Bruno's Blog

Good News – Coccidiosi

Bruno's Blog

The following week Bruno’s tummy woes still continued. His diarrhea had improved but I attributed this to his diet more than anything else. His back end had tightened up after Dr. Yamate’s acupuncture session and I was optimistic that his pain had been eased from the appointment.

The big guy was doing okay but he just was not quite himself. On Friday April 16, 2010 I arrived at my western veterinarian’s office with a fresh stool sample in hand and dropped it off. The following day I received a phone call that test results were in. The good news was Bruno tested positive for Coccidiosis which are parasites in the intestines. The bad news was…bad news? As far as I was concerned there was no bad news. This would be an easy “fix” solved with antibiotics.

As I drove the short distance to the vet’s office I wondered how in the heck Bruno had contracted coccidian parasites. Nothing had changed in our routine of locations and places we walked and hung out. Bruno had never been a dog to dine on feces (his own or others) and had not recently taken up the delicacy. My experience with coccidiosis, up until now, was that any form of this parasite was very common with puppies. As these thoughts crossed my mind I dismissed them as quickly as they had entered. How Bruno had contracted the parasites was irrelevant at this point. A diagnosis had been found and a solution was obtainable. I felt confident that antibiotics were going to work and my baby boy would be feeling better in no time at all.

My vet wanted to put Bruno on a strong dose of Ponazuril but they did not have any on hand. An order was placed and in the meantime I left with Albon to get something into his system and working. On Tuesday April 20th I picked up the Ponazuril with dosage instructions of twice a day for two days. Another bottle to add to Bruno’s kitchen counter top collection.

A stool sample done weeks earlier would have saved a lot of discomfort, time, money and a few sleepless nights. In hindsight, I kick myself for not doing a stool sample sooner but there is no point in dwelling over it. The lesson learned from this experience is that the easy solution can sometimes be easily overlooked.

*Originally posted December 21, 2010*

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