# Finally, a diagnosis...



## Jet Green (Nov 28, 2005)

After 3.5 years, five vets, two vet clinics, a small fortune in tests, and uncountable hours of Internet research, we finally have a diagnosis for what is causing our cats' diarrhea. Actually, we have two: Coronavirus and Clostridium Perfringens Enterotoxin. 

This should make me happy, but it doesn't. The coronavirus is incurable unless it happens to go away by itself. The CPE has a potential cure (Tylosin, essentially an antibiotic that tastes like Bitter Yuck), but it will probably impossible to give my cats. Cats just do not take Tylosin voluntarily, and I can't force-medicate mine on a regular basis because they're partly feral, and it's like medicating wild bobcats. When they've needed medication in the past, I've boarded them -- but they may need Tylosin for several weeks or months, or a year, or even forever as a maintenance med.

I guess in the worst-case scenario, things just go on as they are, which involves a lot of Prednisone, Metamucil, hours per week bleaching their litter boxes, and keeping jugs of Nature's Miracle handy. It's not how I want to spend the next 10+ years of my cats' lifespan, but I don't seem to have much choice. The only other options are turning them outside or having them euthanized, both of which are unacceptable.

Sorry for the depression post. It's just so frustrating to finally have a diagnosis, and a potential cure, and have it be impossible to give.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

That's a bummer!

Are you able to pill them at all? I was needing to give Callie regular doses of Flagyl, which is equally lousy tasting and just the smell of the tablet being taken out of the vial was enough to send her running. I had a compounding pharmacy crush the tablets and put them in gel caps. So there was no smell or taste. And I administered them with a pill popper and a squirt of water right behind it, the gel caps slide down their throat a lot easier than tablets. The whole thing was significantly less traumatic.


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## irishgirl982 (Jun 25, 2009)

My roommate's cat has an autoimmune disease and we had to give her loads of prednisone tablets (at one point it was 2 times a day)

It was HORRIBLE... at first she was unsuspecting and it was doable... but after that she started to see it coming, and it was making her miserable. I just felt so bad. She is the sweetest cat with such a loving nature. It just broke my heart to do it.

The vet suggested we get "pill pockets". Well, Lina will eat ANYTHING. She LOVES to eat. So we got the pill pockets and put the pill into the pocket and she THINKS IT'S A TREAT!! 

It worked like magic!!

Of course if you have a picky cat that won't eat barely anything... then you might have a problem. Our other cat won't eat anything soft, so it's a good thing he didn't need the pills! (he's also a lot more crazy than Lina so there's no way we could get him to let us throw the pill down his throat either. ugh)


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## Jet Green (Nov 28, 2005)

Thanks for the replies. I do give them Prednisone in Pill Pockets, and I agree they're a lifesaver! But that's the only pill they'll take that way. 

The only cat we can restrain well enough to pill is Yoshi. We actually do give him daily Flagyl, because he won't eat Metamucil, but he's the only one. We've been able to give liquid meds to Taro in the short term when we've absolutely had to, but it wasn't pleasant. And Hissy and Hinata are just impossible, very feral and very strong. Even the vet clinic staff have had significant trouble handling them. 

But we're weighing the options. The vet recommended putting the Tylosin in canned tuna packed in oil, so I'm going to try that tomorrow. We're also considering maybe boarding them for two weeks and just blitzing them with as much medication as we can safely give them, in the hopes of killing all the CPE at once. Separating them could also help them get rid of the coronavirus, since the reason it's so hard to get rid of is that the cats keep reinfecting each other. But, the boarding would cost several hundred dollars, and there's no guarantee it would work.  Anyway, we're thinking.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

You have quite a problem, JG.  Separating them sounds sensible. I think it's worth a try.


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## OsnobunnieO (Jun 28, 2004)

Tylosin and Tylan are the same right? If so, the dose is going to be so small I would almost hesitate to say you'd have a hard time even measuring it, let alone enough for them to notice in the food.

My old vet's golden retriever needed 1/8 of a teaspoon. I think "a scant pinch" was recommended to an english bulldog patient a while back.

Have you discussed dosages with your vet yet?

My understanding on the medication is that its generally used in farm birds and added to the water supply.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Any chance you could learn to inject them (and have them tolerate it)? It comes in injectable form...

Compounding pharmacies can also make treats, but don't know if they would be able to mask the taste.


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## Jet Green (Nov 28, 2005)

OsnobunnieO said:


> Tylosin and Tylan are the same right? If so, the dose is going to be so small I would almost hesitate to say you'd have a hard time even measuring it, let alone enough for them to notice in the food.


I'm actualy somewhat confused about the dosage. The vet's instructions were a "small pinch" once per day. Every clinical study or article I've found, however, says to give that amount twice a day. And at least one source says that a "small pinch" is equal to 1/16 of a teaspoon, which (I measured) is a very large pinch, at least for my fingers.

One of cats has surprised me, though: Hinata has been eating it in her regular food. This is the cat who is so picky that for most of her four years of life has been eating exactly one flavor of Fancy Feast, three times a day, every day, and regarding all other foods as poison. Yet she's eating the bitterest antibiotic on the planet like it's not even there. Go figure! 

The boys continue to regard the smallest amount in their food as poison, however. 

I don't think I would be able to inject them, either. The probem is not so much pilling them, as being able to catch and hold onto them without injury. I'm really not exaggerating: both Hissy and Hinata have gotten away from professional vet staff and run loose in the clinic. They used to refuse to vaccinate Hissy without gas anethesia, and he is known at the clinic as "_that _cat." :?


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## Stryker (Apr 2, 2007)

Here's a suggestion...

Many drugs can be given transdermally. Recently I read of another antibiotic, Baytril, being compounded into a transdermal gel which was then applie to the inside of the cat's ear where it was absorbed very quickly.

There are a number of compounding pharmacy in Orlando - your Vet may even use one - you might call them and ask whether Tylosin could be administered this way.



> ...We're also considering...just blitzing them with as much medication as we can safely give them, in the hopes of killing all the CPE at once...


 That sounds scary to me...before considering this, please talk to your Vet!

You might also want to consider using some probiotics if the Tylan causes loose stool (or worse!).


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