shirra Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 My daughter's 4 year old small dog was infected with coccidia when having his teeth cleaned under anaesthetic. He was hospitalised for 5 days and allowed home once his faeces firmed to the consistency of toothpaste. While under vet care he received medication to halt the vomiting, antibiotic to treat the parasitic infection, and ointment for his red raw anus. He was drinking normally and did not require IV fluids. He was discharged one week ago and since being home he isn't correctly judging the distance when trying to jump onto the bed, or from floor to arm of lounge. Both of these activities were easy prior to his illness. He has also been observed walking into furniture. Is it possible that his brain has been affected? Or his eyesight? He will be taken for veterinary assessment if this continues. Meanwhile we would appreciate any helpful comments or information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 I would be going to the vet sooner than later or the very least phoning to express your concerns . Easy solution for the present minimise risk until you now what the future is 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 No thinking needed...Vet appointment ASAP if this has been going on for a whole week..it's a week too long Hope all will be well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirra Posted July 23, 2019 Author Share Posted July 23, 2019 Thank you all, I'll tell my daughter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 Having difficulty seeing how a dog can contract coccidia in a vet clinic... hygiene standards would have to be VERY low for that to occur! Are they 100% certain that the dog had coccidia only, and not any other issues? Never heard of coccidia affecting the brain or nervous system like that in an adult dog... I'd be taking the dog to a vet immediately... not waiting to see if things get better on their own. A full checkup including bloods and another faecal float to make sure the coccidia has been effectively treated. T. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirra Posted July 24, 2019 Author Share Posted July 24, 2019 (edited) 8 hours ago, tdierikx said: Having difficulty seeing how a dog can contract coccidia in a vet clinic... hygiene standards would have to be VERY low for that to occur! Yes, it seems odd. The vet does leave a water bowl in the carpark but I don't know if he drank from it. They told my daughter they had another case come in at the same time. Are they 100% certain that the dog had coccidia only, and not any other issues? Never heard of coccidia affecting the brain or nervous system like that in an adult dog... I'm also wondering if the diagnosis was correct as I've heard that coccidia can be found in the faeces of most dogs. Can't help wondering if his symptoms were due to a different issue and the coccidia was incidental. I'd be taking the dog to a vet immediately... not waiting to see if things get better on their own. A full checkup including bloods and another faecal float to make sure the coccidia has been effectively treated. He has had faecal tests since discharge and no coccidia detected. Quote Edited July 24, 2019 by shirra 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 I somehow find it odd that a vet leaves a communal water bowl in the carpark Such an easy way to pass on illnesses. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 Hmmm... adult dogs (at 4, the dog is an adult) are not usually overly symptomatic for coccidia, as their immune systems are usually robust enough to control the build up of such gut fauna. Also, it's hard to believe that a communal water bowl would be the source of a coccidial infection... more likely to be Giardia - very similar symptoms actually, but requires a totally different drug to treat it effectively. ie: Toltrazuril is used for coccidiosis, and Metronidazole or Fenbendazole for giardia. Coccidia is transferred by ingestion of infected faecal matter, giardia is mostly transferred often from infected water sources. The drugs for one disease will not effectively treat the other. There are specific types of faecal floats that can be performed to get a more accurate diagnosis of giardia - ask your vet for a Giardia ELISA test (IDEXX SNAP Giardia will be 99% accurate in diagnosis), as opposed to a basic faecal float which can give a lot of false negatives as the cysts are only shed sporadically. The IDEXX SNAP Giardia test looks for giarda specific enzymes which will always be present in an infected dog's stool. Left untreated - or not properly diagnosed - a parasitic infestation like giardia can possibly have an effect on cognitive function... but most tests regarding that link have been human based, so may or may not be relevant to dogs. I hope your little dog gets well soon! T. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asal Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 (edited) giardia can fail to be detected, even when the patient is near death almost lost my daughter. finally although all tests had been negative in desperation the doctors treated her just in case and finally began to recover.... but only after having tried everything they could think of n decided since nothing else had worked dose her just in case yes water was the cause, I did not know that the water in mittagong was contaminated and gave her a glass from the tap of a relative, not knowing that she boiled all water and stored it in the fridge. just wasted away until could see the bones through the skin Edited July 24, 2019 by asal 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 @asal - that is why I'm specifying the IDEXX SNAP Giardia test for the OP's dog - it tests for the enzymes released in a giardia infestation rather than the actual cysts. A standard faecal float looks for the presence of cysts in the stool sample via a microscope, but as giardia only releases cysts into the stool sporadically, the standard float test may produce a false negative for giardia. The standard float will show the presence of coccidia oocysts, which most dogs will have some of, but unless the oocyst numbers are extremely high in concentration, coccidiosis will be asymptomatic and not an issue. It is important to note that different magnifications are required to see coccidia oocytes or giardia cysts through the microscope. The IDEXX SNAP Giardia test is designed to detect enzymes released continuously by a giardia infection, hence being a much more accurate indicator of said infection. This test is 99% accurate in returning a correct diagnosis of giardia. Alternately, if giardia is even suspected, a course of Metronidazole (Flagyl), or Fenbendazole (Panacur) should be administered to treat it effectively. Neither would be detrimental to the dog even if administered prophylactically (just in case), so maybe if the dog is still symptomatic over a week after being treated for coccidia, the OP could ask for the giardia treatment drugs to cover all bases here. The OP doesn't specify how long after going to the vet their dog started showing signs of illness - the gestation period for giardia in dogs is usually 5 to 12 days (humans is 1 to 14 days), and the life cycle of canine coccidia is anywhere from 1 to 28 days once ingested. Giardia is mostly transmitted from infected water, and coccidia is contracted from ingesting infected faecal matter. The hygeine standards of a normal vet clinic should mitigate the contraction of coccidia whilst in care, unless someone has been very lax in cleaning the cage used for a dog's daytime stay for dental surgery. As stated in a previous post, a communal waterbowl would definitely be a possible infection route for giarda if not cleaned and refilled with fresh clean water regularly. It is important to note that some species of giardia and coccidia can be transmissable to humans also, so I hope the vet explained that to the OP when they took their dog home. Usually the 2 species of giardia found in dogs are not those that can infect humans. The form of coccidia that can affect humans is cryptosporidium, so if the vet suspected the dog had coccidiosis, then they should have advised the owner to practice very good hygeine when dealing with the dog while symptomatic (ie. has diarrhoea), especially if there are children that could be exposed to it. @shirra - please let us know of any progress with your daughter's little man... what is his name by the way? T. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SchnauzerMax Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 He sounds like he has vision problems. It may have absolutely nothing to do with a coccidia infection. Max did all those sorts of things. Running into poles, not being able to judge distances when jumping on and off the sofa etc. He was diagnosed with SARDS which meant he had gone from 100 to 0 sight in about 2 months and we didn’t realise the severity of his vision loss. You might need a eye specialist examination because with Max, our local vet thought something was wrong but was uncertain as to what exactly. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirra Posted July 27, 2019 Author Share Posted July 27, 2019 I'm hoping to catch up with my daughter this weekend and will get an update. The dog's name is Max. His diarrhoea started 3 days after the dental. I'm appreciative of everyone's input. Thank you. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 Please give little Max a hug from all his DOL aunties and uncles @shirra... let's hope his issues have either abated, or been treated... T. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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