Coccidia; metronidazole; incontinence
 

Approximately two weeks ago, one of my neighbors introduced a 5-week old puppy into our complex that was not vaccinated and, as it turns out, infected with coccidia.

Several dogs in my neighborhood became ill, and we concluded that the puppy had spread the illness to our dogs. All of our dogs were having diarrhea and very loose stools and incontinence.

Without a formal bloodtest and diagnosis, the vet prescribed metronidazole to our dogs, and my dog has been on it for 5 days. We also switched him to rice and pumpkin paste, which he happily ate. His behavior is just fine, but he is incontinent. Loose stools just fall out of his butt, during the middle of the night, on the bed, on the couch.

I can tell he is so embarrassed, and I feel so bad. He's been off the meds for about 1 week now, but he is still exhibiting these symptoms. Does anyone know what to do about it?

The loose stools are not bloody. They are dark, very soft, and wet on the outside. They are about 1cm in length and about 1cm in width. Sometimes, a bigger and somewhat harder piece will fall out. Sometimes it is as soft as pudding and only a small drop.

Does anyone know what this might be?

I'm pretty sure that not being vaccinated has nothing to do with having coccidia. If the pup has it, it was more than likely infected from the mother as it is spread through the feces. Good sanitation practices are a must to keep it from spreading to everyone. My dog had coccidia when she was rescued. The breeder that I got her from had treated her with Corid and said that it worked wonderfully. Are all of the dogs older dogs or puppies? Usually an older dog has formed an immunity to coccidia so it may be some other bug going around.

My little girl is having the same issue right now and went to the vet on Monday. The vet said that she thought it was colitis where the diarrhea was intermittent and not constant?? I would probably take a stool sample to the vet and have it tested but that's just me. Hope your dog gets better soon!!

Aw, your poor kiddo :(. Is he doing any better yet? If not, I'd def ask the vet to try a different med. Metro can be great for many dogs, but for others it can actually irritate the GI.

Back to the vet..

Testing would be good. If coccidia is confirmed they might try Albon.