BABY WiTH CLICKING & COCCIDIA

[Scooterzmom]

So despite my resolutions not to take babies this fall I have 2 little ones here now (so OK, I am a pushover when it comes to these little guys). The little girl, Angie, is about 7 weeks and was clicking when I got her late Thursday night. She was full of fleas, weighed 163gr and she also had a bad infection on her foot - which I strongly suspected was from a cat bite - so I put her on Cipro/Baytril. It is now the 5th day she's been on it and she's doing great, weighing in at 204gr now.

I also got a little boy, Ben, who is about 6 weeks old and was brought to me Saturday night, weighing in at 109... very very cold, completely dehydrated, full of fleas, and so skinny you could see each bone of his spice on his back; to top it off, the finders - although well intentioned - had given him 2 feedings of pet shop kitten formula. :( Sunday morning I noticed he too was clicking, so I put him also on Cipro/Baytril.

Thing is, I now see that Ben has coccidia - slimy yellow-green poop that smells - and I don't know for certain how to treat him.

I have some Metrodinazole (Flagyl) here, could find some Baycox but I'm not certain if either one should be given concurrently with the Cipro/Baytril. I don't want to overload this little guy with meds: he is otherwise doing great, all cleaned up, weighs in now at 132 and loves his FV 20/50 with vanilla yogurt (to help his GI tract).

I had put the little couple together by Sunday night, so of course now I fear Angie will get it too :( Should I treat her too as a precaution or do I wait to see if the symptoms show up? They are now in separate cages. I have been careful with my 3 NRs but damn.... I sure hope they don't get infected too. :(

Can anyone please

[island rehabber]

It's apparently been a banner year for coccidia! My vet is prescribing 7 days of Trimeth -- or SMZ-TMP/Bactrim/Sulfatrim. THe jury is still out whether my guys had it or not, but one of them still has the slimy poops....

[Scooterzmom]

We have found that Bactrim/sulfatrim takes too long to give results. We have Baycox... can that be given same time as Baytril?

[island rehabber]

Very similar to Baytril, Cipro and other "floxacin" drugs. I heard Baycox was very good; have never used it myself.

[sqrlmum]

Just jumping in as I'm treating my 4th, 5th, and 6th babies for coccidia this season - and the littles are only 28 and 31 grams! Oy!

I have had the best success with Ponazuril, which is also marketed as "Marquis" - but I think that name is for much larger animals. From what I understand (and please correct me if I'm wrong) is that coccidia is in all squirrels, but can flare up when they are injured or stressed and can also be passed to other squirrels very, very easily. Antibiotics are said to simply reduce the amount of coccidia to non-harmful levels, but the Ponazuril will actually KILL the coccidia in the gut completely (but does not prevent infection at a later date). Also, Ponazuril usually only requires one dose. My first three got one single dose of Ponazuril and it was very effective. I also treated them for 7 days with Albon & Flagyl on the recommendation of my rehabber just in case. This go-'round I did not have any Ponazuril on hand, and I can tell that they are not responding as quickly just being on Albon/Flagyl. I believe that Ponazuril is expensive, however, and many vets do not carry it. I was lucky enough to get it for free from my rehabber and do not know if my local vets carry it.

Personally, I use a combination of Albon and Flagyl. My biggest guy went from 44 grams down to 40 grams and was shooting the consistency of uncooked scrambled eggs out of his poor little heinie, and 7 days ago I started him on the combo. He clocked in at 58 grams this evening and is still a little loose, but I attribute that to the Albon. The little girls are 28 and 31 grams, and are slooooooowly gaining as they fight off the coccidia. I am going to keep them on the Albon/Flagyl combo for 10 days and see if I need to go further (others have recommended a 14-day treatment; I may need to go that long). Others have recommended the SMZ-TMP course, but I have had fantastic success with Ponazuril (when I can get it), Albon, and Flagyl thus far (knock wood!).

[Jackie in Tampa]

sglmum, what is the dose info please for marquis? {mg/kg}
where did you get the dose? ty

[sqrlmum]

sglmum, what is the dose info please for marquis? {mg/kg}
where did you get the dose? ty

Hi, Jackie:

I did not dose personally, but my rehabber wrote it down for me after she gave it to my guys.

The dosage she wrote is: 20mg/kg.

I've also seen the dosage online from a vet of a Ponazuril suspension being .1ml per 50g of body weight, and I am EXTREMELY math-challenged so I'm not sure if that dosage parallels the suspension but it looks pretty close (50g = .05kg). Pretty strong stuff, but the most days I've seen to dose was 2 (we did 1) so that makes sense. :)

[Jackie in Tampa]

Hi, Jackie:

I did not dose personally, but my rehabber wrote it down for me after she gave it to my guys.

The dosage she wrote is: 20mg/kg.

I've also seen the dosage online from a vet of a Ponazuril suspension being .1ml per 50g of body weight, and I am EXTREMELY math-challenged so I'm not sure if that dosage parallels the suspension but it looks pretty close (50g = .05kg). Pretty strong stuff, but the most days I've seen to dose was 2 (we did 1) so that makes sense. :)ty..with that i can start some research.:thumbsup:thankyou'miche, how is the baby?

[Scooterzmom]

ty..with that i can start some research.:thumbsup:thankyou'miche, how is the baby?

Well, I gave Ben the Baycox last nite and already there was some improvement during the night. The runny diarrhea stopped, no mucous in it. However, this morning his poop is pasty and has a definite green tint to it. I don't detect a very strong smell (not yet anyway) but it definitely is green. He has also lost 6gr since yesterday (and I was so proud of the fact he had gained 20gr in 4 days. :eek

I decided to wait until at least tonite and see if he still improves before taking any further course of action.

If I do have to treat him for giardia, I have some Flagyl 500mg capsules and some Sulfatrim tablets 80 - 400 mg (they are scored so as to cut in 2 for 40 - 200 mg). I would need the dosage however for each regardless of which I use because the flagyl says to dose 10-50mg/kg (so I don't know how...) and for the Sulfatrim because the book talks about capsules with different strengths than what I have. Maybe you can look that up for me... so I'll have the dosages/kg if I need them? :poke

I'm making sure to keep him hydrated though with sugar water (a little maple syrup in water) between feedings.

Angie so far is symptom-free, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[Jackie in Tampa]

Well, I gave Ben the Baycox last nite and already there was some improvement during the night. The runny diarrhea stopped, no mucous in it. However, this morning his poop is pasty and has a definite green tint to it. I don't detect a very strong smell (not yet anyway) but it definitely is green. He has also lost 6gr since yesterday (and I was so proud of the fact he had gained 20gr in 4 days. :eek

I decided to wait until at least tonite and see if he still improves before taking any further course of action.

If I do have to treat him for giardia, I have some Flagyl 500mg capsules and some Sulfatrim tablets 80 - 400 mg (they are scored so as to cut in 2 for 40 - 200 mg). I would need the dosage however for each regardless of which I use because the flagyl says to dose 10-50mg/kg (so I don't know how...) and for the Sulfatrim because the book talks about capsules with different strengths than what I have. Maybe you can look that up for me... so I'll have the dosages/kg if I need them? :poke

I'm making sure to keep him hydrated though with sugar water (a little maple syrup in water) between feedings.

Angie so far is symptom-free, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.do you need break down instructions or just mg/kg on these two?..
iwonka just picked up that baby, very dehydrated.. maybe maggots.ugh. fingers crossed and thank you all up there.

[Scooterzmom]

do you need break down instructions or just mg/kg on these two?..
iwonka just picked up that baby, very dehydrated.. maybe maggots.ugh. fingers crossed and thank you all up there.

The poor little baby died in her hands. :Love_Icon He was horribly mangled, she said, and now she's just heartbroken of course. :grouphug Sometimes you wonder why you were chosen to witness that kind of horror :Cry



If you don't mind I could use the whole thing re. the dosages and instructions.

Little guy Ben's problem is driving me nuts: this afternoon he's back to runny and some mucus again, greenish yellow (definite green tint to it). Seems his bowel movements are all over the map - I mean they change every time it seems. I'm giving him sugar water in between feedings, am diluting the formula, putting yogurt in it. His last feeding didn't go well, he didn't take much of the diluted formula (about 2cc) but I managed to make him take some 4cc of the sugared water. Must say he had taken 6cc of the sugared water about 2.5 hrs before his feeding.

[sqrlmum]

Little guy Ben's problem is driving me nuts: this afternoon he's back to runny and some mucus again, greenish yellow (definite green tint to it). Seems his bowel movements are all over the map - I mean they change every time it seems.

In my experience, definitely signs of coccidia! Each of my babies with it ran the gamut of "hey, that poop looks so much better!" to "OMG, what is coming out of your poor little heinie???"

My rehabber told me that it will take up residence in the pockets of the intestines, which is why it's VERY inconsistent and also doesn't show up reliably on a fecal. My biggest guy is ending his first week of antibiotics/Flagyl, and he's now starting to have perfect FV poopies at the very start of his BM and as the seconds pass - here comes the runny mucous. I told one of my girlfriends that I'd never spent so much time in my life focused on the back end of a squirrel. Dear God in heaven. :eek

[Jackie in Tampa]

sending info in PM now, hope Ben gets on track soon, poor poopy butts.

[Scooterzmom]

Slight improvement this morning in the sense that his appetite was low yesterday but heès bouncy and eating very well so far today. His poops also seem to have a bit more consistency and less green - although there still is mucus in them.

If by tomorrow nite if there is no further improvement then I'll start treatment for giardia.

Angie for her part is doing just fine. Full of beans, faster than the blink of an eye and already quite the climber. Still symptom free.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Thanks for the help Jackie :)

[Scooterzmom]

Ben is showing definite signs of improvement tonite. We actually had nearly formed poopies! :tilt Still they could use some firming up, I'm not yelling victory quite yet.
I am confident however that we may get ourselves out of this mess this week-end :)

Will keep you posted but I'm saving the pics for when my little pooper master produces some golden nuggets :grin3

He sure is sweet though. A total love bug who is very patient: can't be much fun having someone fiddle with your little rear end over and over all the time. :)

[Scooterzmom]

Little Ben finally seems to be getting over that awful bout of coccidia. He certainly is not acting sickly, that's for sure :) He's made friends with Squirrel Wrangler - hubby - and does prove to be a handful. Don't tell SW I told you ;) but squaddy is totally, absolutely owned by this little devil :rolf

Ben arrived here at 109gr and now, he's a whopping 209! He absolutely refuses to be wrapped for his feedings, and totally refuses to sit for them. A real stand-up guy, as you can see, he'll wolf down his FV, then slaps the syringe when he's done... time to play he figures :grin3

215890

[Scooterzmom]

This may sound dumb but I've never dealt with such a bad case of coccidia before. How long should I wait before introducing veggies to my babies now?

This is the 1st day their poop has been normal all day for both of them and because they were so sick I was not offering veggies during that time - gave them their FV and then some blocks - but now they're overdue for starting their veggies (they had only tasted a couple of green beans wen they started getting sick).

[Scooterzmom]

:bump

[Charley Chuckles]

Sorry I don't know anything about that, someone will be able to help though :thumbsup BUT that is just the sweetest picture of Ben and SW :grin3

[island rehabber]

This may sound dumb but I've never dealt with such a bad case of coccidia before. How long should I wait before introducing veggies to my babies now?

This is the 1st day their poop has been normal all day for both of them and because they were so sick I was not offering veggies during that time - gave them their FV and then some blocks - but now they're overdue for starting their veggies (they had only tasted a couple of green beans wen they started getting sick).


I would start them slowly on veggies, one new type per day to see how they tolerate them. Start with kale -- BEST squirrel veggie on the planet, with lots of calcium. I find they like pieces with a bit of stalk included, not just leaf. Next try chickory.....then maybe radicchio....then spring mix which is an all-time squirrel fave, I think.

[Scooterzmom]

OK. Gave them each a tiny piece of apple today but kale is usually what I start them with anyway :grin2 Just wanted to start with something very easy on the stomach this time... hope it doesn't give them the runs again.

I too usually avoid starting them with sweet stuff; I prefer starting them with greens so they develop a taste for them before I introduce the sweets. I had never thought of chickory though. Adding that to the grocery list :)