Guest maya's mom Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 So I had Maya at the vet today, for some vomiting issues, and I also took a stool sample just in case. I'm glad I did, b/c they ran it and it showed that she has coccidia again. I asked how could she get that.......we haven't been around many dogs this winter? They said it was most likely from eating deer or bunny poop. Which, unfortunately, I do know she's done. Maya had coccidia very badly as a puppy. They said it was normal, but that hers probably took longer to go away, b/c at the time, she was eating bunny poop. We do all we can to watch her in the yard, and stop her when she tries to eat it, but what else can I do? Our yard is very big.......is there any supplement, or old wives tale for getting them to stop eating deer/bunny poop? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerales Farm Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 So I had Maya at the vet today, for some vomiting issues, and I also took a stool sample just in case. I'm glad I did, b/c they ran it and it showed that she has coccidia again. I asked how could she get that.......we haven't been around many dogs this winter? They said it was most likely from eating deer or bunny poop. Which, unfortunately, I do know she's done. Maya had coccidia very badly as a puppy. They said it was normal, but that hers probably took longer to go away, b/c at the time, she was eating bunny poop. We do all we can to watch her in the yard, and stop her when she tries to eat it, but what else can I do? Our yard is very big.......is there any supplement, or old wives tale for getting them to stop eating deer/bunny poop? Thanks. If it is just a part of the environment that she lives in, her immune system should be able to handle it. I would only treat her if she becomes symptomatic (diarrhea etc). We have geese fly over all the time where I live, so coccidia is everywhere. Can't get rid of it. When we first moved here and I discovered that fact and asked my vet, he told me what I just told you. I've never have had a problem with my flock either, interestingly, although I carefully watch any new animals I bring in, as well as the lambs. leslie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 One thing you can do to help control these unwanted behaviors is to teach a "leave it" command. Use the "search" function at the top of the page to find posts dealing with that. Age tends to help reduce the eating of less-desirable (in your mind) items, usually. As pointed out, adult animals generally deal quite well with many parasites and other issues that can be problems in pups, immune-compromised, or elderly animals. Best wishes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remy Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Our yard is very big.......is there any supplement, or old wives tale for getting them to stop eating deer/bunny poop? Thanks. Ok, you asked for a "old wives tale" I thought it was "wise" but at any case, I knew a guy that used to fill milk cartons (1 gallon size) with water, put one in each corner of his yard and no stray animal would cross the line, it worked? no deer or stray critters? remember you ask! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenajo Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Coccidia does not typically cause vomiting. If it does it's a deathly ill animal - not what you describe. Coccidia is an opportunistic parasite - it likes the young, the old, and the weak. Adult dogs are typically immune to it. When a dog is sick - say with parvo - you can see a lot of opportunistic parasites shed in the loose stool (my vet calls it the "everybody out, this one's sick!" syndrome). Once the dog is well you don't see anymore. Occassional vomiting or diarrhea from injesting large amounts of rich stool (geese, rabbit, etc) is not uncommon. A regular dose of what you describe, though unpleasent to watch and not the cleanest habit, should not be dangerous. The only consistant thing I've seen deer and rabbit poop provide to dogs is tapeworms. Gross, but treatable. If this was my dog I'd look more into stengthing her digestive health. Probiotics, digestive enzmes, fresh raw foods in variety (start slowly) - it can take the stomach months to get back to health after something like puppy coccidia. I would definately give her other things to do in the yard if I could. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest maya's mom Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Thanks for the replies. To be specific, the coccidia and the vomiting are two different issues. The coccidia was a surprise to me, that I found out b/c the vet ran a stool sample "just in case". She does not think it is anything to worry about, though she did give me medicine for it. Maya is 1 year and 1 month old. Is this an age where she should be able to fight this off on her own by now?? The vomiting is a weird situation. Basically, Maya is throwing up once a night. However, she is throwing up not long after she eats a Kong that has apples and carrots in it, and my husband and I are playing with her indoors. She is running and jumping a lot, and she drinks while playing. So, we just chalked it up to too much acitivity too soon after eating. The other day though, the vomiting episodes increased (during the same "play period.) She is not acting lethargic, or antyhing, and doesn't usually vomit any other time during the day. But, I took her to be looked at, b/c I am a bit of a worrier. They x-rayed her stomach, and even though Maya hadn't eaten in over 12 hours, the vet said her stomach still appeared to be full. They gave me some nausea medication for her, and want to repeat the x-ray in a week, after a slightly longer fast. Do these vomiting episodes, or the "full stomach" sound familiar to any of you? P.S. I do give Maya plain yogur once per week. And I just bought some Papaya treats, that are supposed to be digestive enzymes. Is this a good start? P.P.S. Remy---I have no idea what the correct saying is! If it isn't WIVES, I've been saying it wrong my whole life!!!! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 As near as I can tell rabbits are not carriers for the main coccidia parasitic agents in dogs, so the fact that Maya eats rabbit poop shouldn't be the reason behind the presence of coccidia in her stool. Many puppies are infected with coccidia, but generally they get it from their mothers or other dogs they are exposed to. J. P.S. To Remy, the correct phrase is "old wives tale." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest maya's mom Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Maya did initially get it from her mother, but we cleared that up when we brought her home. We had negative stool samples for a number of months. She is now almost 14 months old. I really don't think she got this from another dog, b/c we've only been around a couple of dogs all winter, and they are dogs we know. (Whom I highly doubt have worms.) We did take 2 trips to the dog park, but on one, the ground was covered with 8 inches of snow, and there were no other dogs there. The 2nd time, the ground was thawed, but she played frisbee with us the entire time we were there. No ground grubbin. If rabbits aren't the culprit, I am stumped. I have not seen any deer poop in our yard........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 She doesn't have to eat dog poop directly or even grub in the dirt to pick up coccidia. All she has to do is walk through areas where dogs have deposited the oocysts and then groom herself, during which process she will ingest the oocysts and infect herself. So if she goes to places that other dogs also frequent, she can pick them up on her feet, groom herself later, and infect herself with coccidia. My point about the rabbits is that in general coccidia are species specific which means coccidia from one species will not cause symptoms in another species. While there are always exceptions to such rules, it's much more likely that Maya walked/ran through old deposits left by some other dog and then later ingested the parasite when she licked her feet. As an example of the species-specific thing, I had sheep with diarrhea that I suspected was caused by coccidia, so I took a stool sample to the vet. The vet saw both sheep coccidia and what appeared to be llama/alpaca coccidia in the sample, but said it was unlikely that the latter would cause symptoms in sheep (there's an alpaca farm uphill from us and at that particular time we had gotten a lot of rain and therefore runoff, but still the vet said that the apparent alpaca coccidia were not the cause of the symptoms in my sheep). At another time, my vet--different vet--told me that my sheep could not pick up coccidia infections from my free-range chickens, again because of species specificity. So that's just two examples of one species of animal with active coccidia infections where the vet made it clear that the animal in question could not have picked it up from another species. If you Google coccidia in dogs the information you find will also back the assertion that dogs generally pick up coccidia from other dogs. Mature dogs can carry coccidia and remain unaffected but still shed the oocysts, so it's possible for even healthy dogs you know to infect another dog. This is why when people ask on this forum about traveling with dogs I always suggest finding places to walk your dog where other dogs aren't as likely to have been instead of using the dog walk areas at human rest stops and the like. A dog can pick stuff up by walking where other dogs have eliminated. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Maya did initially get it from her mother, but we cleared that up when we brought her home. We had negative stool samples for a number of months. She is now almost 14 months old. I really don't think she got this from another dog, b/c we've only been around a couple of dogs all winter, and they are dogs we know. (Whom I highly doubt have worms.) We did take 2 trips to the dog park, but on one, the ground was covered with 8 inches of snow, and there were no other dogs there. The 2nd time, the ground was thawed, but she played frisbee with us the entire time we were there. No ground grubbin. If rabbits aren't the culprit, I am stumped. I have not seen any deer poop in our yard........... Coccidia are not worms. I'm going to hazard a guess that they are protozoans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest maya's mom Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Julie----Thanks for the information. I thought that dogs only contracted coccidia from eating contaminated stool. Your explanation makes perfect sense. Yet another reason for me to lay off the dog park! (I had a thread about Maya being aggressive.......which she normally is not....with dog while there, on the General Board.) Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnLloydJones Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Coccidia are not worms. I'm going to hazard a guess that they are protozoans. According to Wikipedia: "Coccidian parasites infect the intestinal tracts of animals[2], and are the largest group of apicomplexan protozoa." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet_ceana Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 Ceana will vomit if we play to wild after eating. We usually give her about 30 minutes after eating and then she is good to go. She hasn't done it in a LONG time, but all dogs and people in our house relax for 30 minutes after a meal. I have acid reflux and I get wicked heart burn if I do anything too active right after I eat, so the rule benefits us both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachdogz Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Rather than start a new topic, I thought I'd just hijack into this one. I was just about to post a new topic on my BC who I got in July, asking about her intermittant diarrhea. She has had on-and-off diarrhea since I brought her home. We immediatly did a stool sample, which was clear and so we thought maybe it was nerves. Then she had it in situations where she was not nervous...so I shifted focus to food, chews, rawhides, cheese...you name it and I've been playing around with it. Nothing really seemed to click. Stool samples were coming back clear. Vet finally told me only to bring him diarrhea stool. So this time I took both a diahrrea sample and the first sample of the a.m. which was solid. They did not do this reading in the office - they sent it to a lab. Vet just called to say they found coccidia...but not normal dog coccidia. They found a coccidia that was prone to sheep or chickens, which sort of baffled them in that it doesn't usually infect dogs. Now my dog has not been near sheep or chickens, but I can't say what she was around before she came to me. However, was reading on the internet that sheep coccidia does not infect dogs. Of course, I'm old enough to know that there is an exception to every rule. Does anyone have any info on this or experience with it? I am just glad we got some sort of diagnosis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.DaisyDuke Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 The vomiting is a weird situation. Basically, Maya is throwing up once a night. However, she is throwing up not long after she eats a Kong that has apples and carrots in it, and my husband and I are playing with her indoors. She is running and jumping a lot, and she drinks while playing. So, we just chalked it up to too much acitivity too soon after eating. The other day though, the vomiting episodes increased (during the same "play period.) She is not acting lethargic, or antyhing, and doesn't usually vomit any other time during the day. But, I took her to be looked at, b/c I am a bit of a worrier. They x-rayed her stomach, and even though Maya hadn't eaten in over 12 hours, the vet said her stomach still appeared to be full. They gave me some nausea medication for her, and want to repeat the x-ray in a week, after a slightly longer fast. Have you tried eliminating things from her diet? Like the apple and carrots? I am going to assume that different foods can effect dogs in the same way the effect people and I would test things that she eats to see if they could either be the cause. If I give Daisy too many grains, she'll get sick or anything that is to fatty. ETA: Just realized the date on this thread and I am sorry that I don't have the appropriate info for beachdogz or know how to spell. I need a coffee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Beachdogz, The last time I took sheep stool samples to the vet because I was sure I was having a problem with coccidia, they found coccidia that looked more like alpaca type. Interestingly, there is an alpaca farm next door to my place (that farm is on higher ground and we'd had a lot of rain and so runoff from their direction to mine). They did not find overwhelming amounts of sheep coccidia. The vet then said it was unlikely that alpaca coccidia was causing the runs in my sheep. I also keep chickens and have been told repeatedly that chicken coccidia will not infect my sheep. So who knows? What I did for my sheep was treat them for coccidia anyway (even if it was possibly the *wrong* type). I think if I were you I'd treat my dog for coccidia. It's possible she also has the dog type, but was shedding only the other types when you got the sample. It can't hurt to treat her. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachdogz Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 I think if I were you I'd treat my dog for coccidia. It's possible she also has the dog type, but was shedding only the other types when you got the sample. It can't hurt to treat her.J. Thanks for the response, Julie. I do plan on treating her...the vet is giving me something stronger since it is "sheep-type" coccidia, and we'll go from there. I was also going to ask her about re-treating it even if it comes back negative on the re-test (since we know how many false negatives you can get, and if she had this since she came, then she's probably had it most of her life.) Bonnie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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