Bottle Kitten - suspect Coccidia - how long before Albon works?

@crowinghen  I'm very happy for you!

Best vaccine schedule should be at 8 weeks, 12 then 16 weeks.

Then at 1 year.

You don't want to start sooner than that or the maternal antibodies can interfere and once they wear off he will not be protected.

I was actually wondering about that..   Since he hasn't had any maternal antibodies since about a week old is that still a concern, or will it open doors to vaccinate a bit younger?

In our rescue we vaccinate small ones and just repeat vaccines later if needed, but thats a different situation.  In rescue, they are always being exposed to stuff, so although its not ideal, we vaccinate as soon as we can for the top 3 common diseases and just repeat every 2 weeks if they are started under 8 weeks of age.  Itty bitty kittens get smaller doses, and when we can get it, they get the nasal vaccine that they can have as young as 3 weeks of age.  Unfortunately that has been unavailable for some time and now the next anticipated availablility is not until mid to late September, and that's only if the newest production passes testing.  I usually keep on hand for babies but have been out for quite awhile.  (Feline Focus 3)

Hi all.  I don't know if you're still watching this thread, but wanted to let you know little guy is doing great.  He's up to 11 oz at between 5 and 6 weeks.  He's really tiny, but gaining steadily, eating soft food (SO GREAT!!) and he's a big ball of energy.  Thank you to everyone for all of your help!  I already can't imagine life without him. 

Yay! Wonderful news!

Crowinghen - so happy to hear the great news.  What a relief!

catwoman707 -I got the Marquis paste from Farmvet ($192 great price, great helpful pharmacy).  I went with the 50/50 mixture because I the 5 month old kittens had been battling the coccidia for so long.  I diluted with distilled water.  Mainly it is just 2 that have diarrhea and one of those was very runny and explosive -"Pipsqueek".  A few of the other cats had blood and mucus and slightly loose bowel movements.  (Sorry for the gross details.)  Okay I measured the Ponazuril at 0.1 ml per pound.  For three days I gave it once a day according to each ones weight.  I continued to give it to 2 kittens and 1 grown cat for another 3 days as they still had troubles.  However I did notice by the 2nd day the Pipsqueek was getting closer to having a formed bowel movement which he has never ever had!  So I am a believer in Ponazuril.   For 3 days he never had any explosive anal leakage but still had diarrhea just much less runny.  I stopped at 6 days and I am now waiting a week and will give again to those 3 cats starting Friday.  I would love any more advise you might have.  Is this the way it is sometimes?  I have given Pip high quality people probiotics and couldn't tell that it helped.  I am wondering if his poor gut might need them for a very long time.  What is your thought should I give him probiotics or not.  His diarrhea is very mucussy.  Thanks for any advise or suggestions.  I can't thank you enough for all your help.  Hope your doing well.

catwoman707 - I thought I should give one more update.  Yesterday and today "Pipsqueek's" messy troubles are much better.  I check him nearly every hour to make sure he isn't having anal leakage and to clean him in hopes of keeping him and the house sanitary.  I forgot to tell you that at about 3 or 4 days into the ponazuril, he was staying dry and clean so he got to have his first night loose in the house.  He was so thrilled and kept waking me up to snuggle.  He was so cute and happy and thankfully clean!  After that though he had some messy days so he had to once again stay the night in the laundry room.  Yesterday he was much cleaner so I didn't close him up and today he still seems dry.  His last dose of ponazuril I believe was Friday or Saturday and he had it for 6 days.  I am waiting a week and plan to give it again Saturday.  I always appreciate any of your advise.  I will keep you updated.  Hope you have a great week.  

This is great, positive news.

At this point give him a week off of ponazuril but continue giving the probiotic.

Once he is back on ponazuril, decrease the dilution a bit, with just enough water to allow it to be drawn into the syringe. It's approx 3 to 1.  (75% ponaz to 25% water)

I have had cases like this that were a bit tougher to heal, but it will happen. The lowered dilution will do the job.

Catwoman707,

Thanks for the advise.  It is comforting to know that you think the signs are a fair improvement since you have had so much experience with this.  The last two days that I gave "Pip" the 50/50 mix of Ponazuril, I upped his syringe dose from .6 to a tiny bit over .7 hoping a little more might help.  Those days he seemed to sleep more and his bowel movement became more watery and had a lot more mucous.  I stopped on the 6th day thinking he might need a break.  Now the med might not have had anything to do with that.  Maybe the protozoa die off made that happen.  I don't know.  I can tell you this ...those 2 good days last week (after he had had the medicine for 2 days) as well as yesterday and today were his first days of his life free of drips and gassy explosions.  These were the happiest most stress free days I have had since about January when I first took in the stray mom cat.  She was 50 times messier and more work.  Sadly, I gave up trying with her before I found your info about Ponazuril on the internet.  You went to the trouble to put that important helpful information out there and as a result the quality of my cats lives as well as my life have greatly improved.  I can't thank you enough.  

Last week I already mixed up enough at 50/50 strength for another week.  I had a brown Albon bottle that I THOROUGHLY cleaned to store it in.  I stored the mixed Ponazuril in the fridge.  Is that what I was supposed to do?  Is that okay?  Do you think I can add Marquis to that mix to make it even thicker and stronger?  I am guessing you would still dose at the same ratio = 0.1 per pound?  After all this time of abnormal bowel movements, do you think he will ever really have a normal bowel movement or might he only get as firm as "cow pie" or pudding consistency (happily he firmed up to that today).  Sorry to be so gross.  My life has revolved around this cats hind end for too long!  I have to check it constantly to see if explosions are imminent.  He is so sick of me checking and cleaning him.  He can hiss and purr at the same time!  His rear has been an outy if you know what I mean.  It is starting to draw inward some now that it is drier.  I know he is sick of it all too.  Thanks again for any and all info.  Take care and have a great week!

Catwoman707,

I forgot to ask these questions.  Would you continue to give the probiotics during the treatment days or not.  Also should I keep giving him probiotics for long term?  Also how many treatment days when we start back on Ponazuzril?  Thanks again and sorry to be such a bother.

It's no bother at all, and the fact is, I don't think it's possible to gross me out anymore, I have seen and done just about everything gross imaginable, and had my hands dirty with you mane it, so no worries there ever!

Yes, if it were me, I would add a squirt into the bottle, just don't want to make it too thick to be syringed.

Continue the probiotics daily, on or off the ponaz.

I would treat him for 4 days next time and see where he is then, how things are going.

At the point that you don't see anymore improvements in his poop, I usually assume he is cured but his bowels/intestines need time to settle down, which is done with an easily digested diet like turkey baby food and plain boiled turkey or chicken for 3 days, slowly getting him back to his regular food.

I would however always, or at least for months keep him on grain free.

He's had irritated bowels for some time so he will surely need time to recover and be normal again.

Okay, so good to know.  I am terrible about settling for what food is consistently easy to find.  I live in the middle of nowhere TX.  Nearest neighbor almost a mile.  I had the kittens on kitten chow but that made their gassy problems worse.  Walmart is about 30 miles away and they had a food which sounded healthy called Good life dry cat food but it came it smaller bags and not always in stock and a bit more costly.  Desperate to find something healthy for them I tried purchasing from Amazon, Natural Balance green pea and duck dry food and the venison canned cat food.  I think it was good quality but none of the 10 cats seemed to much like the dry food plus it is annoying to have to order and wait for it.  Well I went back to Purina Cat Chow and even fed it to the kittens.  It did not make their gassy problems worse.  At night I mix it with Friskie's canned food and often add 100% pumpkin in hopes to firm up Pip's bowels.  I also sometimes add probiotic and ever so often I squeeze a fish oil capsule into the mix, hoping it makes it healthier.  I am glad to know about trying the baby food turkey or the boiled turkey or chicken.  I will try that for Pip.  I really don't know enough about the healthiest and yet affordable ways to feed all these cats.  It has to be affordable and fairly convenient to purchase or we wouldn't be able to do it.  I am sure Cat chow is probably not that good for them but I rationalize it by thinking all these strays are at least living longer than they would have out on the open prairie.  I have wondered about feeding them cooked or raw meat but I have a couple that don't seem to even like that.  I am all ears if you have some suggestions about the best and yet affordable way to feed them grain free.  You have been great and so very helpful.

Unfortunately this is NOT my area of expertise.

While I know that lots of cats do fine more or less with purina cat chow, some do not, and this may very well be your cat's biggest problem.

The tougher part is feeding one cat something different than the rest...........

The natural balance green pea and duck is not really tasty, I don't know of any cats/kittens I've tried on it who were in my rescue that were willing to eat it.

Natural Balance does have pretty decent food, and cats do like the taste, but the one mentioned above is an exception.

You would need to do some searching around and see what's available near you. 

Too bad Iam's new formulas haven't started the cat version yet, as it is affordable and at Walmart. 

Soon, or so they advertise.

Surely others here can offer better advice about this.

I will try to get better educated on healthy food for cats that I can still afford.  I have had a couple of cats live passed 18 but who knows how long they could have lived if I actually fed them something healthier.  I bet there are better options that I can still afford.  I will keep researching to see what options are at Walmart, Tractor Supply and other feed stores.  BTW, yesterday I figured out approximately how much I am saving by using chicken laying crumbles for clumping cat litter instead of tidy cat.  I estimate that I had been spending about $1140 a year on tidy cat for 3 big cat boxes that were about 12" x 18" and keeping the gravel at about 3".  The crumbles do a great job and last so much longer.  I have been using them since July plus I started using 3 giant rubbermaid type containers about 18" x 30" and I keep the crumbles about 4" deep.  I estimate that I will spend just a little more than $300 in a year for the crumbles.  I am so happy about that $800 savings and it is all because of good people taking the trouble to put out such helpful info on the internet.  

What food do you feed to your cats?  Do you mostly feed dry or canned?  I should definitely feed something better especially now that I have saved money elsewhere.  I know I am off subject on this thread.  I will check out this site for more of that sort of info.  I used to feed Science diet long ago and longer ago Iams for a uti cat.  S.D. sure made my cats slick and shiny.  I am always afraid I will get them on some food that ends up on a recall for killing some peoples pets.  

Thanks for the info.  Take care and talk with you later

Just a short update and another thank you to catwoman707.  

I followed your dose recommendation for Ponazuril and they all are doing much better.  Hurray!!!  No more drippy, explosive diarrhea from Pipsqueek.  He is even more playful than he was.  He and one of his brothers, Scrumpy, still have loose bowel movements but they have never had solid bowel movements but they are showing strong signs of improvement.  At least now they have good control and no trouble making it to the box.  I had been scooping all the boxes at least 6 times a day, but now since they are going less frequently, I am just scooping 3 times a day.  I could get by with 2 but I like to keep it very clean to minimize the chance of them tracking.  Life is now much better for them and me.

Today, I took the outside tomcat, the one female kitten, and one of the boy kittens to be fixed.  Tomorrow I drop the last 3 boy kittens to be neutered.  So that is another happy relief for me.  No more worries that my herd of cats will get any bigger ...at least for now.  I hope no more strays find their way here.  I seem unable to restrain myself from getting attached and wanting to help them.

Hope you and all the little ones in your care are doing well.  

Thanks again,

Lisa

Lisa that is wonderful news!! I am sure you must feel a huge amt of relief.

It truly warms my heart knowing my advice was so helpful.

Yay!!   

In time if the 2 with the softer stools do not continue to improve after the treatment they've had, (because if their bowels settle down more from treatment it may in time improve even more) then I would consider a food sensitivity. Grains likely, but you can go there after a bit.

You're so welcome

Lisa