Coccidiosis

Question
QUESTION: I have rescued three litters of kittens and a momma cat.  The mom was a stray, she had six 6-month old kittens that were ferral, I tried to tame them but after a month they had to be put down.  I also have four (now 8-week old) kittens from the same mom.  And two weeks ago was brought four more 4-week old kittens that were ferral.  All the cats were treated for roundworms and tapeworms.  Today I noticed blood in the momma cat's stool, as well as in one of the eight week old kitten's.  I took both to the vet.  $300 dollars later I found both have coccidiosis.  The vet gave me enough Albon to treat all nine remaining cats for ten days, but said the organism is tough to get rid of.  My question...how long can the organism live outside the host?  In other words, since I get new strays and ferrals in all the time, do I need to worry about the carpet in my cattery, and the carpet covering my cat gym (a huge 8'x8' structure that they climb, tunnel through and play on).  I clean my sandboxes multiple times a day, but I don't know if I need to treat the rest of the cattery.  I can't imagine how I can clean the tunnels and stuff, but I'm worried about the coccidia possibly being there to reinfect the cats.

ANSWER: Oh, coccidia-the rescuers nightmare!  It can be very difficult to get rid of and is easily passed from one cat to the next.  It can be deadly to kittens who get dehydrated or when mom loses milk because of her own dehydration.
The problem isn't so much in your carpet and cat furniture as it is in shared litter boxes.  That's where the eggs are deposited and picked up by the next cat.  We have a strict isolation policy until the cats and kittens show they are free of illness and even then there is some transfer (you know how quickly upper respiratory infection goes around-its the same with coccidia).  I would suggest you isolate the affected kitties and do a good cleaning of the cattery with a solution like Parvoway (check Amazon.com-they can get you anything!)which is anti-bacterial,anti-viral,anti-fungal and I swear by it.  Parvoway is something you can clean smooth surfaces with and just spray on carpeted areas like the cat gym.  Make sure the litter boxes are cleaned with bleach, not just emptied, every day to insure the eggs are killed.  Its a pain in the neck but will be worth it when you get rid of the stuff for good.
Albon is an excellent medicine and we use a two-pronged attack, giving the cats treatment for 7 days then taking them off for 5 days to allow the remaining eggs in their intestines to hatch and then putting them back on to kill the new organisms.  This is just how we do it, check with your vet to see if it would be all right with him/her.
I don't worry about seeing blood in the stool of kitties that have diarrhea, it usually is just the result of irritation of the intestine.
I commend you for taking in feral cats, that's one area that I shy away from. They are difficult to care for and don't even realize you're trying to help them.  We have one feral mom and kittens who also have coccidia and its taken so long to treat them that mom probably won't be able to go back to her colony so she'll go to our sanctuary.  Luckily the kittens are quite friendly and will be able to be adopted out.

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QUESTION: Thank you so much for your timely and thorough response!  Last question: I bleached every smooth surface, and also am bleaching the pooper scoopers inbetween cleanings.  I've isolated infected cats and will not take in anymore until this bug is eradicated...but.....did you mean change the quarantined cattery's litter every day, because that could get expensive real fast?  Or did you mean dispose of sand, and bleach boxes once we get a clean bill of health, and before we introduce new cats?  As it is, I change the clumping litter in all boxes at least once a week, or more often if needed.
Thank you,
Jade

Answer
Jade,

Sounds like you're doing everything right as far as the bleaching is concerned.  You're right about the litter changing getting expensive.  I would throw out any litter that the affected cats have used and start those boxes from new.  The litter that the affected cats are using should be thrown out and replaced every day to prevent re-infection.
We have found a new kind of litter for our rescue that is inexpensive and easy to use.  Its wood pellets, like you would use in a wood pellet stove!  The pellets turn to saw dust when the cats urinate on them and can be sifted out to leave the good pellets remaining to use again.  And if you do have to toss a whole box it doesn't waste as much of your financial resources.  The 40lb bags of wood pellets cost around $6 each and we usually go through a bag a day in our kennels.  Here in So. California we have to special order them from Orchard Hardware Supply (OSH) but in the colder climates you can find them all year round at hardware stores.