# Coccidia, diarrhea, and Primor



## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

I would suggest a call to your vet to discuss what is happening, if it were me I would have expected some improvement by now. The risk of dehydration due to ongoing diarrhea is a very real and serious concern especially in a very young pup.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Coccidia is notorious for needing more treatment than just one round of antibiotics. 10-14 days is rarely long enough to kill the infection. I would ask the vet for a longer dose of antibiotics, and also ask them for something to treat the diarrhea. Flagyl is good, if it is appropriate for your puppy's age.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

Coccidia is not a bacteria, it is a protozoan, so antibiotics don't kill it. My understanding is that the sulfa drugs (Primor, Albon, etc.) interrupt the reproduction of the protozoan.

There is nothing approved in the US to kill coccidia. Breeders use ponazuril or toltrazuril to kill coccidia, which are off label. I actually order my toltrazuril imported.

Vets usually prescribe Albon or something similar.

I would definitely call your vet. You should be seeing improvement by now.

And since coccidia is highly contagious, your puppy should be kept out of public areas and away from other dogs and puppies.


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## JMME (Jun 18, 2012)

When Ripley had coccidia, we were given metronidazole (flagyl), albon, and fortiflora probiotics. We did notice less frequent stools, but they were still soft and after discontinuing the metronidazole, we had a couple of days of renewed diarrhea before they began looking more formed again. In our case I think it was a combination of the coccidia and food sensitivities. I would be concerned after 10 days and would definitely be bringing him back in for a recheck.


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## skeller (Mar 5, 2008)

We are going through something similar with Rudy. His stools have been soft since we got him. He is a little over 3 months old. Metro helped a tiny bit. We did 3 days of Panacur, still very soft stools. Then he went on Amoxicillin, which helped. His stool was much better. When he went off, the stool became softer and softer, until it was liquid. Our breeder gave us Tylan, which he had yesterday. Now he hasn't moved his bowels in almost 24 hours. We have an appointment with a new vet on Tuesday to get another opinion. My vet wanted to do a stool culture, which would cost hundreds of dollars. Reading these posts, and speaking to other golden owners, it seems like Coccidia. 
Wolfeye, did you have any resolution to your pup's issues?


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## Wolfeye (Sep 15, 2015)

skeller said:


> We are going through something similar with Rudy. His stools have been soft since we got him. He is a little over 3 months old. Metro helped a tiny bit. We did 3 days of Panacur, still very soft stools. Then he went on Amoxicillin, which helped. His stool was much better. When he went off, the stool became softer and softer, until it was liquid. Our breeder gave us Tylan, which he had yesterday. Now he hasn't moved his bowels in almost 24 hours. We have an appointment with a new vet on Tuesday to get another opinion. My vet wanted to do a stool culture, which would cost hundreds of dollars. Reading these posts, and speaking to other golden owners, it seems like Coccidia.
> Wolfeye, did you have any resolution to your pup's issues?


Sorry I missed this, but yes he eventually cleared up. It was odd though b/c we had to bring him in a second time, and THIS time the vet gave him something different (I think it was metronidazole) which he said was "for the diarrhea" - which is what I thought we had him there for the FIRST time! But that seemed to clear him up good.


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## smp (Apr 27, 2016)

skeller said:


> We are going through something similar with Rudy. His stools have been soft since we got him. He is a little over 3 months old. Metro helped a tiny bit. We did 3 days of Panacur, still very soft stools. Then he went on Amoxicillin, which helped. His stool was much better. When he went off, the stool became softer and softer, until it was liquid. Our breeder gave us Tylan, which he had yesterday. Now he hasn't moved his bowels in almost 24 hours. We have an appointment with a new vet on Tuesday to get another opinion. My vet wanted to do a stool culture, which would cost hundreds of dollars. Reading these posts, and speaking to other golden owners, it seems like Coccidia.
> Wolfeye, did you have any resolution to your pup's issues?


Ugh...so worried about this. Sadie is on the same path - metro helped slow the stools down, but didn't seem to change their foul, mucousy appearance. We're now on amoxicillin which has just about normalized things, but I'm worried that when we stop, we'll be back where we started.


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## Siandvm (Jun 22, 2016)

smp said:


> Ugh...so worried about this. Sadie is on the same path - metro helped slow the stools down, but didn't seem to change their foul, mucousy appearance. We're now on amoxicillin which has just about normalized things, but I'm worried that when we stop, we'll be back where we started.


Smp, remind me, I know we have discussed this on the June pups thread, but was she tested for giardia? Not just with a fecal flotation, but with an actual fecal ELISA? When I read "foul, mucousy", I definitely think giardia. Of course, since we are still dealing with positive test results from Rayder, everything at this point makes me think giardia!


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## smp (Apr 27, 2016)

Siandvm said:


> Smp, remind me, I know we have discussed this on the June pups thread, but was she tested for giardia? Not just with a fecal flotation, but with an actual fecal ELISA? When I read "foul, mucousy", I definitely think giardia. Of course, since we are still dealing with positive test results from Rayder, everything at this point makes me think giardia!


No...I'm fairly sure she just had the float test done, but the vet was ok with doing an empiric course of metronidazole, and like I said I don't feel like it really helped the problem at all other than slowing down transit time. The amoxicillin really seems to be fixing things which as a human physician doesn't make sense for me, but...it's working, so we'll see what happens when the course ends.


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## Siandvm (Jun 22, 2016)

smp said:


> No...I'm fairly sure she just had the float test done, but the vet was ok with doing an empiric course of metronidazole, and like I said I don't feel like it really helped the problem at all other than slowing down transit time. The amoxicillin really seems to be fixing things which as a human physician doesn't make sense for me, but...it's working, so we'll see what happens when the course ends.


I'll keep my fingers crossed on the amoxicillin. In case it's not successful, just so you know, metronidazole is only about 60% effective against giardia, so the preferred treatment is fenbendazole (Panacur), but there is actually no med which is approved to treat giardia. We had to go to an internist about Rayder and he put him on BOTH metronidazole (very high dose, much higher than for empirical diarrhea treatment) and panacur simultaneously, since he had already failed low dose metronidazole and panacur alone. Not trying to scare you, just making sure that you know there are other possibilities other than empirical treatment!


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## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

smp said:


> No...I'm fairly sure she just had the float test done, but the vet was ok with doing an empiric course of metronidazole, and like I said I don't feel like it really helped the problem at all other than slowing down transit time. The amoxicillin really seems to be fixing things which as a human physician doesn't make sense for me, but...it's working, so we'll see what happens when the course ends.


The amoxicilin might help if its just a simple case of bacterial overgrowth. It has gut flora activity, especially has anti-clostridial properties, against _Clostridium perfringens,_ which is a common contributor if its a case of bacterial overgrowth. _C. perfringens_ is a common cause of diarrhea in dogs, and can cause frank, severe diarrhea, but also intermittent bouts of diarrhea, similar to Giardia.


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## skeller (Mar 5, 2008)

We finished a 2 week run of amoxicillin and metro. Two days later, the diarrhea has come back. He is still on Rx dog food (I/D) and Fortiflora. Any ideas? I am definitely calling the vet tomorrow morning. If it gets worse, I will give him a pinch of Tylan powder today.


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## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

skeller said:


> We finished a 2 week run of amoxicillin and metro. Two days later, the diarrhea has come back. He is still on Rx dog food (I/D) and Fortiflora. Any ideas? I am definitely calling the vet tomorrow morning. If it gets worse, I will give him a pinch of Tylan powder today.


Suanne, did your boy ever get panacur? Is he on poultry based I/D or the egg and rice? If its chicken based--it might be a food intolerance.


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## skeller (Mar 5, 2008)

Piper_the_goldenpuppy said:


> Suanne, did your boy ever get panacur? Is he on poultry based I/D or the egg and rice? If its chicken based--it might be a food intolerance.


Yes, he was on panacur. e is on the I/D poultry based.


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