Coccidiosis- invassive and un-invassive types od parasite

Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Karolina

Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2022
Messages
21
Reaction score
1
Location
Poland
hello, I have a question about coccidiosis.
Today, the veterinarian found coccidia 1-3 in the field of view during examination under a microscope. He recommended us hard treatment- 4 drugs. My breeder said that this is very small amount, that all of the rabbits can have at the time of testing. It doesn't mean they are sick, because there are also un-invassive types od this parasite. My mini lops (10weeks old) are asymptomatic, the only thing that bothers me is not eating the cecotrophs, but it may be because of my mistakes in feeding. The breeder says: not to cure, vet wants to earn.
Vet says: it is severe disease, medication immediately.
What do you think about coccidiosis in relation to what I wrote ? What is your experience about that?
 
Do you know the drug names? Usually only one specific coccidiosis drug is needed to treat it. Are any of your rabbits showing signs of coccidiosis, like threads of mucous in the poop, blood in the poop, diarrhea or oddly shaped fecal poop, loss of appetite, weight loss?

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/drop/Drp_en.htm
1665124816434.png

It's not uncommon for baby rabbits to not eat their cecotropes at times. When the cecotropes are coming out fully formed and not mushy, sometimes baby rabbits forget to eat their cecotropes because they're easily distracted by things. And sometimes it can be because of a diet too rich in protein(usually from too much lucerne/alfalfa hay) causing them to produce more cecotropes then they need, which the excess cecotropes will usually stop if their diet is adjusted to provide a little less protein and provide more fiber.

https://bunssb.org/bunnies/guide-bunny-poops/
5-7v3zdx9-cecotropes.jpg


But if the cecotropes are coming out mushy already and not fully formed, then this is usually from a diet with too many sugars/carbohydrates in it, and so their diet would need to be adjusted to reduce or eliminate high carb foods and provide more fiber and protein. There can also be health causes for mushy cecotropes as well, but a diet too high in sugars/carbs is the most common cause.

https://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/
image-asset.png
 
Do you know the drug names? Usually only one specific coccidiosis drug is needed to treat it. Are any of your rabbits showing signs of coccidiosis, like threads of mucous in the poop, blood in the poop, diarrhea or oddly shaped fecal poop, loss of appetite, weight loss?

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/drop/Drp_en.htm
View attachment 62685

It's not uncommon for baby rabbits to not eat their cecotropes at times. When the cecotropes are coming out fully formed and not mushy, sometimes baby rabbits forget to eat their cecotropes because they're easily distracted by things.
Thank you for a long answer.
I'm not at home now, but as I remember: 1. Baycox 2. Antybiotic 3 and 4. Liver protecting drugs.

There are no sympthoms. They have good apetite. No blood or mucus. Poops are ok for me, normal shaped, some od theme are little bit darker and more moist, but for me it is not a diarrhoea, because they are even drier than cecotrophes.
Cecotrophes are normal. Unnormal for me is that I usually find them in the morning (1st rabbit) and in the afternoon (2nd rabbit).
 
So was this a routine visit to the vet, and the vet just happened to find coccidia in the fecal sample? And your rabbits never had any symptoms of coccidiosis or of being unwell?
 
Actually,
Abdomen was slightly bloated during the examination and 1-3 eimeria sp. in point of view, nothing more.
For me treating them now is a big problem, because tomorrow I have a trip to another country for 2 weeks. Rabbits gonna stay with my brother for the first time. He would have a big problem with giving them all of these drugs, every day desinfection etc. I'm not sure if he do this all right.
On the other hand, I am really worried about them after that what vet said.

I checked drugs-
toltrazuril, cotrimoxazol, Thiazolidine carboxylic acid, artichoke extract, milk thistle etc.

The breeder said: go, I assure you that they will be fine.

ikona Zweryfikowane przez społeczność
So was this a routine visit to the vet, and the vet just happened to find coccidia in the fecal sample? And your rabbits never had any symptoms of coccidiosis or of being unwell?
Yes.
I attached foto of their poops. Normal, these "unnormal" and ceko.
 

Attachments

  • 1665149688527.png
    1665149688527.png
    312 bytes · Views: 1
  • IMG20221007153339.jpg
    IMG20221007153339.jpg
    3.8 MB · Views: 0
To me those poops look normal. Fecal poops can vary a little depending on what a rabbit has been eating, which can explain slightly darker fecal balls than normal. And the cecotrope looks normal to me, besides being a bit shriveled.

Any medication has the potential to cause digestive upset or other problems with a rabbit. I've even had a rabbit die from a negative reaction to an antibiotic. And toltrazuril actually is known to cause some GI upset and lack of appetite in rabbits. So if your rabbit isn't actually having symptoms of coccidiosis and hasn't been sick at all, I personally wouldn't want to medicate a rabbit unnecessarily, unless there was very clear overwhelming evidence from diagnostic tests done by a knowledgeable rabbit vet, or from symptoms/clinical signs of illness exhibited by the rabbit, verifying that there was a true health issue going on. But that's just me.

Something to be aware of too, is that coccidia oocysts can sometimes be misidentified, when it could be 'rabbit specific yeast' that is being seen under the microscope. And this especially could be the case if the vet isn't a very experienced rabbit vet.

(WARNING: LINK CONTAINS GRAPHIC MEDICAL RELATED NECROPSY PHOTOS)
Medirabbit: hepatic and intestinal coccidiosis

It's certainly your choice as to what you feel is best, but I would suggest doing some research into it before making the decision, since it doesn't sound like a life threatening immediate emergency.
 
To me those poops look normal. Fecal poops can vary a little depending on what a rabbit has been eating, which can explain slightly darker fecal balls than normal. And the cecotrope looks normal to me, besides being a bit shriveled.

Any medication has the potential to cause digestive upset or other problems with a rabbit. I've even had a rabbit die from a negative reaction to an antibiotic. And toltrazuril actually is known to cause some GI upset and lack of appetite in rabbits. So if your rabbit isn't actually having symptoms of coccidiosis and hasn't been sick at all, I personally wouldn't want to medicate a rabbit unnecessarily, unless there was very clear overwhelming evidence from diagnostic tests done by a knowledgeable rabbit vet, or from symptoms/clinical signs of illness exhibited by the rabbit, verifying that there was a true health issue going on. But that's just me.

Something to be aware of too, is that coccidia oocysts can sometimes be misidentified, when it could be 'rabbit specific yeast' that is being seen under the microscope. And this especially could be the case if the vet isn't a very experienced rabbit vet.

(WARNING: LINK CONTAINS GRAPHIC MEDICAL RELATED NECROPSY PHOTOS)
Medirabbit: hepatic and intestinal coccidiosis

It's certainly your choice as to what you feel is best, but I would suggest doing some research into it before making the decision, since it doesn't sound like a life threatening immediate emergency.
Hello, may I have one more question?
After 2 weeks bunnies are very well without sympthoms. I met another vet, she also said that we have to give them medication. I am confused about that because 3 years ago my dog died, after hard medication he got hepatic and kidney failure (also no sympthoms).
My question is-is it ok to breed bunnies like this? I mean, all of their babies are going to have this (even after treating)?
My breeder told me that this illness is normal in mini lop, but I need to give them medication every half year. I am afraid that people buying them may be little angry. Should I sell them or they could stay on my rabbitry?
 
To summ it up: There is or was nothing wrong with the rabbits that you would know about without a lab test? I'm pretty sure my rabbits come into contact with all sorts of stuff (they spend a lot of time outdoors, graze and dig), but I'm not going to test and treat for stuff that doesn't cause problems. No one in their history did since those are local farm meat rabbit lines.
If a rabbit gets sick or shows symptoms that's another matter entirely, then I would not breed it because that could be a sign of a weak immune system.
 
Coccidiosis can happen with any breed of rabbit, not just mini lops. But I wouldn't say it's normal for rabbits to get it, even though it can occasionally happen. If a rabbits environment is kept clean and they aren't exposed to other sick rabbits or contaminated ground, then they aren't as likely to ever get it.

In my opinion, there's no reason to treat rabbits that aren't showing signs of illness, with unnecessary medication. There's no reason to treat any animal with unnecessary medications if they aren't sick. I agree with Preitler. I'm not seeing a problem here, and can't understand why the vet is pushing to give medications to rabbits that aren't sick. But it's up to you what you chose to do.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top