new puppy and coccidia

[sheltie1987]

HI, I have posted here a few times but am mainly a lurker and just read posts. I bought a new sheltie puppy a few weeks ago, a little tri-male. Within 24hours of getting him home he had blood in his stool. I immediately called the breeder and the vet and both said it could be stress give him until the next morning to see if it goes away. Next morning his stool was fine, fast forward 2 days later and it was back to being bloody. I took him right to the vet, and they tested and it was coccidia. He was treated and it went away within 24hours. I have 5 other dogs (4 shelties and an italian greyhound), now the greyhound and one of my shelties got the coccidia within 2 weeks of him having it. The vet said it can take up to 13 days for it to show symptoms of it. We are treating all 6 dogs and my 2 cats to make sure now one else shows any signs. BUT the vet said any other/new animals could end up with that come here. How true is that? I am worried because after the pup was medicated a friend brought one of her shelties down for me to groom, she hasnt shown any signs and I let her know the vet said it was a possibility to spread it. Is this breeder liable? I am not sure what to do, she isn't much help and when she did call me about it, she said that it went through her kennel when she brought in a new dog that had it, and she didn't know it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[JessicaR]

coccidia s pretty common and the mother could be carring it in her intestines without actually showing any signs of having it. I am suprised your older dogs got it as usually only puppies and immune suppressed adults get it. I think just about evey guide dog puppy I raised had coccidia when I get them and none of my older dogs got it. I wouldnt think the breeder would be liable as puppies pick up stuff like this all the time

 

[OntarioSheltie]

I'd have to agree. The mother dog would have passed the coccidia on to the pups when they were born. It then lies dormant for weeks to years. It doesn't matter how many times the breeder worms the puppies, if the coccidia is lying dormant and isn't active, the wormer won't touch it.

As huge a pain in the butt as coccidia is, I don't think you can blame the breeder.

My sheltie Ginny had coccidia almost a year ago. She was over a year old when she became ill, so even though its less common, adult dogs can get it. It lives in dog poop so its important to keep your yard really clean until the out break is done. Even if they don't purposely eat poop, if it gets on their paws or in their fur and they then lick themselves, they're at risk for contracting coccidia.