It was difficult to find a vet that knew what TF was. I waited for a morning when I spotted a cowpie stool and took a photo of cowpie stool (posted somewhere on the TF thread) and went to vet that same day. The vet took a stool sample with a q-tip and put the fecal matter on a slide with saline and looked at it under a microscope. If I remember correctly, there was a hook on what they saw swimming. In fact there were close to 20 that could be seen on the slide. The problem with bringing in a stool sample was that it dies very quickly once outside of the body, thus nothing would be seen in a stool sample that you carry in. The 2 symptoms that made me sure I was dealing with TF was the odor and the cowpie stools that would come and go even though other tests were negative( fecal float test, Giardia etc). I got Tink 8/30/10, the odor was always present, had the cowpie stools on and off from day 1. Read something about TF on Sunset Exotics website in Feb., 2011. Started doing research. The more I read, the more sure I was. She was not diagnosed until June, 2011. She was treated, and retested in Aug. 2011. We have not had any issues since then. Sue