Just wanted to let everyone know what was up. Bamf and Pixel have had looser, odorous stools off and on since I brought them home in June. We have done fecal smears and floats on both of them, and Bamf's stool was sent off to the lab to be tested for Coccidia and Giardia. The tests ALL came up negative. Now, there is the option that it may be food related or stress, and I will approach that angle when we come to it... But I wanted to do the one last test, for tri trichomonas foetus. I have read lots of threads on this parasite here, and based on information provided by other members (Dr. Judy Gookin's work with North Carolina State University) I have decided that I should test for tri trich. Both of my kitties are purebred, and the information that I read said that around 30% of purebred kitties might have this parasite.
The descriptions of the shape, size, and odor of the stool are spot on.
My vet had only BARELY heard of tri trich. She had one cat 6 or 7 years ago that she thought might have had it, but she didn't know anything about it. I brought her in the articles I could find and we read them and talked over it, and decided to try. She called the lab that we sent Bamf's sample to for Giardia and they said that they sent the sample to North Carolina State
for the PCR test, but it would be around $100 per cat. The pouches can be purchased from Biomed Diagnostics for $35 for 5 pouches. Dr. Gookin has instructions on how to perform the test on her website, and there are instructions that come with the pouches also. Dr. Gookin also has a video of the organism, showing how to tell it apart from Giardia.
SO, anyway, my vet and I are going out on a limb here (to try and save me the two $100 tests) and I have ordered the set of 5 pouch tests. Tomorrow, I am bringing in the pouches, the instructions, and the video of the organism (which I put on CD for my vet!) and we are going to take a crack at taking samples, letting them "grow," and in a week or two we are going to try to see if we can find any of the organism. I figure if we screw up, we have a few extra tests, and if it doesn't work then my vet learned a lot about tri trich and will able to recognize it in other cats. She seems excited to learn about it. I kind of am too.
If we don't find anything, I will try to resolve their issues with diet. If we do, she and I will research Ronidazole and I will research compounding pharmacies in the area, and maybe we can clear up this poop problem.
Long story short, vibes for my babies please. And vibes that we do the tests properly, and that we find out whether we are dealing with tri trich or not. I really want to clear up their poop problems, since I know they can't be feeling well.
Plus, it smells and is heck to clean up!
Thanks everyone.
My vet had only BARELY heard of tri trich. She had one cat 6 or 7 years ago that she thought might have had it, but she didn't know anything about it. I brought her in the articles I could find and we read them and talked over it, and decided to try. She called the lab that we sent Bamf's sample to for Giardia and they said that they sent the sample to North Carolina State
SO, anyway, my vet and I are going out on a limb here (to try and save me the two $100 tests) and I have ordered the set of 5 pouch tests. Tomorrow, I am bringing in the pouches, the instructions, and the video of the organism (which I put on CD for my vet!) and we are going to take a crack at taking samples, letting them "grow," and in a week or two we are going to try to see if we can find any of the organism. I figure if we screw up, we have a few extra tests, and if it doesn't work then my vet learned a lot about tri trich and will able to recognize it in other cats. She seems excited to learn about it. I kind of am too.
If we don't find anything, I will try to resolve their issues with diet. If we do, she and I will research Ronidazole and I will research compounding pharmacies in the area, and maybe we can clear up this poop problem.
Long story short, vibes for my babies please. And vibes that we do the tests properly, and that we find out whether we are dealing with tri trich or not. I really want to clear up their poop problems, since I know they can't be feeling well.
Thanks everyone.
