Cody diagnosed with Coccidia
 

Yesterday’s vet visit I took in a stool sample, when I was collecting it I saw 3 white something’s close to the surface of his poop, never saw this before and I pick up lots of poo.
Before you see the vet, a tech always enters into the computer reason for visit. I told her I had a stool sample and I saw white whatever near the surface. The vet comes in, we / she does her thing (I have another thread about the vet visit) then she looks at the poo and confirms yes, white things. They ran a fecal float, diagnoses Coccidia, I am sent home with Marquis paste and plungers. Tech says Coccidia can be transmitted to humans, wash hands after handling poop. I ask how did he get this, she says from dirt, sniffing another dogs poop. I tell her he’s not been near any dogs poo. She says it survives in dirt, earth, from an animals infected poop. Cody is 99.9% a backyard dog. So how did he get this? We do have feral cats in the area, and wild life, raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks, field mice, moles, voles etc. I have seen no deer poo. Can Coccidia be gotten from wild life poo, if so, does anyone know what I can do so Cody does not continue to get this. I have had 2 other dogs living here, playing in that yard, they NEVER got this. Come to think of it, now as I am writing this, I took him to be groomed, as soon as I take him out of the car I always see if he has to make pee-pee, he sniffed a poop, which I pulled him away from. I looked this morning to see how I can prevent him from getting this, again, more aspirin, so much information, but no answer for what I was looking for, nor did I read how long it takes from sniffing infected feces to them being infected with it. Would anyone know this. Also tech said can be transmitted to humans, I read it cannot be. I called my vet this afternoon to get an answer, can it be transmitted to humans. After they check with vet that is on duty today I am told the Dr. said some types of Coccidia can be transmitted and some cannot. So now this makes things very clear, duhhhh more aspirin. Does anyone know a positive yes or no, if it can be transmitted? My hands are chap from washing and scrubbing palms, back of hands, between fingers. Washing floor with bleach, what about carpets, besides just vacuuming? I need more aspirin.

Coccidia is in the dirt and most dogs actually have this in their intestines....the immune systems in older/adult dogs usually keep this from flaring up. Stress is a great precipitator and will cause a dog or puppy to "break" with coccidia....usually, anytime you have a pup for a week and you start to see diarrhea with blood tinged mucus in it, that pup is "breaking" with coccidia from the stress it is experiencing with new home, new people, gone siblings and no momma, etc.......usual treatment is Albon along with Amoxicillin and Flagyl. Cody is a rescue, so he more than likely picked this up long before you ever got him and it is dormant in his intestine. I do NOT think it is transmitted to humans...I do not remember anything in any literature I have about coccidia, that humans can get it.

I wish this is the case, that he had it before coming to me. I had 2 other dogs here, they never had it. I looked on the internet, read, read, & read, no where did I see where it can pass on to humans. This dog may have HAD stress with prev. owner, I try to keep his life stress free, I am getting stressed trying to keep him stress free lol. My next life I wanna come back as Cody owned by Joan. This med he's on Dexamethasone 2 side effects are excessive drinking and urinating, he woke me up at 12 midnight, pee pee, again at 2:30am pee pee at 5am pee pee. Thanks for the info.

Oh, no! Poor baby! Poor you! I had two rescues with it - one a huge, emaciated Great Dane hours away from euthanasia at the pound and getting through that disease process back then was awful for that huge dog and me, too. I hope Cody's run of it is a shorter course than my two dogs were years back. Hopefully today's meds and methods are better.

He is happy, peppie, playful good appetite. Well I should say before this med he was, he's been sleeping a lot,the alligie the last stool sample given to my vet was the end of March. I believe he recently got this. In this afternoons stool I saw tiny tiny white spots, lots of them. Today is only the 2nd day he is on the med. I was given med for 7 days, bring in stool sample 3 weeks after med.is finished. I hope this does the trick. Over the years Veterinarian
treatment, medications have sky rocketed, because of modern technology animals get better treatment, live longer lives. Thank you for sharing your story, and your concern for my lil Cody.

I'm pulling for Cody! He's obviously a lucky dog to have you caring for him.

sending good thoughts for cody

Sorry for Cody :( And for you, lol. I hope it's just a mild case - which it sounds like it is if he is still eating and playing normally.

Tilly came home to me with Coccidia. Your vet told you it can be transmitted to humans because there IS a strain that humans can get...but it isn't as common and the only way to know FOR SURE if it is the strain humans can get is to have the stool sent to a parasitology lab (I think I said that name right).

Unless you have an immune disorder Cryptosporidium (the strain of Coccidia humans can get) will more than likely not do much to you. When humans contract Coccidia it shows as stomach cramps and diarrhea (sometimes vomiting)...but again I have to say that it is not common and shows itself in the elderly, very young, and those with weakened immune systems (HIV etc).

As for cleaning, I "steam cleaned" with a warm water and borax solution. I went ahead and bought a $99 "steam" cleaner from Target so that I could have it for future use. I figure with another animal in the apartment it'll be easier to keep things nice and clean :D

I also kept her confined to a small play space the ENTIRE time she was medicated/still sick. I changed her pee pads EVERYTIME a poo touched them. I bathed her every other day (she had issues laying in her poo). I changed the towels in her crate every other day. I changed the towels/sheets in her pen every other day. I washed all of her toys and towels and sheets on HOT wash with regular detergent and a nice shake of borax.

After her first treatment, she was Coccidia free.

Stay vigilant with keeping her play area clean and you will be fine :)

OH, and Coccidia is not the type of parasite that say, a tapeworm is.

Coccidia are microscopic and are enveloped in CYSTS that leave the body in POOP. If not cleaned properly, the area where the poo has touched could have the cysts and if the puppy licks them BAM they are reinfected - hence why I went ahead and cleaned my carpets to be EXTRA safe LOL.

:thumbup: Everything Yorkiemom1 said. The only other thing I would add is, that to my knowledge, coccidia can't be seen with the naked eye (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) so I'm not sure what the white things were that you seen. I'm a vet assistant so I see a lot of poop every day. ;) Looking at fecal floats and smears under the microscope is part of my job and I've never seen coccidia by just looking at the sample, I've only ever seen it under the microscope.

Thank you Jeanie, I want him healthy and happy, he's such a good boy, I am blessed to him.

Thank you for your concern and kind words.

Friday when I collected his stool to bring to the vet I saw 3 white what ever, near the surface of the stool, I didn't see the entire thing just part of it, the 3 were not all in one spot, 2 were on one side of stool the other was on the other side of stool, it looked like rice, but, I didn't see the front or the end I am thinking I saw the middle of what ever. It appeared to be flatter and a bit wider and whiter then rice. This was the sample I took to the vet that they did the fecal float on. Cody was not feed rice so I knew it wasn't that. Yesterday what I saw when I picked up his poop was many, many white dots, the size of the tip of a sewing needle, the entire poop had this. The poo I picked up this morning I saw nothing at the surface. I don't mush up his poo to look to see if there is anything in it. I know parasites can only be seen under microscope and not with the naked eye, this is what is causing me great concern.

The ones that look like rice sound like tapeworms to me and those don't always show up in a fecal float but you can see them in the stool. Tapeworms are flat and the size of rice. As gross as it sounds, I would probably dig through the stool sample. If he has tapeworms, unless you've dewormed recently, they should be moving. If you've dewormed him, you should still be able to see them but they'll be dead and dried out. I'm not sure about the white dots.

I have a rug shampooer, is there a diff, between that and a steam cleaner?

Cody is 100% house trained,he will only make outside,never in the house, only when I first got him and he had diarrhea, he would wake me up whining in my ear, if I didn't get up fast enough he made in the house,then he would hang his head in guilt for doing this, but he was very sick and couldn't hold it, he woke me every 2 hours, I would jump out of bed so he wouldn't make in the house and he wouldn't have that guilty "I did a naughty thing" look. I have a very large deck, it took a long time for Cody to use the deck, he prefers the yard, grass, dirt, his prev. owner leash walked him. I have many wild critters and prefer he use the deck at night and early mornings. I always rinse his pee pee with a pitcher of water, not happy I am having him use my deck, something my other dogs were NOT ALLOWED to do. Since adopting him I have always monitored his poo, easier to see on deck then search the entire yard. His poop is firm, never sticks to the deck so I always just picked it up, no need to rinse with water. I think the tech told me this can be transmitted did it as a precaution to me. I did call my vets office yesterday because all that I read on the internet did not state humans can catch this from their animals. They checked with the vet that was on duty, they said the Dr. said some types of Coccidia can be transmitted!!!!! All I was told that it is Coccidia. When I asked the tech how Cody could have gotten this, one of the things she said was from smelling his own infected poo.When Cody does his poo I am always there and pick it up right away, yesterday he did turn to smell it, iyiyi, now I have to stay closer to him that this does never happens again. What I just learned from you If not cleaned properly, the area where the poo has touched could have the cysts and if the puppy licks them BAM they are reinfected. This is something I have not done, I will scrub the entire deck today and rinse well with the hose. Then every time he poos I will scrub that area. I don't want this med he is taking to be in vain. I am praying this treatment will be the only one needed. The tech told me, after the med is finished (it's for 7 days) I don't have to make a special trip to drop off a stool sample, she said the next time you "pass by" you can drop it off. My vet is 40 minutes away, several towns away, I never JUST PASS BY lol. I told her when the med, is finished I will bring in a sample, she told me that is too soon, I asked when to bring it in, she said wait 3 weeks after med is finished to give the med a chance to work, then bring it in. I think that's to long to wait, what are your thoughts on this. thank you so much for your input. I have learned much from your post and yorkiemom1. I have had many dogs, many breeds, poodles, mini schnauzers then yorkies captured my heart and have had only yorkies for over 30 years, with all these dogs they never had this Coccidia, this is so upsetting to me. Again Thank you.

Totally sounds like tapeworms...

Years ago I had a schnoodle, and she always had tapeworms. None living - I kept up with her dewormings. I would just always find the dried "rice" on the bed...:eek:

Coccidia is EXTREMELY common! As long as your baby is eating and drinking normally, they will probably be just fine. Most adult dogs (and cats by the way) will have Coccidia cysts in their stool...and they show no symptoms because their immune system takes care of it.

And the shampoo will probably be fine to be honest. If you are able, maybe mix a borax solution and use that - my vet swore by the borax to get rid of it and for us I do believe it worked. But i'm sure the shampooing will be more than enough.

When it comes to my babies, nothing is gross to me. I adopted Cody 9 months ago, I did not have him dewormed. He came with a folder of all his shots, he was a surrender dog. The vets sister is involved with the rescue team, she had my vets staff enter what ever was in that medical folder. Cody was 2 1/2 y/o when I got him, he turned 3 y/o in March. I was not advised to deworm when I adopted. Years back when I bought 8 week old puppies they were dewormed and given the shots they needed. As adults they were never dewormed again. I will deff, bring this up to my vet. And the next poop I will spread it out and look to see if he has what you described. If I see moving things I will be on the phone with my findings, my vet is a 24/7 emergency hospital, with vets on duty and a full staff. I cannot express to you what this information you have offered means to me. Thank you so much.

Can tape worms be transmitted to humans.

CDC - Dipylidium - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) This will help :)

:confused: if your pup didn't have a bowl movement and the tape worms were dead, how did they get on the bed? Dead things cannot crawl out of rectum. Gezzzz I have a queen size bed, with several blankies on it. If he had live tape worms will / can they wiggle out of his rectum. Would this cause him itch and he'd be at his butt?

That's a good question. I asked my vet at the time and he said that she must have had to poop (but was holding it because it wasn't time to get up yet) and farted (lol) and 1 or 2 "rice" would fall out. :eek::p;)

Oh..and if they are alive I don't know if they can just wiggle out whenever they want. I mean, he would have to be very, VERY sick. Chances are that he would end up POOPING or vomiting one out alive instead.

Thank you just read it this. Thanks for the help to get my answer. ok, so while I was on computer with YT, Cody went out and made a poop (years back I had a carpenter make a special screen door with a doggie hatch, so my babies could potty when ever they needed to) my boy was bothering me while I was on computer to go out, so I go to take him to the yard, see the poo, I get my poop searching equipment out (plastic knife and fork) put poop on tin foil (done outside) and smear the poop. I see tiny white things, I know of nothing to compare them to, to describe what they resemble. I see maybe 7 of them, all but one was not moving, one was moving. I call the vets office, tell receptionist I was in Fri. with stool sample, what I was told he had and the med I was given, told her about the poop and what I saw, asked if the Marquis med to get rid of Coccidia would kill other parasites or tape worms if what I saw were tape worms. She has to give message to vet on duty, they will call me back. So now I am waiting for a call back that may not happen until late tonight when things at the vet quiets down. A few weeks ago I saw Cody at his butt, I thought maybe a bit of poop may be on his fur, I cleaned his butt with a warm wet paper towel, saw no poo but he was ok after the wipe off, now I am thinking he may have had this for a few weeks. When ever I pick up his poop I look at it, not looking for anything just look to see if it has sign of moisture and I do slightly put pressure to make sure it's not hard, just want to make sure he is drinking enough water so he won't get constipated (went through that once so I look and feel to make sure it's moist) So I never saw anything in his poo when I picked it up. Friday was the first time I ever saw anything is his poo.

OMG I had it all written out and poof I lost it and have to start over:confused:
I just answered answered LovelyPuppies post, so that I don't have to repeat my self could you read what I wrote on her post. Cody pooped about an hour ago, I smeared the poop, I saw appox. 7 white teeny tinny white things. They did not look like rice at all. 6 were not moving one was. I called my vets office, told the receptionist what I found in the poop, asked if the Marquis med that was given to get rid of the Coccidia would kill other parasites, worms, or tape worms if that is what I saw. She said she would ask the Dr. and call me back. While I was sending you a message they called me back. The problem is you give a message to person A, person A repeats what she THINKS you said, tells person B what she THOUGHT you said, calls back and repeats what she THINKS the Dr or the tech said. She tells me the Dr. said the “medications” plural that were given to Cody will kill everything. I told her Cody was given one medication for Coccidia, and 2 meds for allergies. I told her what you wrote “Coccidia cannot be seen with the naked eye, tapeworms cannot always be seen under a microscope” I say to her “can Coccidia be seen with the naked eye and do they look like tiny worms” she says she’ll ask the TECH. I say let me talk to the tech directly, I tell her several months ago I went through this, I tell the receptionist, she asks tech, receptionist comes back tells me to come to vet to pick up meds. I ask do I have to bring the dog, receptionist says no, you are just picking up med, I tell her are you sure because it’s a 40 min. drive are you sure I don’t have to bring the dog, she said she was told the dog did not need to go. So off I went, I get to the vet, the tech says where is the dog, I say I was told the dog did not need to be there, tech says the dog has to be admitted, I blew up, made the trip back home and took the dog in., So I tell the one I am speaking to, to avoid misinformation just let me talk to the tech. well the tech is busy she will call you back, ^&%$$^&@* So, now my question to you is can the Marquis med that was given to get rid of the Coccidia would it kill other parasites, worms, or tape worms if that is what I saw. Are you able to answer this. Would you know if a dog can have Coccidia and other worms or Coccidia and tapeworms at the same time? I am now sick and confused not to say how angry I am by the answer that was given to me by this receptionist. These receptionists are all wannabe’s. I have been given answers by them before, they are instructed not to give answers, yet they do,. OMG, I am ranting, sorry, my Italian blood pressure is up, let me send this off. God Bless you.

Tapeworms can be transmitted to humans but you would have to ingest the egg and as long as you're practicing good hygiene, it shouldn't be a problem. If he's ever had fleas in his life, there is a good chance he has tapeworms. They get them from ingesting fleas and they can also get them from eating wild animals. I'm not familiar with the drug you mentioned but it's not likely that it will take care of tapeworms. Most of the dewormers don't. Is there any other name on your bottle or does it just Marquis? We use Drontal at the clinic I work at and it takes care of tapeworms, whipworms, hookworms and roundworms. It's pretty expensive but, in my opinion, worth it to get rid of the nasty little creatures.

I just looked up Marquis (gotta love google ;)) and it looks like it's specifically for treating coccidia so you will need something else to treat for tapeworms if he has them.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
As best I have ever heard, this is accurate!

the vile reads Marguis on my bill it reads PONAZURIL I spoke to the tech early this evening, as I was describing what I saw in the poop on friday, she said tape worm, I described the many,many white things I saw in his poop Sat. she said they were the dead tapeworms, I told her I smeared todays poop, saw 6 dead, one alive, she said the Ponazuril was killing the tape worms, she said Marquis IS Ponazuril, I asked would this med kill all parasites, worms and tape worms, she said yes, she said Ponazuril is the strongest dewormer, it kills most everything. I just collected Cody's stool about 30 minutes ago, smeared it, I saw nothing. I will continue smearing his poop everytime he makes. Today I have learned from LovelyPuppies to scrub the area when Cody poops. Marquis / Ponazuril is to be given for 7 days. 3 weeks after finished bring a stool sample in for testing. Cody has no fleas, cannot understand where he could have gotten tapeworms from. He is a back yard dog,no dog other then mine have even been in that yard. I seldom leash walk him. Last week he went to the groomer and was sniffing at a poop, I snatched him away. The tech told me her dog had fleas and she is now treating her house. I asked her if a dog ingests a flea how long would it take for them to get tape worms. She said based on the experience she is dealing with now, for her dog it was a couple of months when he got tapeworms. Cody has frontline on him. I know some members stopped using that because it was not working for them in their area. But front line works for me. All I can think of is, a flea has to drink the dog blood, then it dies, a flea can be on a dog and live as long as it hasn't bite the dog to get the blood. Maybe a flea was walking on Cody and he was biting at the itchiness and ingested the flea, that's all I can think of.

Joan I am so sorry that you and Cody are going through this. Sounds like you are on top of it and he should be free from these worms very soon.

Thank you for your concern, who knew one day I would be searching dog poop? I do what must be done for my babies, and if it means smearing poop to search for worms, that is what I will do. I am waiting for the prince to make his poop, anxious to smear to check for these nasty things, last night's poop I saw nothing, I am hoping for the same today.