RE: Help!! wormers--- Roundworm

[Hideyo Yamamoto]

Hi, since we are on this topic – one my three year old girl – Savannah vomited a roundworm – Please let me know if you have any experience with treatment (side effects/efficacy of drugs) on this parasite.   From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, October 10, 2005 9:42 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: wormers--- coccidia   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 Pharaoh’s 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!