Richard Nixon the Cat: Maybe coronavirus (FCoV), maybe giardiasis.

I was worried to death that we wouldn't be bringing Richard home from the vet today. We have to give him two very nasty medicines, metronidazole and pancur, and feed him special food - and keep him away from the other cats' food.

Vet said coronavirus sometimes leads to feline infectious peritonitus, but she's not going that far. The test for giardia (a flagellated protozoan parasite) was inconclusive, but he definitely has the symptoms.

Anyone had experience with either of these two things?

Richard

I hope he gets well soon!

He needs the good wishes. I practically have to break his bones in order to hold him tightly enough that Mrs. V. can get that nasty medicine (liquid) down his throat. :cry:

BTW, how did he get his name?

The kids in the family that fostered the litter that he and Harry came from had named all the kittens for talk show hosts. The black & brown tabby I took home was Richard Bey (this was 1994). My gray tabby was Montel Williams. I knew I didn't want to keep Montel's name, but I wasn't sure about Richard's.

When I brought them home, I was in the middle of David McCullough's Truman. The cover of the book has a fine painting of the president, with his steel-grey hair. It was about the same color as the gray tabby's fur, so I named him Harry. Harry Truman.

Also about the same time Richard Nixon had died, so I decided to keep the name "Richard" but to name the cat Richard Nixon.

:)

Not only do we share a name (:P), but he also looks rather like my cat. Get well soon, Richard. :(

:hi:

Fun stuff...you become a well oiled plumbing system with no shutoff valve...

How did you get it? If it's what Richard has, the only thing we can figure is that he stepped in deer stool in the backyard. :shrug:

It's usually a water-borne parasite

Beware of those pristine looking mountain streams.

That was after a bout of coccidia. They were on antibiotics and finally tested negative for both, but nothing stopped their drippy little butts until we changed their diet. Then they cleared up in two days, but they still get flare-ups of diarrhea when they get into the other food.

:(

I hope it proves to be nothing more than depression.

No worries.

Besides, we just call him Richard. Except when he misbehaves. Then we call him Dick.

He wasn't named after Nixon though.

Richard is a beautiful name, but there were - if one believes Shakespear - two very disturbed rulers with that name, one of whom has your cat's name.

Disturbed rulers - yes.

He wasn't really named after Richard Nixon. It was an afterthought, tossed in when I named my Harry Truman.

All my cats have last names. Petey Fisher, Toby Banana-Claw, etc.

10 years ago, nasty little parasite -- intense gastric pain and explosive diarhea. I suspect it was from street fair sausage.

They put me on some other med before the metronidazole. It has a warning about psychotic episodes in a small number of people but I had no real problem with it. Seemed to produce a very mild high kind of like LSD (not that I would know). And it cleared the parasite quickly.

After the first dose, the diarrhea came to a screeching halt. NO diarrhea since last night....

I honestly didn't know until yesterday at the vet that humans could get this, too. :(

it just nukes everything. But then you have to keep taking it because the lifecycle on giardia is a couple weeks.

I never thought I would be saying this but... Long live Nixon!

and I recommend some Grateful Dead after you dose him. Maybe the 1975 Santa Barbara show or something fromt the Touch of Grey tour. That and a nice fish tank to stare at.

http://www.medicinenet.com/metronidazole/article.htm

:rofl: