Squitty kitty

Re: Squitty kitty

funkyfish — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:59:36 GMT

Thanks for the info!! Will do a botty smear to chk and keep on with meds for another week. THen poo sample INB. xx

Re: Squitty kitty

Kathryn Welsh — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:52:52 GMT

Have you considered B12 injections!!

Re: Squitty kitty

Fiona Leathers — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:47:53 GMT

For tritrichomonas, get your finger up her bum, smear what you get out onto a slide, add a little saline and put under microscope - you have to look immediately as the little buggers dry up & disappear very quickly!! They should look like little rods. If you're sending it away make sure you send it to a lab that does PCR, as before they just disappear!

Re: Squitty kitty

Sal the 1st — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:50:11 GMT

would also suggest looking for giardia - and its not that hard you can do this yourself . Make a faecal slide with a bit of saline and have a quick sqizz under the scope. Just bare in mind that a negative from 1 sample isnt necessarily a negative and if you are sending a sample out to the labs make sure you send a pooled sample (usually sampled over 3 days). I have seen so many puppies and kittens with persistent rodneys over the years that have come back +ve giardia

prob dont try to swap and change with the diet too often unless there is really good cause to (well this is what I would advise an owner in this situation) . This kitty sounds like it has been through a lot recently. You might find that when it has settled in one place long enough to stop its head spinning its tum settles down a bit too.

Re: Squitty kitty

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:09:12 GMT

another suggestion is to cut out all cereals and grains and only feed meat. some cats just aren't meant to eat them and their systems freak out. you could try a raw diet. just be sure you factor in your minerals(ash) and taurine also be sure not to feed too much fish especially cooked or tuna. :)

Re: Squitty kitty

Saskia Quinn — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:14:07 GMT

have you thought about inflammatory bowel disease also? I had a cat once that was getting treatment for this - metronidazole and feline i/d, just a thought!

Re: Squitty kitty

Katie Tallett RVN MBVNA — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:00:45 GMT

we have recently had a cat breeder who had tritrichomonas through her stock and we tested for this by sending sample taken by faecal loop as the buggers live in the mucosa of the colon. not very nice but only way to find out. we have a vet who is good with parasites so we got him to id them for us before we sent the sample. had to use ronidazole to clear them up but has to be ordered in specially. we also gave everything a good dose of panacur. worked well once we knew what it was!

we also have a cat who was very squitty until 10months with no luck after testing and treating for everything. in the end we put her on hills i/d and stuck with it for a good 8 weeks and now she is fine (previusly her food hd been changed after 4 weeks if there hadn't been an improvement). might be worth just sticking to one food- she cannot tolerate the pouches but is fine on the dry and tinned!

hope this helps

Re: Squitty kitty

Steph Phillips — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:56:29 GMT

I agree with the above. could be stress related due to the poor kitty moving home alot... you should also try Promax paste, along with sensitivity food & Lectade,..

Re: Squitty kitty

Kate Claxton DipAVN(Med)VN — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:56:08 GMT

Full faecal screen def indicated ASAP - campylobacter, toxoplasmosis, T foetus, salmonella etc. Carry on with probiotics and white meat diet in the meantime. I'm sure you have been but be very careful with personal hygiene after handling him...lots of zoonotic nasties from squitty kitties!

Re: Squitty kitty

Saskia Quinn — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:52:26 GMT

If it were my cat, I would give it a few days of a very bland diet like scrambled egg, boiled rice, chicken - that sort of thing.

Steph's idea about testing the faeces is also a good idea and worth a try.

It could also be the stress of being a 'kennelled' and rescue cat and maybe just needs some love and stability in his life.

Good luck with him

Re: Squitty kitty

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:44:41 GMT

Have you sent any poo off for TF(see here http://www.fabcats.org/breeders/infosheets/tritrichomonas.html) sampling? you have to request for the kit and I believe Glasgow are the most familar with the testing for it. What about low dose steroids?

When you did the panacur treatment did you try 3 days of panacur then repeat after 3 weeks? With heavy infestations od Giardia it's also recommended, 5 days repeat after 3 weeks.