Rescue coccidia and hook issues

I foster with a rescue and take in many litters of puppies. We have had several litters lately that test positive for hook and coccidia. We treat with 3 days of ponazuril and 1 day of pyrantel. But the trend I’ve been having is the day after I start the treatment, they tend to get very sick. Diarrhea (worse than before) and vomiting. We’ve lost one puppy due to this and multiple others had to be on sub q fluids to get them through it. My question is, is there any better protocol to reduce how sick they are getting from the treatment? They always seem to be totally fine until I start treatment. I do give proviable once the diarrhea starts as well.

Hello and thank you for this interesting question.  What you need to know about Coccidiosis is that there is usually a long time between infection and the symptoms starting - nearly two weeks - so it is perfectly faesible that individuals arrive at the premises already infected and only appear to show symptoms later, after worming (Im not sure what your worming policy is).  Furthermore, some individuals do not show signs until they become stressed.  There is also the chance ( it's very common in the kennel environment) that some puppies are picking up Coccidia in the kennels and starting to show symptoms a fortnight later, although there is nothing you've said that makes this more or less likely than the other possibilities.   I hear that your current concern is with nursing the sick puppies and hopefully getting them through this - so it's to be commended that you are taking time out to try and understand the bigger picture, and look at prevention rather than cure.  Having your vet look at the exact timings of the illness occuring, the dates of worming and the hygeine steps that you are routinely taking at the kennels, might help them to understand the bigger picture at your particular premises.  Vets will get a better understanding if you can talk them through the process in detail or beter still, invite them in to look around.  Puppies rarely pick up infection from one another, but environmental infection (infection from the environment) can be serious.  I hope that something here proves useful.

I also noticed that you mentioned hookworms; hoookworms have a complicated lifecycle in which they can 'hide' in the dogs' muscle for a while, where the worming treatment cannot reach them.   Because of this, multiple wormings are sometimes required a distance apart; again, it is worth speaking to your vet about the protocols that you use at the premises.

Thank you for the response. To clarify, I’m not working in a kennel. I foster at home and typically take in the younger litters. Most come from not great circumstances and I’m getting a fecal done within 24 hours of arrival, so I know they are coming already infected with hook and coccidia. It hasn’t been every litter, but seems to be the most common ones I’ve been getting lately. So, unfortunately, there is little I can do to prevent the parasites and am just trying to figure out the best protocol for when a litter comes in that already has them. As an example for the most recent litter: received puppies and none seemed sick, less than 24 hours ran a fecal that was positive for hook and coccidia, gave ponazuril and pyrantel same day, next day: horrible diarrhea and one stopped eating/drinking for 24 hours. I do sub Q and probiotics to get them through. this is the part where I’m wondering if there is any way to reduce the sickness they are often showing once we start the deworming process. Could taking both dewormers at once be too much of a shock to their systems?

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