Toxoplasmosis!!!

[Constance67]

Finally! A diagnosis for Beaver... he's got toxoplasmosis and will start treatment today.


In case no one remembers what was going on with him, here's the link to the thread about his symptoms...

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=53424


Thanks for all the help and support I was given on this.

[Radha]

That's great Constance - all good wishes. I hope he's better really soon! My kitty's called Sandy - he's 10 and I can empathise with how panicked you would have felt. Take care!

[hazelrunpack]

I'm glad you finally got a diagnosis!

How long will he be on meds?

[Constance67]

I'm not sure. He gave us 2 weeks worth of pills to begin with. He goes in for a check up next Thursday to see how things are going and then we'll take it from there.

The weird thing is, he wasn't intentionally testing for this, it just was a test included in a panel for Feline Leukemia, FIP and FIV. So I think we got really lucky, as well as being lucky in the fact that he's been on antibiotics for 3 weeks already. They weren't as strong as what he's taking as of today, but maybe that's what kept him from getting even worse.

The sickest he got was last Saturday when his fever was up to almost 105. That's when he was started on Clavamox, which seemed to make him almost 100% back to normal, except for his eyesight. We're hoping it will improve as well.

[growler~GateKeeper]

Toxo didn't occur to me Good thing you've now got a solid diagnosis & treatment plan to clear this all up

for more improvement soon

[Love4himies]

I am so glad you finally got a diagnosis! Your kitty should be fine in no time with treatment.

[Constance67]

He seems to be a lot worse. He's been on the meds since Friday and it's like he's going down hill. All he does is lay around and he seems to have lost more weight. I'm calling the doctor tomorrow.

Does anyone know anything about toxoplasmosis? I've googled it and read a lot about it, but not much about treating it in cats and how they respond to the treatment.

I'm just so tired of seeing him not feeling well and I feel so guilty because I can't help him anymore than I've done already. :sad:

[Dr Lee]

Originally Posted by Constance67

IThe weird thing is, he wasn't intentionally testing for this, it just was a test included in a panel for Feline Leukemia, FIP and FIV.

Constance,
it took so long for me to respond. I have been unavailable lately and will not be able to read many posts for a while.

If he was not intentionally looking for toxo, it may be that his gut feeling was right and that toxo is an incidental finding. Love4himies is correct, with clindamycin, for most cases the effects should be rather quick. However there are some cases which do not respond quickly. If toxo is the cause, then the prognosis can be worse if response is not seen. Toxo can lead to permanent neurologic damange in some cases. Overall clindamycin is a great medication, I use it commonly. In cats, though, many can get some GI upset. If clindamycin was solving the other clinical signs, then I often suggest adding in pepcid and/or an antiemetic such as metoclopramide.

It sounds like his clinical signs are responsive to Clavamox which means that there is a bacterial infection which is sensitive to Clavamox. Perhaps a longer course of treatment would be beneficial (4-6 weeks?)

If clinical signs recur, then further diagnostics to evaluate for an underlying disease with secondary bacterial infections would be in order. It would be helpful to find the location of the bacteria, however in a cat this can be easier than it sounds.

From what you have stated, I don't know that you need to change vets. It sounds like he is running all of the tests. When we come up with a positive test result, it is natural and correct to pursue treatment in that direction until there is enough evidence (such as lack of clinical response to the clindamycin and positive response to Clavamox) to re-evaluate. It sounds like we have a fever of unknown origin (FUO) case. These can be difficult, especially in cats. The infection can be in so many locations and some difficult to diagnose.

I am sorry if I am not much help on this one. Toxoplasmosis can be difficult and can be present for a long while prior to clinical signs. I think a lot of this will depend upon how sure we are that toxo is the cause. If you are looking for a second opinion, perhaps ask your veterinarian if he thinks an internal medicine specialist is in order. This would be better than getting 'another cook in the kitchen'. An internal medicine specialists job is to handle the unusual cases and make sure that the patient is headed in the correct path. Then they hand the case back to your regular, more affordable, veterinarian.

[Constance67]

That's ok Dr. Lee, I understand you have a busy life on this board as well as off this board, but any help you give is always much appreciated.

He's doing a bit better this morning, woke us up by scratching on the bedroom door because he wanted us to get up and give him some treats. They just are addicted to those Temptation treats! So I got up and gave him a few of those and check him out. His eyes haven't improved back to the stage they had improved to. I think the doctor was wrong when he told us to stop using the drops after he diagnosed him with Toxo, so I've started using the drops again.

We take him to an internal medicine specialist today and are hoping he'll be able to tell us what's going on and if it's all bad news or if we should keep trying and having hopes that he can come through this. If he has anymore bad days like he did Tuesday morning, then he'll be making the decision for us. It's just too hard to see him so sick.

But anyway, I'm thinking positive today! His appointment is at 5:30 this evening and it's about 60 miles away, but it's definitely worth it... he's definitely worth it. I've gotten copies of all his tests to take with me too.

I'll update this later tonight and let yall know what the doctor says.

[hazelrunpack]

Please do keep us posted, Constance!

and for good results tonight!!!!