My notes on Coccidia

Here is some of the research that I have found helpful while trying to treat Buddy for Coccidia.

Here is a page from Karin Christensen's Biology of the Goat site. It explains the life cycle of coccidia. I respect Karin's wisdom and knowledge about goats. She has always answered my questions in a kind and courteous manner. She has never talked down to me when I've had a question, in fact she has often asked questions so that she has more facts in order to answer questions better. She can be found on Biology of the Goat, NubianTalk, and GoatBiology. She is sensible and uses scientific papers and research to learn and teach about goats.

National Pygmy Goat Association also has an excellent article on the stages of development of coccidia and the treatment of coccidiosis. They also have a treatment dosage using Sulfamethazine sold as a poultry prep.

Corid is a thiamine inhibitor, which means that it will stop the organism from being able to use thiamine.

This is from the Corid site
"How CORID works:
Structurally, CORID mimics thiamin (Vitamin B1) which is required by coccidia for normal growth and reproduction. When coccidia ingest CORID, they experience thiamin deficiency and starve from malnutrition. CORID has been experimentally administered at many times the recommended dosage and duration with no signs of toxicity."

After talking to Hubby (Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic Chemistry with a minor in BioChemistry) he said that the cells in the goat would absorb the Corid, preventing them from absorbing the thiamine as well. If Buddy becomes thiamine defiecient, he has the chance of having polioencepholamalaica.

Other drugs for treatment of coccidia include Albon 12.5% solution, Di-Methox soluble powder, Di-Methox 12.5% solution, Sulment oblet, and Sulmet 12.5% solution. Information for those drugs and dosages are found here at the Maryland Small Ruminant Page.

Treatment and Di-Methox instructions can be found here at the Onion Creek Ranch site. They also state, "CoRid is no longer recommended by many professionals because (a) some strains of coccidia have become resistant to it, and (b) CoRid is a thiamine (Vitamin B 1) inhibitor. The importance of thiamine in keeping goats healthy is difficult to overstate."

Hoegger Goat Supply also has some information about coccidia and dosing with Di-Methox, 12.5% solution. They say, "We never had much success using Co-Rid. The huge doses necessary for treating goats (10 times the cattle dose) created a vitamin B1 (thiamin) deficiency that resulted in the goat getting polio. In other words, "the cure was worse than the disease."

Goat-Link also has an article on Coccidosis in goats. They also warn against using Corid. The page states, "CoRid is a thiamine (Vitamin B 1) inhibitor. Thiamine in the goat's system is essential for keeping the goat in good health, using Corid will undo anything you are attempting to do in getting your goat healthy!"

Baycox (toltrazuril) was also suggested as a a treatment for coccidia, although that is not available in the US at this time (I couldn't find it.) Here is an old post from NubianTalk (yahoo group):
"Toltrazuri (brand name is Baycox) is a fantastic treatment/prevention. It is manufactured for poultry, pigs and calves. It can be ordered via the internet from Australia. I used it last year on a several kids. As soon as they would start to get loose (3-4 weeks old) I would treat. It is a single treatment and within 2 days the manure was back to normal and the kids never missed a beat.

Be advised this is an extra-label use for this drug as it is listed for cattle, pigs and poultry. It is listed in "Goat Medicine" by Smith and Sherman for use as a single dose treatment at 20mg\kg body weight orally or prevention at the same dose once every 3-4 weeks. Below is an excerpt.

"A new coccidiacidal agent used in poultry, toltrazuril, has been evaluated in goats and a single oral dose of 20mg/kg produced rapid, significant reduction is oocyst shedding that remained low for 2 to 3 weeks suggesting that all developmental stages of the coccidia present were killed."

I used the formula for pigs that is 50mg/ml and treated per recommended dose. I only used it as a single treatment and never needed to re-treat.

Dan Greene
Greenehaven Nubians
Prosser, WA
www.greenehavenfarms.com"

We also have been giving Probios to support the rumen while we are trying to get rid of the coccidia. I have been told that Probios only supports the small intestine, not the rumen, as this article found in the Journal of Dairy Science suggests. (A paper titled "Direct fed microbial supplementation on ruminal digestion, health, and performance of pre- and postpartum dairy cattle" was published in the Journal of Dairy Science, Vol. 89, No.1, 2006.) Feeding Probios will help support and strengthen his digestive system, but not the rumen specifically.

This page at Fias Co Farm has information and dosages for both Probiotic Rumen inoculates (ProBios) as well as Seleneum-E Gel (like Bo-Se, but in a gel form and available OTC.) (Although we believe that herbs can be helpful at times, we are also grateful to the veterinary and science research fields. More often than not, we use medications when the illness is severe instead of using herbs as is generally suggested by Fias Co Farm.) It was suggested that because of Buddy's symptoms, he might have a Selenium deficiency. Since none of the other goats have any of the same symptoms, Selenium deficiency was ruled out at this time.

Searching through old posts on GoatBiology (a yahoo group found in the sidebar) I ran across one that said, "My theory is that he [a rescued buck] had Coccidia before I got him and it damaged his intestinal track and he wasn't able to absorb the feed he was getting enough to grow as he should. But as he did grow, however slowly, his intestines were also growing and as they did grow - more of the nutrients were able to be absorbed."

If Buddy's only problem is a bad case of coccidia, then perhaps he will just be slower developing since he can't absorb as much nutrition.

We were able to contact a different vet today (Nebo Large Animal Clinic) who let us purchase some Albon pills. He said two pills tonight, and one each day for the next 4 days. Our Di-Methox was ordered last night. We ordered the powder because Hubby has extremely accurate scales and will be able to measure and mix smaller amounts so it doesn't go to waste. If he wasn't so good at chemistry, we would have gotten the solution because it is easier to administer. The Di-Methox should be here by Friday. We will always have this on hand since it is "one of those things you need but can't get quickly." (Karin Christensen)

We are lucky (blessed) this time that we haven't lost Buddy yet. Hopefully he will heal and do his job in our friend's herd. One of the benefits of using Albon or Di-Methox (both Sulfa drugs) is that it "will also treat any bad intestinal bacterial overgrowth as well" as the coccidia. (Karin Christensen)

This post will be added to and changed as I find more articles or information about Coccidia.