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My 4 month old kittens are bengals and one named Asia came to me with both coccidia and Tritrichomonas foetus, TTF. I first had to worm Asia for Coccidia with Albon because she presented with coccidia initially and this was confirmed through a fecal test. – I then wormed her for Giardia with panacur because she continued to have diarrhea after the Albon was administered (there was no confirmed Giardia). The diarrhea continued until today so I continued investigating other causes. I read all of the literature from Jody Gookin regarding TTF and then I ordered the pouch method – they are inexpensive. I swabbed the inside of the colon of each cat with a q tip, and milked the q tip into the separate pouches. Then the pouches go in a dark place at 98 degrees for 24 hours. And then they are removed from the heat and put in another dark place at room temperature for 24 hours. The only parasite that grows in the pouches is TTF. I examined the parasites and their unique swimming motion under a microscope at 75 power. I then took the pouches to my veterinarian this morning and he also confirmed the presence of TTF (I had to have him read the literature and watch a video on the TTF movement). Giardia's movement looks like falling leaves, and TTF have a different way of swimming. Apparently the only drug effective on TTF is a 14 day course of Ronidizole. And the drug has some serious possible side effects.
What I noticed is that the cats both have lost some appetite and have taken to sleeping quite a bit. Today was day 5 of the 14 day ronidizole course. The compounding pharmacy had to precisely measure out the amounts or Ronidizole in capsules. The pharmacy tried to get me to take the liquid Ronidizole- but Dr. Gookin is very specific about getting the stuff in capsules. Also Ronidizole is a carcinogen so they suggest you wear gloves, and double bag the fecal matter from the litter boxes. Stools are firming up nicely now. Make sure you read Jody Gookin's information
http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/docs/personnel/gookin_jody.html
http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/docs/documents/ownersguide_tfoetus_revised_122009_final.pdf
What I noticed is that the cats both have lost some appetite and have taken to sleeping quite a bit. Today was day 5 of the 14 day ronidizole course. The compounding pharmacy had to precisely measure out the amounts or Ronidizole in capsules. The pharmacy tried to get me to take the liquid Ronidizole- but Dr. Gookin is very specific about getting the stuff in capsules. Also Ronidizole is a carcinogen so they suggest you wear gloves, and double bag the fecal matter from the litter boxes. Stools are firming up nicely now. Make sure you read Jody Gookin's information
http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/docs/personnel/gookin_jody.html
http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/docs/documents/ownersguide_tfoetus_revised_122009_final.pdf