I had decided that it was time for me to get my second cat. Fate intervened at a cat show I attended in November 2005. One of the Bengal breeders told me about "her". I drove back home, thought about "her", called the breeder, and turned around and drove all the way to Delaware to get her. On the long drive back from Delaware to my home (Pittsburgh) I already knew what I had! I had a gorgeous little spitfire. She was very active, very vocal, and very mischievous! And she was also very gassy! But I had found my Tess.

During the next 10 months, Tess had 5 or 6 bouts of extreme diarrhea with blood and mucous. When I adopted her I was aware that some of the more exotic breeds had "digestive problems". I was prepared to live with it. Her breeder would sometimes send me Panacur and this would alleviate the diarrhea for a period of time but it would always start up again. Also during this time period, I took Tess to three different vets. We tried more Panacur, Flagyl, special cat food, etc. She had several tests for worms and other organisms. The fifth time I gave the Panacur to Tess it didn't help her at all. So I decided to get aggressive about it and started doing some research via the Internet.

I was fortunate to find the websites of TFFelines, Highgait Paws Cattery, and Dr. Jody Gookin. After I read everything I could find about Tritrichomonas Foetus, I approached her three vets with the information and they basically ignored me. (No one knew anything about TF and the new medication.) Finally, I strong-armed one of her vets into sending another feces sample out to a lab for a TF culture. I got a call from the vet (not her assistant) eight days later and she told me that the culture did indeed come back positive for TF! I think she (the vet) was more shocked than I was about the results.

From that time on, the vet followed a course of treatment from the advice I received from the above-named people … she gave me a script for 150mg of Ronidazole which I ordered via the Internet. Tess was supposed to take two capsules (150mg each) for 14 days. Getting two capsules a day into her was a real challenge … as all of you cat people know! I bought a contraption that is like a straight jacket with zippers which allowed only Tess's head to stick out. I put the capsule in the back of her throat and followed it up with an eye dropper of gravy. It was so pitiful. I felt like I was torturing the poor little thing twice a day. The vet had me stop the treatment on the 12th day. Tess was vomiting all day long and was staggering and falling down on the 12th day. She also developed four small blisters on the top of her head during the treatment. During the treatment she had constipation. ( She was having bowels movements only every three days. ) After her last capsule she went two months without an episode. She had one more episode on Christmas Day 2006 but has been completely free of the problem since then. About one year ago, she had her second TF culture done and it came back negative.

So I now have a big, beautiful, healthy Bengal girl! She weighs almost 11 pounds … and she had been the runt of the litter! She has a very very big personality. She walks on a leash, plays with and fetches the ball, talks continuously, goes to PetCo, and visits with her aunt and uncle and their dog, Suzie.

Thank you to everyone who helped me rid Tess of this very stubborn condition!

For the latest information on diagnosis and treatment of TF please read: AN OWNER'S GUIDE TO DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF CATS INFECTED WITH TRITRICHOMONAS FOETUS.