Feline coccidiosis is a condition in cats that causes watery stool, dehydration, abdominal pains, and vomiting. Kittens and debilitated cats are prime candidates for its more severe manifestations.

Actually, coccidia is very common among both felines and canines. Recent surveys suggest that about 37% of cats and dogs are infected by coccidia. However, not all of these animals will show symptoms of infection.

Protozoa, which are one celled organisms, are the cause of coccidiosis. These organisms take residence in the intestinal tract of the cat and may cause symptoms that resemble other parasites such as worms.

However, though the symptoms of worms and coccidia are similar, the conditions must be cured using different treatments. This makes it very important that you take your cat to a veterinarian as soon as you notice symptoms of intestinal distress, diarrhea, and vomiting.

So, how does your cat get it? Through coming into contact with infected fecal matter. Oocytes, which are immature protozoa, reside in cat stool and mature in the open environment. The longer a cat stool has been to decay, the more the oocytes develop, and the more at risk cats coming into contact with it become. Another way of cats developing coccidiosis is from licking or eating protozoan infected mice.

There are various things that, as a pet owner, you can do reduce the risk of your cat or dog getting coccidia. You should:

1. Keep basic sanitation for catteries and kennels. Where they sleep, eat and play should be clean, tidy and well maintained. Of particular importance is the disposing of stool within a day or two of it appearing.

2. Use disinfectants. It’s advisable to move your pet out of the way before proceeding with this. The reason being that the fumes from disinfectants are potentially harmful to animals. As for what disinfectant to use, find one that contains a fair amount of ammonia. Alternatively, just mix a little bleach in with some water.

3. Not forget to tend to crevices, and hard to reach areas. You should pay close attention to them as many forms of parasites ? oocytes notwithstanding, could make their home there.

4. Repaint. Repainting the area where your pets live could help destroy coccidian oocytes where they mature.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 at 1:02 am and is filed under Behaviour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.