Hey guys, I'm new here. So it makes sense that my first post is about poop, right? I'm posting with my mobile, so please forgive any formatting errors.

I got my Bengal Cyrus a month ago from someone who could not afford to keep him as they were sick and could not work. He's four years old. They believed he was sick and asked me to take him to the vet, which I was going to do anyway. He had been dewormed right before I got him, despite a negative fecal exam.

I took him to the vet once, and they found nothing wrong with him, but dewormed him again. He continued to have diarrhea, and decided the carpets were the best place for it. At this point he had been eating prescription food for cats with sensitivities. We took a poo sample to the vet and he was negative for parasites for the third time. The vet told us to keep him on the px diet but I was worried about his weight loss as his bones were sticking out when we got him so...

I switched him to raw food, at his breeder's suggestion. He had solid stool that same day, and every day since, for two weeks now. But now he's decided to go on the carpets again. This morning as he squatted on the carpet (always a few feet away from his litter box) I picked him up and placed him in his box. He passed a 6 inch or so long stool, and there was fresh, bright red blood coating about half of it on one side.

I can't afford weekly vet visits, and I think it has to do with the diet change/constipation. He went from diarrhea for 3 months to sudden solid stool so I think that has had some strain on his bowels, but I don't know. I'm going to call the vet when I get a chance, but I have classes all day today so it probably won't be until tomorrow. :/ What do you guys suggest I should do, if anything, in the meantime?

Sounds like Tritrichomonas foetus (TF).

This is a parasite that is not picked up on usual fecal tests. Needs to be by PCR or QPCR testing. Also need to make sure that you cat has not had any worming or antibiotics for 1-2 weeks. Take samples from poo over 3 days, every poo episode as TF is shed intermittently.

A raw diet will mask TF symptoms quite well.

TF can't be cure without treatment with a special drug. It used to be thought that it can clear up by itself after a couple of years but it us now considered to lie dormant. Ready to resurface when stressed or unwell. Untreated it can cause long term gut issues.

Look in the health section as there is a sticky about TF. I treated 4 cats so feel free to ask away.

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Lollo

Sadly I think it sounds like TF too. You may find that your vet may have little knowledge of this so please have a look at the sticky thread on TF and pass the info to him/her if they have limited knowledge.

My two had it and I was lucky who had a vet who did some excellent research into it. We treeated my cats over 2 weeks and they've been good since.

Good luck and I hope he is better soon

Thanks guys. I've been hoping so hard it isn't TF. I know all the symptoms but I was really hoping I was wrong. I guess I'll be saving up $200 to get a test done!

Trust me after months of going through the same thing with my cat I was praying for a positive tf! I know it can be a financial burden but it is a lot better than having to switch foods trying to find something that works and cleani g up soiled carpets everyday! I was soooo relieved when his test finally came back positive and we started treatment. We did his treatment back in February and he is as good as gold now. He was peeing/pooing all over the house but hasnt had one accident or episode of diahrrhea since the weekrafter treatment!

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Thank you for the reassurance! I'm just hoping I can actually get a diagnosis so I know what is wrong with my cat. I don't mind having to pay for the food or tests. With the raw food he is going poop once a day and it's solid, so easily catchable when it comes time to actually test him. Now I just need to make it through finals and get a job to cover the costs.. yeesh

I did reply on the TF post but it's worth mentioning again. Sample when the poo is soft. TF is rarely shed when poo is firm. Doesn't mean they are not infected with it, just that the body is coping at the moment and the parasite is dormant. When you are ready to test, I would feed normal cat food to get a runny poo for the 3 days of testing. Absolutely pointless spending the money to test if the chances of getting a false negative are really high.

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Lollo

How do you catch the completely runny poo though? I was going to hold a scooper under him, but can I use just a ziplock bag for the runny poop then, if it's big enough?

You usually get stool pots from the vets which have a little spoon in, this is used as a little scoop... failing that a plastic disposable spoon will be effective.

Some labs prefer no litter, so you can always pop some toilet paper down as they squat to poo...

No point testing it really if you are going to sample firm poo.

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Lollo

Thank you for your suggestions. I figured a ziplock bag would be too porous and let the soft poop harden anyway, which is why I asked about that. I'll get a pot if my vet has them and/or use toilet paper. I was going to do both normal and liquid poops because he seems to only have the bright red blood in the solid, not the liquid, unless it's just too mixed in, so that they could assess the blood color/amounts as well. But I'll do liquid only.

It doesn't really matter if the poo hardens. The lab will prefer a fresher sample but the test looks for DNA which is present in live or dead TF....

Good luck.

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Lollo

I shoved a sheet of blank paper under their butts to catch the poop then transferred to a pot.

Both my two were treated with Ronidazole for TF and are fine now.

Good luck

Lisa
X

Thanks! He's been pooping on the floor most of the time so I actually didn't have to worry about litter contamination. I sent the sample in on Wednesday.. hoping for positive results.

Gosh, I didn't realise quite how recent your little (potential) TF experience was. Does your vet know when you may get the results back?

I've been trying the past couple days to get a decent sample of symptomatic (soft) stool, but Harley's up and decided to give me completely normal looking bowel movements both days. Of couse on the day I start trying to collect, there's nothing worth collecting!

The difference between your case and mine at the moment, is Harley's never had 100% liquid bowel movements, just soft, sometimes ending with a small amount of what I'd consider diarrhea. Thankfully Harley's managed to get everything in the litterbox, I'm not sure how I'd cope scrubbing diarrhea from my curtains... You're braver than I haha

Fingers crossed your fella's tests come back positive so you can treat!

x Renae

The laboratory said they'd have results in 1-2 business days, and we sent the sample in last Wednesday. When we requested the biohazard containers they said they'd call us and let us know when they were in, and forgot.. so if they don't call me early tomorrow I'll call them.

I actually got Cyrus for free because his owners couldn't afford him. They told me he was sick and we all figured it was just your regular case of worms. So to me, despite all of my boyfriend's dislike of me taking a sick cat, he's worth it if I have to deep clean carpets and have to pay $400 to get him healthy. :)

And thank you! I hope he comes back positive so I can treat him and get him to gain weight and then finally post pictures of a healthy cat. Good luck with your kitty cat!