Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Intestinal Tritrichomonas foetus infection in cats: a retrospective study of 104 cases.
- Journal:
- Journal of feline medicine and surgery
- Year:
- 2013
- Authors:
- Xenoulis, Panagiotis G et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences · United States
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
This study looked at 104 cats diagnosed with an intestinal infection caused by a parasite called Tritrichomonas foetus. Most of these cats had diarrhea, which lasted a median of about 135 days, and many had this issue since they were adopted. Other symptoms included not eating well, being very tired, losing weight, vomiting, and some even had abdominal pain. Of the cats that completed treatment with a medication called ronidazole, about 64% showed good improvement, while the rest either didn’t get better or had a relapse after stopping the treatment. Overall, the treatment worked for a little over half of the cats.
Abstract
The clinical presentation and response to treatment of cats infected with Tritrichomonas foetus have not been sufficiently described in a large number of pet cats. The aim of this study was to collect and analyze clinical data from pet cats diagnosed with intestinal T foetus infection. Clinical information was collected for 104 cats that tested polymerase chain reaction-positive for T foetus. The most common clinical sign was diarrhea (98%) with a median duration of 135 days (range 1-2880 days). Forty-nine of 83 (59%) cats had diarrhea since adoption. Other clinical signs included anorexia (22%), depression (24%), weight loss or failure to gain weight (20%), vomiting (19%), abdominal pain (9%) and increased appetite (3%). A total of 45 cats had completed treatment with ronidazole, 29 of which (64%) showed a good clinical response to treatment. Sixteen (36%) cats had either partial or no improvement, or a relapse shortly after discontinuation of treatment.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23838083/