# coccidiosis? sudden symptoms



## mrzeek (Dec 9, 2012)

Hello all,

One of my pidgies has suddenly gotten diarrhea. I've had him for 3 years, he was an injured feral that I had found. I put him through antibiotics, and haven't had a problem in all of the 3 years until now. The only different thing that has happened recently, was that I (perhaps foolishly) decided to start him on ACV again. I had tried before, and he blatantly refused to drink the water (I guess I can't blame him! I must have been putting too much in), and I figured why fix something that isn't broken so to speak. I had been doing it for roughly 4 days, maybe 5, and took 2 days off. Following that, he had started to poop exactly like this. I'll come home from work, and the majority of the lining of his cage (the largest dog crate with a solid bottom you could find at petsmart) is wet.

Other than that, he is eating fabulously, grooming constantly, still wing slaps me with the fury of 1,000 suns, and has his normal attitude. His eyes are clear, and he doesn't seem to be in any sort of pain. 

I should mention that I have a second pigeon who has a case of coccidiosis that has been pretty pesky, but I am careful not to cross contaminate anything, and they have been living in very close quarters (roughly 5' apart) since the start. 

I thought it was the ACV, and that seeing he is doing fine otherwise, I thought I could wait a few days and see if it resolves itself, and it's been 5 days now.

Anything helps!!! Thanks so much!


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## mrzeek (Dec 9, 2012)

sorry guys just bringing this back up, still hoping for some help :-( he as been getting lighter and lighter despite still eating healthily


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## AndreiS (Jul 28, 2013)

Coccidiosis is not so bad in pigeons as is in chickens.


I think that rather he has canker or maybe hexamitiasis and possibly digestive Chlamydia (though at Chlamydia the droppings are greener).

I had and still have some recent cases: pigeon eats but becomes lighter, wattery diarrhea.


Try giving Metronidazole or Doxycycline. I noticed improvement after giving Metronidazole and even Doxycycline. Give them one by one (one day one, then the next day another) to see if one has better results. And don't forget to remove the grit a day before giving Doxy, as it reduces its effect several times (you can increase the effect of doxy or other antibiotics by adding a drop of Vitamin C solution).


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## mrzeek (Dec 9, 2012)

thank you so much for the help!!
i've actually called the vet and am taking both my pidgyes in on monday. i don't have any meds left over from last time and it's the easiest way for me to obtain them as some of them have become under the counter (people tend to tamper with them)

I'm hoping they get better soon as they (especially zeek) are pretty light / getting lighter and lighter.

thanks again!!


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## ThePigeonGene (May 30, 2014)

Whem my birds had coccoidosis that is pretty much what their droppings looked like - though the droppings changed constantly

Its great that you're going to the vet 

I suppose you know since the other birds you say has cocci
But just in case, you will need a stool sample for the vet to test - and also cocci is shed sporadically, so you may need a few days worth of poop in order to catch it - otherwise you might get a 'false negative'

Good luck


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## mrzeek (Dec 9, 2012)

that sounds about right!

his poop is changing constantly. most of the time its like the photograph, other times they look normal and healthy. 

of course now that im ready to bring in samples theyre not poopong as much / pooping straigh liquid so its tough. they told me it has to be 4 hours fresh to 24 hours refrigerated so i dont know if i can do a few day's worth.

anyhow ill update the results when they come in! thanks so much again for all the help.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*How much ACV did you put in a bowl of water and what size was the bowl?*


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## mrzeek (Dec 9, 2012)

one to two drops in 16 to 20 oz. of water. hes been finniky with acv in the past, so i tried to minimize the amount


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