I later looked up Imodium AD on the internet and see that the active ingredient adds to the muscle tone of the small intestine, slows passage of materials and allows for better absorbtion of fluid, etc. I'm hoping it will give them some relief and help put things back in order more quickly.
In a way, I'm kind of disappointed with how things turned out with the vet visit. I had to chase him down a day later to get a confirmation on the fecals - that was one day closer they could have been to relief, although I didn't mess around waiting for the vet's confirmation. I also feel there could have been a recommendation to help get some relief for the animals' guts while bringing the cocci population under control. Having dealt with scouring bottle calves before, you know, sometimes the animal goes on scouring even after you've effected a cure, if you don't know when to quit administering the electrolytes, etc. I brought one calf literally back from the dead once - cold mouth, prostrate - but once he got on his feet the liquids just kept jetting out. Well...? There was no follow-on information about reintroducing the animal to food! I had been told to withhold milk and give electrolytes every two hours. I just expected that if the animal got well, the liquid feces would firm up. Sounds pretty stupid now, but if the animal's not getting any food to make feces, only electrolytes, it's only going to pass liquid. At the time there was a lot of dissention as to whether to feed milk/replacer alternately with electrolytes, or just the electrolytes. If I ever have a sick bottle calf again, it will be on the alternating cycle - electrolytes followed by a small feed of replacer after 2 hours.
Anyway, I'm relieved to report that we do seem to have a cure underway. After the initial five day treatment with Corid, I plan to continue the boys on preventative medication for a full 28 days. I can't believe this...I'm already on the drug wagon with these animals, in a perfectly clean and fresh environment. I read somewhere that parasites are "adapted to thrive in the unhealthy gut". You can be sure that I will be doing much research on just exactly WHAT creates a healthy gut, aside from normal good management and nutrition. Anyway, wish me luck, I think the boys are on the mend.
Barb
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