Lingering Coccidia? Something Else?

war&wisdom

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Second post today...sorry, guys.

How likely is it that two follow-up fecal analyses missed lingering coccidiosis? My kittens have continued to have intermittent soft poops with yellow/orange coloring in between healthy-seeming poops since their course of Albon a few months ago, but both follow-up tests were negative.

Anyone have this happen before and then found that a third test was positive? Could it be something else?

Thanks in advance!
 
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war&wisdom

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More information would help. Does your other post include details?
No, my other post was unrelated.

A few months ago, my kittens started having soft, orange-ish poops, and we determined that they had coccidia based on a fecal analysis. We treated them both with a course of Albon and cleaned the apartment, including washing litter boxes thoroughly and cleaning many surfaces with ammonia.

Two follow-up analyses, after the Albon, were negative for coccidia.

But the kittens still have intermittent soft, orange poop.

So I'm not sure what's going on.
 

FeebysOwner

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So, how long did you have them before the poop issues? If there were no problems then, what were they eating and are they on the same diet now? I've seen you around on this site, you know the drill... I would think two tests for coccidia should be conclusive. But, you could always either get another vet to review the results, or get another vet to test for it, as a second opinion.

I can't imagine it is a food allergy - given both cats have the same problem, bit it is possible.
 
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war&wisdom

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We had them for 4 months before the issues started, and yes, the food has stayed the same. The only place they could have gotten the coccidia is at the vet, I think. I would like to have another test done, honestly, but I don't have the money to run another test simply because I'm paranoid. I'm just worried that there's something we're not catching that could cause long-term issues. :/
 

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If what I know of coccidia, if one has it so does the other - even more so since they share the same litter box(es). I think you need to press the vet for other possible issues??
 
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war&wisdom

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If what I know of coccidia, if one has it so does the other - even more so since they share the same litter box(es). I think you need to press the vet for other possible issues??
Right, that's why I'm wondering if it's something else. This is so frustrating, and I was hoping someone on this site might have encountered something similar.

At the same time, my kittens are happy and healthy other than some poop, and I've already brought them to the vet a couple times for what turned out to be a non-issue, so I'm wary that that's going to happen again. I'm so tight on money right now because my partner is out of work -- he'll get something soon (he's in a union), but we have no financial flexibility at the moment. There's always CareCredit if necessary, though...
 

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I was kind of looking around the posts on this site for something similar. I ran across one with extensive posts about all kinds of cats with loose stools. I think it started with one person's suspicion being about food issues, but the thread takes multiple twists-turns about other possible issues dealing with loose stools. If you want to take the time to read through it, maybe something will ring a bell/strike a chord with you about your two kittens??

Another cat diet question, cat has chronic loose stools / diarrhea
 

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Yep! There can be many causes. So sorry they have this problem. :alright:Guessing they got the Coccidia from Mom. It happens. If the kittens were tested while the Albon was still active in their system I suppose it could have affected the results. Have they already been treated for parasites? Did they just have immunizations? There are so many variables but those come to mind first. I did have to do a repeat treatment on one batch of kitten resuces. I changed out everything! Cleaning crazy! lol Why don’t you post a history of all the kittens have had done and what they eat. Maybe that would give someone here an idea. You could ask the vet about probiotics. I hope things will resolve quickly. It’s probably something simple. Seems like we tend to miss the simple things. ;)
 
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war&wisdom

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Yep! There can be many causes. So sorry they have this problem. :alright:Guessing they got the Coccidia from Mom. It happens. If the kittens were tested while the Albon was still active in their system I suppose it could have affected the results. Have they already been treated for parasites? Did they just have immunizations? There are so many variables but those come to mind first. I did have to do a repeat treatment on one batch of kitten resuces. I changed out everything! Cleaning crazy! lol Why don’t you post a history of all the kittens have had done and what they eat. Maybe that would give someone here an idea. You could ask the vet about probiotics. I hope things will resolve quickly. It’s probably something simple. Seems like we tend to miss the simple things. ;)
Sorry, I should have included more information about their ages and diet. They're currently 9 months old.

We adopted them in June, when they were 8 weeks old. They're a boy and a girl from the same litter, and they were taken in by their foster mom (through a local rescue) when they were only a day or two old. They had been dewormed and gotten their first round of vaccinations around 7 weeks, and we had them dewormed twice and followed through with the rest of the vaccination schedule once they were living with us. We ran a fecal analysis early on that confirmed that they didn't have parasites (around 10 weeks, I think), but we did another deworming after that just to be safe.

They were eating Royal Canin Mother and Babycat dry and wet at their foster mom's house, so we kept feeding them the same thing. When they grew out of the babycat food, we fed them Royal Canin Kitten, both dry and wet (pate; they didn't like the slices). Ares was always a picky eater when it came to wet food and got bored easily, so we tried a few different wet foods and settled on a rotation of Blue Wilderness salmon pate for kittens, Simply Nourish duck and pea pate, and Royal Canin kitten pate.

We had them spayed and neutered at 4.5 months (end of August). Athena developed a seroma and some herniated adipose tissue a few days later and had a second surgery to clean it up. They both healed quickly after that, although Ares obviously healed faster.

They developed symptoms of coccidia in mid to late September, confirmed through a fecal test. They finished their course of Albon in the middle of October. I cleaned as much as I could with ammonia and scrubbed their litter boxes.

Two follow-up fecal analyses -- one a week after they finished the Albon and another about a month after -- were negative for coccidia or any other parasite.

But the intermittent soft, orange-ish poops have continued. When it happens, it's not runny, just soft.

As far as food goes, we recently eliminated the BW salmon pate but have stuck with the rest. Treats: PureBites chicken breast and duck liver, Wellness Kittles (chicken and cranberry), and occasional teaspoonfuls of plain pumpkin, which Athena especially adores (we started giving it to her at a vet's recommendation when she had constipation issues; she licks it off the spoon like ice cream).

Ares much prefers dry food to wet, and he usually lets Athena polish off the majority of the wet so that he saves room for dry, I suppose. We're looking for solutions to get him to eat more wet right now (that's what my other thread is about).

Hope this helps!
 

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I am guessing Ares is eating more dry on instinct. Is he hydrating well? If so I wouldn’t worry as much about the wet food. You say the poop is orangish. I am wondering about the pumpkin intake. That can cause the coloring depending on how much is eaten. Wondering about vitamin balance. I know that too much of a good thing can cause issues. Pumpkin can make you poop! Are you still giving that? It has Fibre in it but can over do things a bit.
 
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war&wisdom

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I am guessing Ares is eating more dry on instinct. Is he hydrating well? If so I wouldn’t worry as much about the wet food. You say the poop is orangish. I am wondering about the pumpkin intake. That can cause the coloring depending on how much is eaten. Wondering about vitamin balance. I know that too much of a good thing can cause issues. Pumpkin can make you poop! Are you still giving that? It has Fibre in it but can over do things a bit.
He drinks plenty of water. He sometimes hugs the water bowl...it's very silly.

The pumpkin is an occasional treat -- once or twice a week. I looked into whether pumpkin can change stool color, and I couldn't find any evidence that it can.
 

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It doesn’t sound like they are eating enough of the pumpkin to hurt anything. I do know what it can do to a human baby as far as color. Lol Everything counts!
Do you think Ares could be dehydrated? Drinking large amounts of water? Any symptoms at all besides the poop issues? At nine months, if all else checks out well with the vet then I would consider a food change. Have you done a search on this site about suggested foods or food allergies? There has been a lot of good information posted. If the Coccidia is gone and all parasites have been treated then I am wondering about the IBD suggestion or allergies. IBD may be controllable since it doesn’t seem really bad. You still might ask the vet about probiotics. Once the digestive system gets out of whack it can take time to rebalance the needed, good organisms in the body.
 
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war&wisdom

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It doesn’t sound like they are eating enough of the pumpkin to hurt anything. I do know what it can do to a human baby as far as color. Lol Everything counts!
Do you think Ares could be dehydrated? Drinking large amounts of water? Any symptoms at all besides the poop issues? At nine months, if all else checks out well with the vet then I would consider a food change. Have you done a search on this site about suggested foods or food allergies? There has been a lot of good information posted. If the Coccidia is gone and all parasites have been treated then I am wondering about the IBD suggestion or allergies. IBD may be controllable since it doesn’t seem really bad. You still might ask the vet about probiotics. Once the digestive system gets out of whack it can take time to rebalance the needed, good organisms in the body.
No, I don't believe he's dehydrated. He's very active, so he needs to drink a lot of water to make up for it. I do also know about the pinch test.

I could look into changing the food, but other than his pickiness, we haven't had any problems so far. Athena just switched to a high-fiber prescription Hills dry food (for when we're at work) because the vet (who specialized in nutrition in veterinary school) says that she's too chunky for her age, which is why I brought her in -- she's got a belly and eats more than her brother, who's almost three pounds heavier. Ares now wants to eat that dry food too...but he's still on Royal Canin.

I've said this earlier in this thread and in the other one, but I'm very tight on money right now, so I can't afford any allergy tests or expensive food changes in the near future. I do have CareCredit for emergencies and insurance for both kittens.

Probiotics might be a good option, though, since they're reasonably-priced.
 

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The probiotics might just be the thing! We’ll hope for that! A simple call to the vet might confirm that choice. Then you don’t have a vet bill. I know hoe stressful it can be trying to make sure everything gets done on a buget. Please update. You’ll all be in my thoughts. :heartshape:
 
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