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just reposting this, since it's slightly on the topic at hand:
(I wonder if Ronidazole will be useful for other
types of parasites some day?)
Trichomonosis in cats According
to Dr S. Marks of UC-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine: Tritrichomonas foetus, the
primary causative agent of bovine trichomoniasis, has recently been recognized
as a protozoal [intestinal] pathogen in cats. One study showed a high prevalence in
cat show and cattery animals. Often
misdiagnosed as Giardia, T. foetus infected cats treated with an
appropriate Giardia therapy do not respond. Clinical
signs of Tritrichomonas foetus include chronic or re-occurring
diarrhea. Often the anus is
red,
swollen, and painful, and fecal incontinence is not uncommon. Most cats are usually bright, alert, and
responsive, and in good body condition with a normal appetite. T. foetus can be found in cats
not showing clinical signs. InPouchTF
(Biomed Diagnostics, White City, Oregon) is a test developed to identify
Tritrichomonas foetus in cows, but can be used in a veterinary hospital
setting to test cats for the protozoa. This is the test we used to
confirm Pharaohs diagnosis.
InPouch TF has shown a 90% rate of sensitivity to the protozoa, a
six-fold increase over trying to diagnosis this protozoa via a microscopic
examination of fecal material.
Tritrichomonas
foetus is
not considered to be zoonotic (transmissible to people) but as it can affect
cows and pigs, anyone with these animals and a cat with chronic diarrhea has
cause for concern. At the time
Dr. Marks wrote his presentation, no treatment options were available. By June of this summer (2005), after
many drug trials had been unsuccessful, Ronidazole was showing promise in
research trials.
Once
diagnosed with Tritrichomonas foetus, Ronidazole is the drug currently
being tested for use in cats.
This is an off-label use of the drug and is not guaranteed to be a
treatment. Dosing being used by
researchers is 30-50mg/kg orally once every 12 hours for 14 days. However, research has not yet decided if
this is the optimal dose.
Ronidazole is produced by SIGMA Pharmaceuticals. It must be kept frozen. Currently it is a relatively reasonably
priced drug this may change in the future. It is
important to know that recovered cats can remain infected. Periods of stress do seem to play a
strong role in recurrence of clinical signs.
The most
sensitive test for Tritrichomonas foetus is a PCR of DNA extracted from
feces with a 97%+ sensitivity to the protozoa. This test is only performed at the
veterinary laboratory at North Carolina State University. A lima bean sized amount of feces must
be placed in 5-10ml of rubbing alcohol for proper stabilization of the sample in
preparation for testing.
Sources Update of
Feline Gastrointestinal Neoplasia,
S. L. Marks, BVSc., PhD, Diplomate ACVIM (Internal Medicine, Oncology),
Diplomate ACVN, lecture notes, North American Veterinary Conference Postgraduate
Institute 2005 Advances in Feline Medicine, Orlando
FL. Personal
notes, P. J. Yankauskas, VMD, Hyde Park VT Personal
consultation, P. J. Yankauskas, VMD, Hyde Park
VT Jenn http://ucat.us http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html Adopt a cat from UCAT rescue: http://ucat.us/adopt.html Adopt a FIV+ cat: http://ucat.us/AWrescue/FIV/ http://ucat.us/FIVadopt.html Adopt a FELV+ cat: http://ucat.us/FELVadopt.html "Saving one animal won't make a difference in the world, but it will make a world of difference for that one animal." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I collect KMR kitten formula labels for Bazil, a 3 yr old special needs cat who must live on a liquid diet for the rest of his life. Bazil's caretaker collects labels and sends them to KMR, where they add up until she earns a free can of formula! PLEASE save your KMR kitten formula labels for Bazil! If you use KMR, even just one can, please ask me for the mailing address
you can send them to, to help feed Bazil!
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