So, lemme see if I've got this straight...
You take your dog in a run-of-the-mill annual visit for shots and a checkup, and they find 'cocci' in the stool. They immediately blame the chickens, without regard to the fact that chicken coccidia can't be transferred to anything but chickens. Then, without any mention of the dog actually being symptomatic for coccidiosis, nor any mention of parasite per gram count, they automatically give you medication to treat clinical coccidiosis.
Sorry, but....I think it's time for a new vet.
I had something like this almost happen to me once, but it was "coccidiosis" and "hookworms" a tech had supposedly found in goat stool. I had a couple of goats down with bad scours, and I really just wanted the vet to run cultures for the bacterial pathogen I knew to be the problem, plus get me a stronger antibiotic. I knew it was bacterial. The vet tech comes back and tells me they found "coccidiosis" and "hookworms" in the stool..
First of all, you can't find "coccidiosis" in stool... You can find coccidia, but the 'osis' part describes clinical disease. She's not a vet; she can't make a diagnosis.
Second, you generally don't find actual worms in stool either, unless they're parts of tapeworms or something like that.. You find eggs.
When the vet came out, the tech was still standing there. I immediately questioned both her findings, politely of course.. He asked how old the goats were, and I said they were 18mo and otherwise *very* healthy.. He asked if they were on medicated grain, and I said "very little." He said "It only takes a little" and ruled out coccidiosis on the spot. The vet tech sorta started looking uncomfortable right about then.
I mentioned the "hookworms," heading toward a question of worms vs. eggs and how we knew they were hookworms specifically, but he stopped me and said "Strongyloide eggs of some type. To know for sure what type would take a parasitologist." He went on to point out....hey, they're goats on pasture...you'd expect to see at least some evidence of worms in even the healthiest goats on pasture. It's literally the nature of the beast.
At that point, I described to him how quickly the symptoms came on, the nature of the scour, etc...and he said "I think you're probably right...it definitely sounds bacterial, so we'll go ahead and get you some stronger antibiotics."
The tech was obviously a little embarrassed, but hey...maybe she'll just do her own job next time instead of coming out into the lobby to play Vet for animals with which she has very little experience, ya know?
FWIW, I lost one of those two.. The other made a full and quick recovery. What's frustrating is that had I listened to the tech and treated for coccidiosis and worms, both would have died. As would the other four who came down with the same thing later.
Since I questioned things, though...they all made it.
