them a bit of moist food, too.

Angeline

You definitely need Ponazuril. It knocked it right out in our cat that caught it from our adopted kitten. Our vet stocks the medicine, but if yours doesn't, maybe they could call it into a compounding pharmacy? In addition to Ponazuril, I would definitely start them on a high quality probiotic. Here is a good source for information and links to various products: http://ibdkitties.net/Probiotics.html. S. Boulardii is a miracle probiotic and you can mix it directly into their wet food. Get it without MOS because that is bitter. 

If you know these kittens have Coccidia , then the poop will be runny and most times gold in color and smelly . Ponazuril one dose will most times fix this . Some vets will do albon but it is 10 days this is a one dose fix. Put pumpkin in the food (find it in the pie section at the grocery) and some prescription rd food helps overnight almost . hope this helps ,, We give flagal also and panacur.. good luck Work with sick cats at a shelter so we have this everyday