2nd round of Albon, still runny poo!

[michigan101]

I got a float done on my beardie and turns out she has loooootttts of coccidia. The vet gave me albon and told me to administer once a day for 5 days. After the first round we waited 2 days and she started to go downhill again. I was directed to give her another 5 day cycle. Her last dose was friday and it is now sunday. Her poo seems more solid but is still runny and stinky. I just dont know what to do, poor girl has really cut down on eating.

She was on tile with non porous furniture
basking 106 digi therm
10.0 uvb repti sun


During the 2nd cycle of albon I started to give her about 1CC of soy yogurt. I cant tell if it helped or not. Should I continue? Is it normal for her to stop eating while on the meds? Should I see improvement as the good bacteria returns to her tummy?

[ladyknite]

it's normal for eating habits to go downhill during medications.
Out of curiosity, do you know her coccidia count?
Albon is a very dehydration medication.  Offer her water daily, either in the form of soaks, a water bowl, or orally.  I recommend daily soaks or a water dish she can use at leisure.

The soy yogurt isn't the best thing to help with the gut flora.  Although it will eventually get the job done, it takes longer to take hold of the system than benebac.

What steps have you taken to decrease the stress in her enclosure?  What on the outside surrounds her enclosure?

[michigan101]

Thanks for the response. I do not know the count, the vet only said he was shocked how much was there. Every slide he had was massive amounts (how does the ‘count’ work?)

I bathe her daily for about 20 mins. I have noticed after a soak she gains 5 grams. I can only imagine how dehydrating the meds are!

I have been giving the soy yogurt for about a week or so. I haven’t noticed a difference. I did order Acidopholiz, should be here Thursday.
Her cage is bare minimum. She has one basking rock on tile and her food dish. That is it. As far as stress goes, I try to keep it to a minimum. She has contact paper on the sides of her viv to reduce glare.

Hopefully she starts eating good again, and soon. Yesterday she only ate one cricket ? I plan on taking a fecal in a couple days for a retest. How long should I wait before I get it retested?

[ladyknite]

this past is round 2 of meds, and the coccidia count should be significantly lower.  if not, it may be resistant to albon.
Go ahead and plan the fecal as you indicated, and ask the doc about another medication called ponazuril or Marquis.  It's relatively new, but it is cutting many strains are albon resistant.

the acidophilus will work fine.  It sounds like you've got your enclosure down to the lower points to decrease stress.  Good Job!

Keep us updated.

[michigan101]

I'm starting to really worry about Stella. She only had one cricket yesterday, didnt poop and today she didn't leave her hide! I soaked her today and when I did, I noticed she had some brownish/orange tint to her urate. I forced fed her about 1cc of water after that and she did eat about 10 small waxworms and a few super worms. I also felt the fat pads on her head and they feel squishy, not real firm

She is basking well now, but man am I worried to lose her. I need to get that fecal again. Any words of advice?

[ladyknite]

Sorry I didn't finish answering your questions yesterday.  Count is established either by slide or by field.  That number is put into an equasion gives us a whole real number to focus on.

refresh my memory.  I can't seem to find it now.  How old is Stella?

The brownish orange coloration to her urate is a combo of medication and dehydration caused by meds.  Just keep up the soaks as you are doing and offer her a water dish on occasion and it should pass soon.  The squishy fat pads could be either lack of proteins, or dehydration.  Hard to say.  But they'll come back as well once she is feeling herself again.

I would go ahead and get the fecal as you are able.  Ask about the count per field or by slide.  There has to be some tracking of the count, otherwise how do they know if it increases or decreases due to the meds?

[michigan101]

Thanks for the advice Ladyknite! You really put my mind at "ease".

Stella is about 6mos old now. Wow my baby sure is growing. I just gave her a little soak, and her poo is starting to be really formed (seems smaller too?). Her urate only had a SLIGHT yellow tint to it at the beginning tip. The rest was formed but flexible. She was hiding again all day so I am going to let her bask for a bit then Ill offer some more waxworms. Hopefully she eats alot. From when I fed her yesterday she gained 10 grams! She hasnt gained weight in over 3 weeks now! Hopefully we can keep this up.