Panleukopenia in cats: symptoms and treatment, danger to humans

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

From cat owners you can often hear about such a disease as distemper. In medicine, it is called panleukopenia. In cats (the danger to humans will be discussed later), it is especially common in summer and autumn. Distemper is characterized by a high degree of contagiousness and a high mortality rate.

Disease Information

The feline panleukopenia virus causes the disappearance of white blood cells in the blood. Kittens are most susceptible when the cat's milk stops protecting their immune systems. However, adult animals can also get sick.

Save a pet from the virus can be vaccinated, which lasts for a calendar year. The vaccination should then be repeated annually.

Routes of infection

Most often, cats catch panleukopenia at an early age, when the mother's antibodies stop working. But unvaccinated adults can also get sick. The virus spreads in several ways:

• from direct contact with the sickanimals;
• through excrement;
• from contact with virus carriers such as fleas.

In some cats, the virus may not manifest itself for a long time. The impetus for the disease becomes severe stress, for example, when moving.

Patogenesis

The virus gets cats into the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract, the inflammatory process begins. Then it spreads through the cells, which are distinguished by the speed of division. These particles are located in the intestinal mucosa and in the bone marrow. In these parts of the body, the virus settles.

Feline panleukopenia causes the following problems:

• enteritis - inflammation in the small intestine;
• leukopenia - a significant decrease in blood leukocytes leads to a decrease in immunity.

When old cells in lymphoid tissues die and new ones are no longer produced, the immune system is weakened. Then the virus begins to spread through the cells of other tissues. The body is no longer able to fight it.

Asymptomatic cats are at risk for panleukopenia. How to recognize a dangerous illness in a pet?

Onset of disease

In animals under one year old, the symptoms are more pronounced than in adults. Clinical signs in mature cats are a little blurred. This is what makes it difficult to diagnose and start treatment in a timely manner. The disease almost always results in the death of the pet.

Symptoms of panleukopenia in cats may appear on the third to twelfth day after the activation of the virus. BeforeAt this point, the disease is in a latent period.

Specific and non-specific symptoms

The owner of a cat can often see the first signs of many diseases of his pet, if he is attentive to him. The first symptom of panleukopenia in cats is behavioral. The animal becomes lethargic, depressed, drowsy. It eats poorly or refuses to eat at all, its body is hot to the touch.

The second wave of symptoms is related to the body's response to a viral infection. The mucous membrane of the nasal cavity becomes inflamed, sputum is secreted from it. The conjunctiva of the eyes turn red, there is a discharge.

When the virus has spread and managed to significantly harm the body, specific symptoms appear:

• Stomach soreness - the owner does not even need to touch the pet's stomach to understand that it hurts. The animal cannot lie down for a long time, stands in one place, arched.
• Vomiting - at first it is yellow, as the condition worsens, impurities of blood and mucus appear in it.
• Diarrhea - initially yellow, then greenish with blood impurities. You can see fibrin films in it. The smell from the bowel movements will be fetid, slightly putrid. The mucosa begins to die.
• Failure to drink - the pet is thirsty, but refuses water. This is due to the constant feeling of nausea. A sick cat may sit by a bowl of water for a long time, but not drink.
• Decrease in body temperature - a he althy pet should have a temperature38-39 degrees Celsius. In a sick animal, it can drop by one or two degrees.

The body is dehydrated, the animal may die, so it is necessary to inject liquid by drip. Diarrhea with mucus is one of the most dangerous symptoms.

The virus spreads much faster in kittens. The disease manifests itself superacutely, affecting the nervous system. Young pets may experience convulsions and paralysis.

Symptoms in pregnant animals

Cats in position are also susceptible to infection. In them, the disease can cause miscarriage or the birth of dead cubs. Even if the animal produces he althy kittens, they will be diagnosed with cerebellar hypoplasia. This part of the brain is responsible for coordinating movements. Kittens will be able to live normally, but for the rest of their lives they will remain clumsy. Their gait will be like "drunk", and their head will shake if the animal is focused on watching something.

The first symptoms of distemper, many owners confuse with poisoning and try to treat it at home. This is how precious time is wasted. It is important to contact a specialist when a pet is found to be vomiting, diarrhea, refusal of food and water.

If panleukopenia is detected in cats (symptoms and treatment are described in the article), you should immediately contact your veterinarian. Every day matters.

Treatment

The specialist will be able to combine all the symptoms together and prescribe a treatment for panleukopenia in a cat. After diagnosing the disease, the doctorwill prescribe a course of therapy that the owner of the animal can carry out at home.

In the early days of the manifestation of the disease, the use of hyperimmune serum is effective. This drug is made from the blood of an ill cat and contains ready-made antibodies to the virus. The body of a sick pet will be able to cope with the disease with their help.

There is no specific treatment. There are a number of methods that aim to help the body overcome the disease:

Fight against dehydration

With distemper, a cat loses a lot of fluid, but refuses to take water, so the water-s alt balance is disturbed. To restore it, droppers containing saline are needed. It is injected into the cat subcutaneously. You can feed your pet with small portions of saline solutions, which are sold ready-made and are designed to combat dehydration. They include s alt, soda, glucose, potassium and sodium ions. These actions will relieve some symptoms, but they will not be able to overcome the virus.

Antibiotics

The point of using antibiotics is not to kill the virus. It's impossible. Drugs such as penicillin or cephalosporin can fight bacteria that multiply rapidly in the body due to a weakened immune system. Treatment with antibiotics will significantly reduce the number of pathogens.

Anspasmodics

With severe pain, the appointment of antispasmodics is allowed. They are injected.

Help the animal cope with the virus can take care of the owner. Do not give to your pet without the permission of the veterinariandrugs to stop vomiting and diarrhea.

Diet for sick animals

When detecting dangerous symptoms of panleukopenia in cats, you need to start strengthening the body with vitamins. They will boost weakened immunity, which will speed up the recovery process.

The appearance of vomiting and diarrhea can be a protective reaction of the body. So it removes toxic substances and prevents them from being absorbed into the body through the intestinal mucosa. Sometimes a veterinarian may prescribe vaseline oil by mouth. It will not allow harmful substances to be absorbed through the mucous membrane of the digestive tract. With effective treatment with serum and antibiotics, diarrhea and vomiting should resolve on their own.

The most commonly prescribed starvation diet. The reason lies in several factors. Firstly, the body is not able to fully digest food. Secondly, digestion is followed by the absorption of nutrients and, together with them, toxins formed as a result of the activity of pathogenic microorganisms. In addition, the owner is unlikely to be able to convince the animal to eat. The cat will not want to eat after prolonged diarrhea and vomiting. To maintain strength, it will be enough to inject saline.

Caring for sick pets

Feline panleukopenia is a serious disease. In addition to the treatment that the veterinarian should prescribe, the owner of a furry animal needs to monitor hygiene. Feces and vomit must be carefully removed to prevent a sick cat from re-infecting.

It is necessary to ventilate the dwelling frequently. This will reduce the concentration of the virus in the room. But atthis should be ensured that the air temperature does not drop much, and the cat does not lie in a draft. An extra cold or pneumonia will only make matters worse.

It is important for a pet to ensure peace. This will help him recuperate.

Treating a cat for distemper is a rather complicated process. The owner will have to endure all the torments of the animal, observing its condition. If the treatment is not started in time, the result in most cases will be fatal. Therefore, it is extremely important to contact the veterinarian on the first day of illness. And it is better to do everything to prevent it.

Prevention

A pet owner may never experience feline panleukopenia if the pet's he alth is taken care of. For this, a two-month-old kitten must be given the first vaccination against the virus. Then the procedure is repeated after two to four weeks. Then immunity must be "renewed" annually.

Some cat owners find it unnecessary to vaccinate pets that are never outside. But in vain. The causative agents of the virus can get into the apartment with shoes.

If a cat died of distemper in the family, it is better to get a new pet a month or later. The home needs to be properly cleaned. The fact is that the virus is distinguished by its resistance to external factors and is able to live in a closed space for up to a year.

It remains to be seen how dangerous panleukopenia is to humans? But before that, a little positivity. If a cat is included in those few 10% of the lucky ones and has been ill with distemper,her immunity to this virus becomes lifelong.

Danger to humans

Panleukopenia in cats (symptoms discussed above) is caused by parvovirus. Having diagnosed a serious illness in a pet, a person will worry not only about the he alth of his beloved cat. People especially care about their children. This is not surprising since many viruses are transmitted from animals to humans. Others are able to mutate, so the body does not have the necessary antibodies to fight them.

Parvovirus is known in the world, which can be transmitted to humans. He wears code B19. However, its impact on people is minimal. In the worst case, it can cause anemia (decrease in red blood cells).

As for panleukopenia, it is caused by a parvovirus that does not affect humans. At least nowhere has a single case been recorded of a person getting sick with cat distemper. You can safely take care of a sick pet and not worry about your own he alth. However, general hygiene rules should still be followed.