Coccidiosis outbreak - can it be transmitted through hay?

I took Doughnut to the vets as she had diarrhea and every time she bend down to try and clean herself she made a very strange sound. It was the air in her stomach.

She was ok at 7.00 am, went downstairs at 10.00 am and found her ill and acting strange. She had eaten her 7.00am pellets.

Anyway the vet thinks she caught coccidiosis as she said there is an outbreak of it at the moment. I don't know how she caught it and he was at a loss as she hasn't been outside on the grass for 2 weeks. Could she have eaten some hay where a parasite's egg was on as I recently gave her some hay samples, so changed her hay.

I clean her hutch out twice a day, so I'm sure it's not hygiene related.

Here's a thread about coccidiosis with some great links.

Oh no, what a worry what treatment has your vet given you? Has she taken a poop sample for analysis? Hopefully your little one will be on the mend very soon.

Cocci incubates for around 3 weeks so the fact that she hasn't been outside for a fortnight doesn't necessarily mean you can rule that out as a source. It can also come in on your shoes, clothes etc. I wonder if the 'outbreak' is due to wet and windy weather meaning that the spores have lived for longer on wet soil and are being blown about by the wind. I would have thought that hay is unlikely as it transfers from bunny faeces, so because the hay will have been cut, dried and stored for a while now means that if it had been in contact with cocci bunnies in the field, those spores would likely have died off by now even if they had actually got into the hay, and I would hope that it is stored in such a way to prevent it from getting pooped on by bunnies after it has been baled.

The other thing about intestinal cocci is that many bunnies naturally carry it in their bodies anyway, so it can be triggered and subsequently cause illness due to another problem with the bun - in much the same way that over 50% of bunnies have had contact with ec at some point in their lives but don't necessarily get sick due to it.

I do hope your little one is ok x x

Wow thank you so much for the advice.

She's got septrim for 10 days, then I need to go back and get some more for another 10 days. Also panacur and fibreplex. Had an injection for pain and also to get her gut going.

I had noticed a splatted poop a few days before but wondered if it was from a woven grass mat which I gave her and she had nibbled on. I took it away and then got her a rattan one and another splat so took that away! Then gave her hay samples the can't remember how much longer after but one morning there were lots of fecal splats oin Friday which worried me but she was fine and then they disappeared and there weren't any Sunday. Lots of normal poop but guess it has just started as when I picked her up she had diarrhea and it lasted until the evening.

There was one splat of fecal poop this morning, the rest all OK. Do you think that will be it now?

There aren't any wild bunnies in my area so at a loss as to how she got it. Just want to prevent it happening again but I guess I can't. Just so pleased it was a Sunday rather than a week day as I would have gone to work and dread to think what would have happened by the evening.

I saw the vet again on Friday for a follow up check up and more anti-biotics.

It was a different vet and she gave me a pot to put samples in should I get any more splats. Luckily everything seems to have cleared up.

She also said Doughnut could have got it from a bit of hay. She did go to a bunnery at the beginning of September and I asked if she could have got it there as she went on the grass where obviously another rabbit had been previously. She said she could have done and it just took it's time to manifest. I'm guessing this is more likely but who knows.

Anyway she's put on a bit of weight since being ill. She was 1.07kg when she was weighed last week now she's 1.1, so a good weight for her size apparently.

How is your little guy doing now? I hope hes making a full recovery? I think my new girls in a similar situation to yours, shes off colour but still eating veggies, the second vet I saw today said her liver was enlarged and was quite negative.

I'm treating her with septrin too can I ask what dosage you've been given? my girl weighs 1.1kg and has 0.35ml twice daily - these vets arnt as bunny savvy as I'm used to as I've recently moved house, I just want to check they've got the does right? I've been given a 10day course the first vet I saw said this should be enough to clear up a urinery infection which is what we thought we were first dealing with - will I need more days to kill the coccidiosis?

cpayne said:

I saw the vet again on Friday for a follow up check up and more anti-biotics.

It was a different vet and she gave me a pot to put samples in should I get any more splats. Luckily everything seems to have cleared up.

She also said Doughnut could have got it from a bit of hay. She did go to a bunnery at the beginning of September and I asked if she could have got it there as she went on the grass where obviously another rabbit had been previously. She said she could have done and it just took it's time to manifest. I'm guessing this is more likely but who knows.

Anyway she's put on a bit of weight since being ill. She was 1.07kg when she was weighed last week now she's 1.1, so a good weight for her size apparently.

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That sounds all too familiar to me

akaemzybabe said:

How is your little guy doing now? I hope hes making a full recovery? I think my new girls in a similar situation to yours, shes off colour but still eating veggies, the second vet I saw today said her liver was enlarged and was quite negative.

I'm treating her with septrin too can I ask what dosage you've been given? my girl weighs 1.1kg and has 0.35ml twice daily - these vets arnt as bunny savvy as I'm used to as I've recently moved house, I just want to check they've got the does right? I've been given a 10day course the first vet I saw said this should be enough to clear up a urinery infection which is what we thought we were first dealing with - will I need more days to kill the coccidiosis?

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I had rabbits around 2kg on 1ml twice a day.

Thank you captin - how many days did you treat for?

akaemzybabe said:

Thank you captin - how many days did you treat for?

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I did a 7 day course x

Thanks for your help helen - her dose and course should be sufficent then which is such a relief these vets really are numpties

I brought a vax steam cleaner about 6months ago and it was rubbish just dribbled water all over the floor so I took it back to Argos. Do you know 1 thats good? otherwise I'll just use boiling water thanks for the suggestion on the other thread.

cpayne said:

She also said Doughnut could have got it from a bit of hay. She did go to a bunnery at the beginning of September and I asked if she could have got it there as she went on the grass where obviously another rabbit had been previously. She said she could have done and it just took it's time to manifest. I'm guessing this is more likely but who knows.

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I'd say that's far, far more likely. It has an incubation period of about 3 weeks and a soil/grass environment which has had other rabbits on it is far more likely to harbour cocci than hay is. Personally I don't like boarders who use grass runs for this very reason, it's too risky; I would advise getting in touch with the boarder and letting them know. Hopefully they're a good boarder and they will be grateful for you letting them know and will stop using the grass for runs. If they aren't aware, they may still be putting other buns in that same area and therefore other bunnies may be getting infected still.

Hope your little one recovers well x x

Yes it seems more likely to me too. I will contact him and let him know. I thought it was nice that she got to go outside, the thought of her picking up something didn't even enter my head. I feel a bit guilty now but it was such a lovely place.

She's still on Septrin for another 5 days but for the last two days I've noticed a couple of loose fecal stools. The rest are all fine and she's eating normally, lots of hay and is her normal self. Should I be worrying that she has a couple of these or is it part of the recover since her meds aren't finished yet.