what is coccidia?

[codyc_13]

I just took my gecko to the vet cause it hasnt ate in 2 months and he looked it over and forced it to eat some food while we were there. he gave me a thing to get a fecal sample and when we got in the parking lot she pooped so i ran the sample back in and he said she had a parisite coccidia. gave her 2 days worth of ponazuril. the wierd thing is the vet gave us some hills a/d prescription diet for canine and felines. im not sure how reputible the vet is, it was highland animal hospital in Augusta GA. He did an ultrasound and said he had a little swelling of the liver, he though it was cause she hadnt ate in so long. she still weighs 84 grams..

 

[Deko Gecko]

Coccidia returns without any help. It is naturally in the intestine of the reptile. Stress causes the coccidian to grow to intolerable levels. Everything must be absolutely sterile or the bug will keep re-infesting the reptile. Usually the coccidian is treated within a six week period. Mimimize the amount of cage furniture to help with this process.
You should also look for the stress that is causing the re-infection. Check your temps with several very good thermometers. Check the "hot spot" temp and the cool area. Questions about your set up are also important.
Most reptiles lose their appetite. It is a side effect. Try wax worms for a change. They are high in fat, but if he is not eating anything, perhaps this will do the trick and get him started eating again. Usually sulfa based drugas are used for coccidia.

 

[codyc_13]

well the died yesterday. im speechless. i thing the vet didnt know what he was doing cause the day i started giving her the meds she got way worse and died 2 days later. she was only 3 years old

 

[snakegirl]

Sounds like the vet gave a wrong diagnosis, i would have done a full fecal and float, if they couldn't they just do a Low basic dose of De-wormer "Panacur" and get a little bit more info like diet,cage set, and anything else... And "a/d prescription diet for canine and felines" Does really nothing...... Sorry it didnt work out However Next time i hope you are able to find a herp vet.

 

[JordanAng420]

Perhaps the coccidia had been there long enough untreated to kill the gecko...sometimes parasites have infested the animal to a point where there's nothing that could have been done...

Perhaps the animal had another parasite that went undetected...

Perhaps the vet didn't have enough experience...

Perhaps it was just coincidence the gecko got worse a few days after you started the dewormer...

Perhaps there was a different disease process that caused it...

There are a million things that could have went wrong. All you're going to accomplish by dwelling on it and wondering why it happened, is anger. I speak from very recent experience. Try your best to accept the loss. There are 5 stages of greif: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. You're going through a few of these, but aim for the last...I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[JordanAng420]

Sounds like the vet gave a wrong diagnosis, i would have done a full fecal and float, if they couldn't they just do a Low basic dose of De-wormer "Panacur" and get a little bit more info like diet,cage set, and anything else... And "a/d prescription diet for canine and felines" Does really nothing...... Sorry it didnt work out However Next time i hope you are able to find a herp vet.

Yeah, but Panacur doesn't treat coccidia.

 

[JordanAng420]

Food for thought: I have also seen an "enlarged liver" in almost every single leopard gecko that has been examined by my doc...I am almost inclined to believe it's a "normal" type finding for them...