How to Treat Coccidia and Giardia?

[Goosebaby]

My geese have had an on and off sickness that causes white watery diarrhea for awhile, I took two of my geese to a new vet not far away on Saturday, fecal test results just came in yesterday, they have cocci in their droppings plus a gram positive bacteria the vet says she strongly thinks is giardia.

I’ve treated my geese three times with corid in the last two months, the last time was a direct oral dosage, which tells me that this is amprolium resistant... of course


She got back to me just now again with what she wants to prescribe just for the two i drought in, bene-bac gel, and a drug that I don’t know the name of.

Their phone reception is horribly staticky so it’s hard to hear exactly what they say, but it was a series of letters, about four or five, starting with a T as far as I could understand, even when I had her repeat it twice I still couldn’t understand her.

The total for the medications for just the two comes to $99, I can’t afford to treat the whole flock “11 geese & 1 duck” for that kind of money so for those that have treated giardia and coccidia what did you use?

 

[my gang eats grass]

I usually use corid for chicks, and pig swig for adult birds, but have only had to use it for chickens and turkeys, so I don't know if it's safe for waterfowl... Metronidazole would probably be best, It treats both cocci and giardia.

 

[Goosebaby]

I usually use corid for chicks, and pig swig for adult birds, but have only had to use it for chickens and turkeys, so I don't know if it's safe for waterfowl... Metronidazole would probably be best, It treats both cocci and giardia.

Amprolium didn’t work, I’ve tried it a few times so my guess is I have a resistant strain, and I’m going to need something else.

 

[dawg53]

I usually use corid for chicks, and pig swig for adult birds, but have only had to use it for chickens and turkeys, so I don't know if it's safe for waterfowl... Metronidazole would probably be best, It treats both cocci and giardia.

There's some misinformation here: Pig Swig is a wormer that contains piperazine and has been off the market here in the U.S. for a long time.
Metronidazole does not treat coccidiosis. It will treat giardia as you mentioned.

 

[dawg53]

@Goosebaby Contact your vet and see if you can get sulfadimethoxine to treat for coccidiosis or you can order SMZ-TMP from this site:
https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=91F10ACA-FB33-44F4-9A6C-40FCD628F49B

You can order metronidazole here or get it from your vet...metronidazole aka flagyl:
https://www.jefferspet.com/search?utf8=✓&animal[]=&q=smz-tmp&button=search

Bene-bac gel wont do squat to treat coccidiosis nor giardia. Better find another vet or order what you need from the links I provided.
https://entirelypetspharmacy.com/bene-bac-plus-pet-gel-1gm.html?msclkid=084a342c6f1f1805bab75535e63ce635&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Angel Ad Groups&utm_term=bene bac pet gel&utm_content=Bene-Bac

 

[Goosebaby]

@Goosebaby Contact your vet and see if you can get sulfadimethoxine to treat for coccidiosis or you can order SMZ-TMP from this site:
https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=91F10ACA-FB33-44F4-9A6C-40FCD628F49B

You can order metronidazole here or get it from your vet...metronidazole aka flagyl:
https://www.jefferspet.com/search?utf8=✓&animal[]=&q=smz-tmp&button=search

Bene-bac gel wont do squat to treat coccidiosis nor giardia. Better find another vet or order what you need from the links I provided.
https://entirelypetspharmacy.com/bene-bac-plus-pet-gel-1gm.html?msclkid=084a342c6f1f1805bab75535e63ce635&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Angel Ad Groups&utm_term=bene bac pet gel&utm_content=Bene-Bac

The bene-bac is just a probiotic, she said she thinks they’ll need to rebalance their gut flora which makes sense.

What doesn’t make sense is the prices she’s charging and the fact she won’t budge on looking into other more reasonably priced medications, or calling in the prescription to Costco, where I know I can get Metronidazole for around $11. I think that’s the issue here, her in house pharmacy is a rip off and she’s not willing to lose the chance at medicating a whole flock, at the rate she charges it would cost me $600ish.

 

[dawg53]

Your vet is correct about giving probiotics to even out the gut flora. However, you can do the same by mixing buttermilk with plain boiled white rice and giving it to your geese to eat over a couple of days. Buttermilk is a much better probiotic than yogurt. Yogurt tends to go out their rear end, whereas buttermilk coats intestinal lining helping prevent intestinal lining damage caused by coccidiosis. The boiled rice helps settle their digestive tract.
As with the gel your vet conned you into purchasing, buttermilk and rice are a temporary fix and drugs are needed in your case.
Buttermilk and rice are much cheaper and easy to prepare for your geese, they should scoff it up. You can mix their feed in it if you wish as well.
Your vet sounds like she is one of them health nut vets that wont prescribe antibiotics even if the animal was on its death bed. I avoid those vets like the plague. They are not in your shoes and you have an investment in your geese and you want to provide the best care possible for them.

 

[Goosebaby]

Your vet is correct about giving probiotics to even out the gut flora. However, you can do the same by mixing buttermilk with plain boiled white rice and giving it to your geese to eat over a couple of days. Buttermilk is a much better probiotic than yogurt. Yogurt tends to go out their rear end, whereas buttermilk coats intestinal lining helping prevent intestinal lining damage caused by coccidiosis. The boiled rice helps settle their digestive tract.
As with the gel your vet conned you into purchasing, buttermilk and rice are a temporary fix and drugs are needed in your case.
Buttermilk and rice are much cheaper and easy to prepare for your geese, they should scoff it up. You can mix their feed in it if you wish as well.
Your vet sounds like she is one of them health nut vets that wont prescribe antibiotics even if the animal was on its death bed. I avoid those vets like the plague. They are not in your shoes and you have an investment in your geese and you want to provide the best care possible for them.

Thank you for the advice!

 

[Goosebaby]

Your vet is correct about giving probiotics to even out the gut flora. However, you can do the same by mixing buttermilk with plain boiled white rice and giving it to your geese to eat over a couple of days. Buttermilk is a much better probiotic than yogurt. Yogurt tends to go out their rear end, whereas buttermilk coats intestinal lining helping prevent intestinal lining damage caused by coccidiosis. The boiled rice helps settle their digestive tract.
As with the gel your vet conned you into purchasing, buttermilk and rice are a temporary fix and drugs are needed in your case.
Buttermilk and rice are much cheaper and easy to prepare for your geese, they should scoff it up. You can mix their feed in it if you wish as well.
Your vet sounds like she is one of them health nut vets that wont prescribe antibiotics even if the animal was on its death bed. I avoid those vets like the plague. They are not in your shoes and you have an investment in your geese and you want to provide the best care possible for them.

Did you have any health issues in your Birds after giving SMZ TMP? I’m a little worried about the side effects listed. Also what dosage do you recomend?

 

[dawg53]

Did you have any health issues in your Birds after giving SMZ TMP? I’m a little worried about the side effects listed. Also what dosage do you recomend?

I've given SMZ-TMP to a RIR hen that had a severe case of coccidiosis and it cleared up in 3 days. The dosage was 1/4 tablet given orally 2 times a day for 5 days and she weighed about 5 pounds, maybe a little less.
There wasnt any side effects that I noticed.