I'm not a vet, so I would recommend checking with your vet to be sure it is appropriate for your shelter's cats and any local restrictions on medications, but our vets typically use ponazuril for coccidia. Typically it's a 5 day course, but these are also typically symptomatic cats, so definitely consult your vet about what the treatment goals are for both the cats who were confirmed to have it and those who were exposed. (Resolving symptoms? A negative fecal re-test?) It is a bit of trial-and-error to find a food that covers up the taste, but we start with whatever foods that particular cat likes best. Layering the foods can work, putting down some food, the meds, then more food, so an initial sniff/taste doesn't seem "off" to picky eaters.
Depending on how much space you have, maybe using some large pop-up dog crates would work to house the cats separately during their treatment. If you had one pen of cats who need to be treated, another of cats who have been cleared, and a set of crates, you could rotate sick cats into the crates, then add them to the healthy pen once your vet thinks they are no longer contagious.
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Emme Hones
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-23-2021 02:57 PM
From: Linda Scullary
Subject: Ideas for treating feral cats for coccidia?
Hi Emme,
Thanks so much for your help! We could isolate 2 cats at a time for treatment, as long we don't need those pens for other cats. I assume since the cats in the pens share litter boxes, that each cat in the affected pens would need to be treated for coccidia? The cats will not eat in front of people. Which med do you use that the cats will eat in wet food, and what is the timeline for treatment?
Thanks!
Linda
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Linda Scullary
Original Message:
Sent: 06-23-2021 01:18 PM
From: Emme Hones
Subject: Ideas for treating feral cats for coccidia?
Is it feasible to split out the cats who need treatment and house them separately until they have completed deworming? Or is a way to treat the entire pen essential? Typically we have pretty good luck mixing oral meds into canned cat food for our ferals, but that won't work if they are group housed and one cat eats a double-dose while the other skips. If they are used to eating at a certain time and will eat while humans are around, putting each dose on a separate plate and trying to spread them around might work, although you will need a referee who can subtly shoo cats away from each other without terrifying the whole group.
Would it be possible to put some kind of divider through the pen for treatment, to limit each cat to a section?
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Emme Hones
Original Message:
Sent: 06-21-2021 12:44 PM
From: Linda Scullary
Subject: Ideas for treating feral cats for coccidia?
Hi,
We have a barn cat adoption program for feral cats that can't be returned to their original outdoor homes after spay/neuter. The cats awaiting adoption are in large pens. Does anyone have a way to treat feral cats that can't be handled for coccidia? It's not feasible to dose them orally and the cats share pens.
Thank you!
Linda
#Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization
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Linda Scullary
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