Coccidia in kittens

[beccabay]

Hi everyone!!!

So I have had the worst year when it comes to coccidia. I have been in rescue for 6 years and have never seen it this bad. I have been using Albon for about 2 weeks on my babies and it is working, but they still have yellow smelly stool. My vet informed me that in my area coccidia has been horrible and he is keeping a lot of his coccidia patients on Albon for 3-4 weeks. The problem is Albon is expensive and and I need a lot of it for my other rescue kitties. I heard that I can get generic Albon and mix it to make 5%Albon, the problem is I don't know what to mix it with and how much. Doers anyone know a safe mix of generic Albon that is safe for kittens 1 pound and up??

Thanks!!

 

[denice]

I am just bumping this back up.  We have a few people who do rescue hopefully one of them will be able to answer your question for you.  I just don't have a tough enough skin for rescue, I would be the crazy cat lady with a houseful of kitties.

 

[ldg]

I don't know if this helps at all, because it doesn't answer your question. But there are two different things you can do to treat them apart from the Albon - or rather, in addition to the albon, as both of these can be used either in place of or in addition to the antibiotic.

Here's an article by Dr. Jean Hofve. It's about treating giardia, but as she states, it should work on similar type parasites (which includes coccidia)

http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/giardia-natural-treatment-protocol/

I don't know if you use the same dose for kittens.

I treated kittens with coccidia using only a yeast-based probiotic, Saccharomyces Boulardii. I bought Jarrow brand (5 billion CFU per capsule) and gave kittens half the adult dose. For kittens, the dose is 1/4 capsule twice a day. It's bitter, so I put it in size 3 empty gel caps and pilled them with it. The problem is that it needs to be used 2x a day for a month, which may not be practical in most rescue situations. The only research on it as re coccidia is in chickens, but the probiotic itself has heaps of research, and is commonly used in hospital settings for antibiotic-resistant C diff.

 

[catpack]

I don't know about generic Albon, but, Ponazuril is what we have used for stubborn cases of coccidia. It has to be compounded as it is manufactured for use in horses; but, is being used off-label for use in cats/kittens and dogs/puppies. The treatment is 3-5 days.

 

[stephenq]

I don't know if this helps at all, because it doesn't answer your question. But there are two different things you can do to treat them apart from the Albon - or rather, in addition to the albon, as both of these can be used either in place of or in addition to the antibiotic.

Here's an article by Dr. Jean Hofve. It's about treating giardia, but as she states, it should work on similar type parasites (which includes coccidia)

http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/giardia-natural-treatment-protocol/

I don't know if you use the same dose for kittens.

I treated kittens with coccidia using only a yeast-based probiotic, Saccharomyces Boulardii. I bought Jarrow brand (5 billion CFU per capsule) and gave kittens half the adult dose. For kittens, the dose is 1/4 capsule twice a day. It's bitter, so I put it in size 3 empty gel caps and pilled them with it. The problem is that it needs to be used 2x a day for a month, which may not be practical in most rescue situations. The only research on it as re coccidia is in chickens, but the probiotic itself has heaps of research, and is commonly used in hospital settings for antibiotic-resistant C diff.

The website states that it is not tested on coccidia, just on giardia which is a different parasite.

 

[catwoman707]

In my rescue, I started out using albon, but it takes so darn long, and then discovered ponazuril several years back, and it is just amazing!

Albon is designed to inhibit growth of parasites to allow the cat/kitten to fight it off, which can take a very long time.

Ponazuril actually KILLS the parasite causing coccidia, and it is super fast!

The problem is, it's designed for use in horses and comes in a huge tube, I believe 128 mls.

It has a very long shelf life of over a year undiluted, so is well worth it, but each tube is approx. $150.00.

In an area with high coccidia rates as you mention, it would be ideal for a vet to purchase and dispense this.

The dilution is 5 mls of Marquis paste (name before dilution) to 12 mls water.

Stored in fridge and lasts more than a month.

So if a vet thought about this, it is WELL worth buying for dispensing.

That is more than 25 treatments, sold at around 25-30 dollars each, so as I said, well worth it for him.

Each treatment is 17 mls, at 0.2 mls per pound of body weight, for 3-5 days, so it will go a very long way!

As for a substitute for less expensive albon, this is the only thing I can offer that I know of.

 

[stephenq]

And a detailed article on preparing and using Ponazuril is here. http://www.sheltermedicine.com/node/394

 

[catman925]

And a detailed article on preparing and using Ponazuril is here. http://www.sheltermedicine.com/node/394

Your link is broken.

Updated link for dilution instructions:
Resources – Koret Shelter Medicine Program