Coccidia treatment?

[Caprice_Acres]

I'm fairly certain I'm seeing coccidia problems in my rabbitry. This is my second doe this year that lost drastic condition through her pregnancy despite no changes in diet and even increasing her pellet intake. The first one died when her babies were a week old. She had a big belly and had developed diarrhea. This doe does not have diarrhea but she just kindled on tuesday and has poor condition. She was in decent condition when bred.

I have 40% Dimethox (400mg/ml) on hand for my goats. After finding a doseage online and confirming it in a couple places, I found that the dose is 50mg/kg day one, 25mg/kg days 2-9. She's 10lbs, so I plan on doing .6cc day one, and .3cc for the next days.

I want to do a herdwide treatment in their water to make it easier on my father who actually does the chores during the week. In the goat world, I've heard sulmet is largely ineffective. Also, corid is more a preventative drug, and I need a treatment drug. I would prefer to stick with a sulfadimethoxine, and I know they make a powder and a 12.5% dimethox/albon solution.

What product does everybody use? What mix rate? Could I mix up a large batch and use it till it's gone, or does it have to be mixed daily?

Thanks!

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

I would use the corid-- must be mixed daily-- 5 ccs per gallon of water

 

[Caprice_Acres]

Corid is not a very effective treatment, it simply inhibits the young protozoan from reaching the damaging life stage. It is good for preventing a cocci problem, but that's about it. I suppose it could treat cocci if you used it regularly, because eventually the adult reproducing cocci would die out - but until then the adults would be unaffected and continue reproducing... meaning even if I inhibit one generation from reaching the mature life stage, they'll just be replaced.

In other words, It does nothing to kill any cocci. I want to KILL cocci in my herd at this point.<br /><br />__________ Fri Nov 11, 2011 9:50 am __________<br /><br />From lack of info on sulfadimethoxine for rabbits, My only conclusion is that it's never used for them at least not in their water...

I think I'll pick up Sulmet on the way home as the only decent alternative. I've never even heard of sulfaquinoxaline before researching cocci treatment for rabbits - never seen it in a supply catalog or in feed stores or TSC - I'm assuming it's not available in my area at all. Nor can I find a brand name when searching online, or a place to buy it online.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

You could try a medicated poultry feed for a few days

 

[Dirty Harry]

Sounds more like enteritis than coccidia to me. I know enteritis swept through Michigan this summer and a lot of people lost a lot of their rabbits. It usually starts with signs of poor conditioning, then bloat, diarrhea, and death. I have not found anyone with an effective treatment for it. It is not contagious. You can have ten rabbits in the same cage and only one will get it. It is my understanding that if they get it, they will die. Without seeing them I couldn't really say either way. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[Maeonty]

The life cycles of both genera of coccidia are similar. A host is infected when it ingests oocysts that have been passed in the feces of another host. The oocyst encysts in the host's small intestine, and the sporozoites contained within the oocyst are liberated. The sporozoites penetrate the cells of the host's small intestine and reproduce asexually. Each generation of asexual reproduction produces multiple me

rozoites; the merozoites are liberated from the cell and infect new cells. It is this stage of the infection that can result in destruction of massive numbers of cells in the host's small intestine and, ultimately, lead to the host's death. Some of the merozoites that enter the host's cells transform into gametocytes. The gametocytes transform into gametes, the gametes fuse, and the resulting zygote begins to develop into an oocyst. The developing oocyst escapes from the host's cell, and it is passed in the host's feces. Typically, when the oocyst is passed in the feces, it is not infective because it does not contain sporozoites; this is an unsporulated oocyst. After several days (or weeks, depending on the species) outside of the host's body, the oocyst completes development and sporozoites are found within; this is a sporulated oocyst, and it is infective to the next host (view diagram of the life cycle).

 

[ladysown]

i would open a rabbit up first to see what is going on before treating anything.

Sounds also to me like some digestive type issue, often with coccidia you don't see a lot of outward signs.