[boopster]

I have mentioned Tallulah's bouts of diarrhea a couple of times... She had a parasite (signs showed up in microscopic stool exam) in February and was treated with Albon for coccidia. The very first dose ended the diarrhea, but I gave her the full course of treatment as instructed, and she was fine.

A month later, she had diarrhea again. Presentation was the same - she shows no symptoms whatsoever, mid-evening I hear rumbling in her tummy, shortly after she has a soft stool with mucus, and then hourly thereafter she has increasingly watery and smelly stools. No visible blood, no malaise. Her appetite doesn't change and she plays like she's possessed - normal for her.

Our vet was in the hospital, so I took Tallulah to a new vet. Although her stool test was negative, he said (echoing my original vet) that sometimes coccidia is hard to "cure" and doesn't always show up in a sample. He sent us home with Albon and once again, the very first dose stopped the diarrhea. He also had me take Tallulah off the Blue Buffalo canned and put her back on Cesars to rule out something in the food that might be irritating her colon.

Three days after we finished the treatment, the diarrhea came back again - same exact presentation. Another negative sample. This time he put her on Albon and Flagyl. Diarrhea stopped that same night. He also changed her food to I/D.

Two days after we finished that treatment, diarrhea again. A dose of Albon that night stopped it. Vet wanted to try the Flagyl alone, but the diarrhea was back the next night.

I had a consulting vet go over all of Tallulah's records independently, and she, along with the new vet, are leaning toward coccidia or clostridium - that either we are not knocking out of her system or she is getting reinfected by something in her environment. She is on a two-week course of Albon that ends on Friday. If the diarrhea comes back, I have a list of tests the consultant recommends. Both vets agree that the problem is serious and needs to be resolved, but not urgent since she has no other symptoms and they don't want to put unnecessary stress on her with some of the tests.

In case it is a matter of reinfection, I want to do a super cleanup of everything she's in contact with here at home. I've been cleaning the tile floors frequently, but I'm going to get a steam cleaner today and do all the floors and hard surfaces. Fortunately, she has not been in the carpeted area of the house, so I don't have to worry about that.

I'm going to wash all of her toys and bedding -- would bleach for colors (it's a weak peroxide solution) be safe and effective? I'm hoping that those of you who are breeders have experience with sanitizing your premises and can give me some guidance. I'm also going to confiscate all the shoes and give them a thorough cleaning. Any other suggestions?