Tritrichomonas Foetus - "TF" in cats

[sasvermont]

The lab is sending a few test kits (free of charge) and I will let everyone know the details. It will be several days until the kits arrive, then I have to work with the Vet. The specimen needs to be incubated, I do believe, and so I am hoping my Vet will take charge from the collection process on. I want to drop off my Miley for the day, have them TAKE the specimen(s) and then pick her up at day's end. I don't want to be digging around in the litter hoping that Miley was the depositor!......

It is interesting.....that so many cats could be at risk. Oh well. I should know for sure if Miley has it or not, within a week or so.

My concern is that she is in the early stages of FIP, as she tested positive for it, although I am hoping she was exposed and thus produced antibodies....giving the result as the same as having it.

The plot thickens. Not the stool, just the plot.

Oh, I gave all the cats a little Medamucil (SP??) with their wet food and I do think it helped Miley a little. It will not, in the long run, help her if she does in deed have a parasite.

Later -

SAS

[Barbara]

Sallyanne I keep all my fingers crossed for Miley girl- it would be so great if it was something treatable. {{{{{{Hugs}}}}} and nosekissies for Miley.

[pixiebobfan]

I have a pixie bob who has had diarrhea since last fall. When I took him to the vet, they said he had crf and just months to live. I tried another traditional vet and got the same diagnosis. I then tried a holistic vet and he is doing very well 8 months later except for the diarrhea. (and we tried everything)

I will now do the tests and hope we can finally solve this problem. He has the symptoms, including the very smelly "stools." I will have to do it at home and I'm wondering if I can deal directly with a lab? Has anyone tried that?

Chris

[sasvermont]

Chris, I dealt directly with Biolabs for the test kits. I have an appointment with my vet on Friday coming up, to have Miley the cat, tested at the vet. Since the test itself is rather lab oriented, I thought they should take the cat and all the poop their little hearts desire......thus a drop off for a day. If the test is not conclusive, I may opt for the $100 test where you send the sample to a lab....... If you want to PM for more information, let me know. In the mean time Medimucil is doing the trick for Miley. She has had some minor relief these past few days. According to the vet, the Medimucil will not impact on the testing.


Sas

[sasvermont]

I thought you folks would like to know a little more about TF. It is really scarey to me, to think that this has been around for so long.....going undetected.....




Sallyanne Smith wrote:
Hey Dave,

Sallyanne Smith here. On Friday, I will be dropping Miley off at my vet's along with a few TF kits to be tested for TF. She has had stool issue for years now, off and on, but now mostly on! So, knowing that she was diagnosed with Girardia as a wee kitten, when I first brought Graemer and Miley home, I thought it would make sense to have her tested for TF. The other cats are fine, stool wise.

Dave's Answer:
How was Giardia diagnosed? If microscopically, it may have been TF as TF and Giardia look alike. If Giardia was diagnoses by a snap test then it was likely Giardia. We haven't had a instance or Giardia although TF may have been in our cattery for a while. No way to know for sure.

Cats can be asymptomatically infected, if one is positive test all


1. Is it better to spend the $100 for the first test? rather than do the $5 kit? or is there no difference? Did you go with the more expensive test first?

Dave's Answer:
The InPouch TF test is fine, more than capable. Don't spend the extra money.


2. Do you have any advice for my vet on how to collect the sample or view it? Since you are doing your own testing, I thought might have some advice. My vet is very nice and smart I just don't know if she will know what to look for. The instructions for the kit are included, so I think she will be fine.......

Dave's Answer:
Have your vet use Dr Gookin's technique. Use a fecal loop lubed with a sterile water soluble jelly. Also to guard against bacteria overgrowth I suggest you inoculate two pouches. One with the recommended amount (i.e. peppercorn) and the other with half that amount. The pouches can be incubated at room temperature but the TF doubling rate is slower. Keep and examine for the full 12 days. Alternatively I incubate at 37C. I get responses within 48 hrs but my risk of bacteria overgrowth is higher. I have one advantage though, I have the new feline pouches which I am field testing for BioMed. These will be released for sale July 7th. They have the same growth medium as the current pouches but a better mix of antibiotics for felines. This limits the risk of bacterial overgrowth


3. Miley weighs around 7 lbs. If she does test positive, what is your experience with the dosage? I would use the lab Westlabs in Fla. If Miley is positive, and since my vet is not familiar with this TF thang, may she call you? or call your vet?

Dave's Answer:
You can have your vet call in a scrip to Westlab which compounds ronidazole (RDZ) into capsules (#4 gel caps) or you can get RDZ compounded into a flavored liquid at Roadrunner (http://www.roadrunnerpharmacy.com/). I prefer capsules since you know the cat got all of the dose. Other pharmacies are carrying RDZ now also.

Your vet can call me. In a weird twist of fate I an one of the TF experts now. When I first found out about TF (Jan), tested and then announced our TF positive status I thought other breeders would post their experiences. They didn't. Currently breeders are reluctant to go public so instead they email me privately. I have hundreds of emails and I spend 2-3 hrs a days answering them. Two days ago I got an email from Israel, TF is everywhere. Besides working with BioMed I am now working with Dr Gookin. Our adult males are not responding to treatment like our females. Dr Gookin didn't use males in her RDZ test. I don't know if our situation is unique or common. Frustratingly almost no one performs post treatment tests and the 1 or 2 that have may have done them wrong. All I know now is that one other intact male (not ours) has also failed treatment. I've send cultures to Dr G and today I'm sending swabs and urine samples. I didn't think I would end up doing TF research in my retirement.

All the best, keep in touch,
Dave


Thanks so much.

Sallyanne

[WhiteFlower]

Please help

I'm in South Africa and there is almost no information here on TF. Even my vet didn't know anything about it and resorted to the internet.

I am adopting an 8 year old male Devon Rex with a TF infection and chronic, persistant diarreah. If I don't, he'll be sent to a shelter and probably put down.

I can hardly find any information on how to live with a incontinent pet anywhere on the web. I found a website on pet diapers but I'm not sure whether they are for real. Besides, he is a tiny cat and I doubt whether they would fit him.

The owner suggested keeping him confined to one bedroom but I think that's really cruel towards the kitty. Apparently it's so bad that sometimes he can't make it anywhere near his litter box.

He has already had the TF for 18 months now and RDZ is not available anywhere in South Africa.

How do I make him comfortable and at the same time allow him to be part of the family? Unfortunately we have these beechwood laminated floors at home and my husband is worried they'll be stained by 'messes' everywhere.

I hope you can give me some advice.

[sasvermont]

Whiteflower,

Please contact Biolabs via email, for test pouches. You must use a vet to administer the meds and tests.....unless you are a breeder with total knowledge.

If you get no satisfaction, please let me know. I will help with the testing kits and or the medication. Please re-read the post from [email protected] and email him too, if need be.

Also, try a product that adds fiber to the stool, such as Medimucal (spelling)...it has helped my cat in the mean time.

By the way folks, Miley the cats' first test results were negative. I am not sure if I am happy or sad. I may ask the vet if he can just go ahead and treat her with the meds to see if it helps. The drug is not harmful.

I have a vet appt. on Saturday for Chloe and Juni cats, and will discuss the TF thing with the vet, then.

[snorkmaiden]

Please help

I'm in South Africa and there is almost no information here on TF. Even my vet didn't know anything about it and resorted to the internet.

I am adopting an 8 year old male Devon Rex with a TF infection and chronic, persistant diarreah. If I don't, he'll be sent to a shelter and probably put down.

I can hardly find any information on how to live with a incontinent pet anywhere on the web. I found a website on pet diapers but I'm not sure whether they are for real. Besides, he is a tiny cat and I doubt whether they would fit him.

The owner suggested keeping him confined to one bedroom but I think that's really cruel towards the kitty. Apparently it's so bad that sometimes he can't make it anywhere near his litter box.

He has already had the TF for 18 months now and RDZ is not available anywhere in South Africa.

How do I make him comfortable and at the same time allow him to be part of the family? Unfortunately we have these beechwood laminated floors at home and my husband is worried they'll be stained by 'messes' everywhere.

I hope you can give me some advice.

Whiteflower, my cat had TF for 18 months before he was diagnosed. While you are working on getting the test kits and treatment, you might want to try switching to a raw food diet. If you don't want to go raw and you have grainless canned foods available to you in South Africa you could try those instead. My TF boy managed three months without diarrhea on grainless canned cat food before his symptoms returned. The symptoms will often return with diet change or stress.

After finding Dave's (Highgait Paws Cattery)wonderful site I decided to create my own to try and help owners with TF cats, or owners who suspect their cats may have TF find the information they need a little more quickly.

www.tffelines.com the links are there for Biomed Diagnostics and for Dr. Gookin's articles along with some more info on the test kits. Hope this helps.