Young Kitten With Coccidia

My kitten had coccidia when she was younger and still at the shelter...I know how you feel. After a few weeks, the Albon came through and her symptoms stopped. She has since had 3 negative tests for cocc. and the shape of her stool continues to improve even now. The fact that she is eating and drinking is a good sign, though. I would advise you, though, to call the vet and let him/her know that you are concerned.

I had some foster kittens that had that and were Albon. The vet reduced the amount of Albon I gave them because they still had diareha. I'm not exactly sure but it was something like .5 mg first day and .25 mg. (the kittens were about 6 weeks old) for the next two weeks. Their stools were better within days of changing the dosage....

You can supplement her with liquid pet vitamins mixed with pedialyte to replace the essential electroyltes she is lacking now. The fact that she is eating and drinking is good indeed.

My little Garfiled was diagnosed with "the worst case of Coccidida" that my vet has ever seen!! He let me look at the slide and it was covered from end to end with the eggs.
Garfield also had no improvement within a week. So I took him back in and he was given an Albon shot. The very next day he had improved greatly!! I continued the oral Albon at home until it was finished.
Maybe you can ask your doctor about an Albon shot for that poor baby. It is a little costier than the Albon oral (about $14.00) for one shot. But hey .... it worked great!!!

Good luck and please let us know!!

~SARAH~

My kitten Toby was on Albon for 10 days which improved his symptoms of Coccidia, but as soon as he went off the Albon (literally, within 24 hours of his last dose), his symptoms were back. He is now on Metronidazole, and after 1 dose started eating a little, and two days later, is eating a LOT better. I'm concerned the same will happen-- as soon as he's off the meds it will come back. Anyone know how long a kitten normally is kept on antibiotics, and should I ask for more than a 10 day supply this time??

Aw poor baby. I'll be thinking of her.

Aw Pat, I am so sorry. I lost a baby kitten to coccidia a month ago and it tore me up. He was my very first kitten. His hematocrit was only 12, with 35 being normal when I brought him into the vets. Poor baby was so sick. The vet did a transfusion, plus injections subQ of liquids. My heart is still breaking with his loss. he was my angel. Hugs...

I am so sorry for your loss. Just know you did what you could to save her.

R.I.P. Liitle Kitty Angel

~SARAH~

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. I have a 3 month old Kitten that was diagnosised with coccidia thru a fecal exam two weeks ago. She has been on liquid Albon since then, and has another week to go on the medication. I am concerned after reading these post, I was unaware that coccidia could be so difficult to deal with. My vet didn't seem all that concerned about it, and never mentioned such dire consequences. Although, my kitten did have soft stools, she never had diarreha. All her stool seems normal now. She is eating and drinking well. Are there other symtoms I should be watching for?

Coccidia is hard to get rid of because it's resistant to disinfectants and Albon doesn't kill the organism, just keeps it from reproducing. The kitten's immune system has to actually kill the organisms.

If a kitten isn't responding to Albon and is doing poorly, there is a relatively new drug called Baycox that you can try.

2kittymom, if your kitten doesn't have bad diarrhea then she will almost certainly be fine. The coccidia itself doesn't kill them, they die of dehydration and malnutrition caused by severe diarrhea.