Dexter to see specialist vet

Eggman · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:22 pm **Posts:** 730

Hi there.

Dexter has 10 days worth of TF treatment left. He has been on treatment now for 9 days with no sign of improvement.

We have managed to find a specialist Vet in Oxford that will claim from our Insurance direct so we have an appointment booked on Friday 13 February. The cost is between £700-£1000 so thank goodness they will claim direct.

I've been asked to collect poop samples from Weds and he will need to have no food before 10pm the evening before. I drop him off at 10am have an hours consultation with the vet then they will do various tests on him. I will then get a telephone interview (they asked me to see them in person but I can't as collecting son from school) at 3.30pm to discuss what they have discovered and a time to collect him.

I'm really worried about what they are going to find and feeling a bit overwhelmed with it all.

Donna741 · **Joined:** Wed Feb 05, 2014 9:03 pm **Posts:** 1048

I'm glad you found a specialist who will work with your insurance. Hopefully they can get things sorted out and he'll be on the mend.

CMYKjill · **Joined:** Tue Sep 23, 2014 6:38 pm **Posts:** 1838

I'm glad you found a specialist that will work with your insurance. It's crazy how much vets charge! I think you are doing the right thing for Dexter. Regular vets don't seem to know how to handle TF correctly. My vet told me it is extremely rare and didn't want to test for it. From what I read on this forum, it's not so rare. I hope you get to the bottom of this and have better results with the new vet.

Eggman · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:22 pm **Posts:** 730

Thank you both.

It will be interesting to find out once and for all what is causing his illness to be so severe. I don't particularly trust the care (apart from the TF treatment which we have at long last) he has received so far and I do wonder whether they have missed something, maybe some other parasitic infection apart from the TF is still playing a part here.

I think even if he improves (I doubt he will) I am still going to take him along to the specialist.

Not sure if the TF treatment would clear up other parasitic infections at the same time.

Eggman · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:22 pm **Posts:** 730

We travelled to Oxford to see specialist vet yesterday. It was over an hours drive and poor Dexter had an accident on the way so we had to stop off and clean him up.

We were thinking that the vet would be doing procedures on him as we had been asked not to feed him the night before but she told us she wanted to do another poop sample first (I had been asked to collect samples over 3 days which I took with me) to see if the TF had cleared and whether there was some other parasitic infection causing the continued diarrhoea.

She also asked that I put Dexter on an exclusion diet as she is wondering if it was diet related and wanted to cover this possibility. She suggested lamb to start with so I was cooking up a storm yesterday in the kitchen.

Just wondering if anyone has any tips on this for me? What I've done is buy some lamb, cooked it in oven and then minced it up in my mincer. After it's cooked and cooled can I freeze it?

It's also quite dry and I have to add pro-kolin to his breakfast every morning and don't think it would mix in very well. Should I mix water in with it before I minced it?

She's asked me to keep him on this for 2 weeks.

Kyenta1 · **Posted:** Sat Feb 14, 2015 9:29 am

One of Quasar's favourite foods is lamb....but raw, never cooked. If you are cooking it, you can certainly freeze it after preparation.

Be sure to include some organ meat and calcium, i.e. pulverized eggshell for balance.

Eggman · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:22 pm **Posts:** 730

Tabitha · **Joined:** Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:11 pm **Posts:** 1196

Really hope this vet gets to the bottom of it all for you and that their attitude is better than your regular vet x

Eggman · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:22 pm **Posts:** 730

Thanks Clare I hope so too.

This is only day 2 of the diet and something is changing.

He is not visiting the litter tray as often. It used to be almost non-stop particularly after he had just eaten but now it's only a couple of times a day for a No 2 which is a major difference.

Although he is still passing some mucous (yuk!) I've seen non of the blood that he's been passing lately and the poo is not teeny tiny drops any more but a bit more than that and just slightly better formed. I'm trying not to read to much into this though as I've been disappointed again and again.

One thing that is worrying me though is he is very lethargic since I started this diet. He just sits in his basket most of the time only getting out to drink, eat and poop. Not sure if this is because he is just on protein and has no carbs so is low in energy.

Cooked 12 lamb steaks today, minced them and put them in the freezer. Doesn't even look like enough to last the week! Costing a flaming fortune so glad it's only for 2 weeks.

Donna741 · **Joined:** Wed Feb 05, 2014 9:03 pm **Posts:** 1048

It sure sounds like this new vet is on top of things. Hopefully Dexter is feeling tip top soon!

Eggman · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:22 pm **Posts:** 730

Donna thanks. I hope so too although I am trying not to get my hopes up because I have been so disappointed over and over again.

The specialist vet said they might have the results by Wednesday (today) so am nervous about that.

There is a definite change in Dexter though so I am hopeful. He isn't in and out of his tray all the time, I haven't seen any blood or mucus for a couple of days now and yesterday he actually did what resembled a proper poo (still quite small amount). The awful smell has gone, no diarrhoea everywhere which means I am not having to spend all day long cleaning the back room and him.

I'm surprised he has taken to the minced lamb so well as I wasn't sure he would even eat it or if he did would very quickly grow tired of it but he's still eating it pretty well up to now.

We have 2 more doses left of the TF treatment and to be honest can't wait to stop it's been a nightmare giving them to him every day for such a long time. I'm not too worried that once I stop the treatment his sloppy poo will come back because he's had loose stools all the way through the treatment and only now since this new diet it's getting better.

I am convinced that the TF caused the smelly poop etc but I am beginning to wonder if it's now diet related too.

Sorry for the very long post!

Tabitha · **Joined:** Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:11 pm **Posts:** 1196

Sounds promising! Looks like this vet is much more on the case. Good luck with the results, keep us informed.

As you said, it definitely sounds like it could be a combination of factors, ie dietary and TF. Neither of mine can eat lamb without it going straight through them and it sounds like there is something in the food Dexter was eating that disagreed with him as the change to lamb only has made such an impact.

Hope he is better in himself now, you said he was pretty quiet and lethargic after his excursion to the vet?

Really hope you get good positive news today and an end to Dexter's tummy issues soon x

Eggman · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:22 pm **Posts:** 730

Clare, thanks.

Wonder what the next step will be if they do think it may be diet related as I can't keep him on just pure minced lamb indefinitely.

In preparation for this does anybody know what the next step would be? Are there any commercial products out there I could buy that don't have any fillers but do have the necessary ingredients that he's obviously missing at the moment with just having ground meat.

Many thanks for any advice.

Tabitha · **Joined:** Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:11 pm **Posts:** 1196

My understanding is that the vet will gradually add in other components until they find out exactly what is upsetting him (assuming it is dietary of course) and once the culprit is identified, its a matter of avoiding it. I'm sure the vet will be able to advise you or point you in the right direction in relation to meals once you know what you are dealing with.

rally · **Joined:** Wed Nov 12, 2014 10:05 pm **Posts:** 25

I mentioned it in another thread but I'll say it here too.

I fed my last cat (who had giardia) natures variety limited duck and also limited lamb until her diarrhea got better, then upgraded her to natures variety pride rockstar rabbit and daredevils duck since she liked those better. Those foods really helped her a lot, here it would be cheaper than me cooking lamb but they are still pretty pricey. She seems to not do well on store bought turkey or chicken cat foods but she is fine with raw home made chicken which is weird. These days I make her mostly raw though. It's cheap and I have a meat grinder that does bones so I don't mind. I wanted to note the limited lamb is pretty much like a compressed glue stick, so if you think your cat wont like the consistency of really thick uh pate I guess it is... it might not be worth risking wasting the money. My cat honestly hated the limited lamb but I could coax her into eating it and it really seemed like the one she did the best on when she was having issues.

I've got the boy on the limited duck and limited turkey. He does a lot better on it than other foods, but his continued diarrhea seems to have been caused by campylobacter bacteria which is showing up on the full panel that I ran since the TF appears to be gone for realsies this time (after the second ronidazole treatment). Who knows where it came from or if it just moved it when the TF was cleared out with all the antibiotics...or if he had it all along. I don't really know. I think he'll be okay after I treat him for it though.

It was a journey, I think he's almost alright. Anyway I like those foods. I would be real careful switching though if you find the lamb is working out you might want to make another week or two's worth so that you can transition into a new food if you decide to do that. like a little at a time. Cat's dont seem to take well to sudden change.

Dexter to see specialist vet

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