The arrival of Ehrlichia in Australia has been devastating for some remote dog communities. However, there’s no reason to panic, and it’s easy to prevent.
Here I’m going to help Australian dog owners to understand the risks, and know how to easily prevent it.
In the last few years, there’s been a lot of concern among dog owners about leptospirosis. And it’s no surprise. Not only is ‘lepto‘ a horrible disease, but it’s being seen in places where it never used to be.
Here you’ll find the latest information on the risk to Australian dogs and what you can do to reduce it.
The nightmare is almost over. Until very recently, a diagnosis of Feline Infectious Peritonitis was a death sentence. Either a slow, lingering decline or a decision to euthanase and spare the suffering. This happened to around 1% of cats, most of them still kittens.
Then it was discovered that certain antiviral drugs could not only improve the symptoms, they could actually bring about a cure. But there was still a hitch.
There’s a very good reason why so many kittens come with sneezes, runny eyes or coughs. This is true whether it’s a young kitten with continuous symptoms, or an older cat where the problem seems to get better and then come back.
Once you know it, a lot of other common cat illnesses start to make sense.
To understand what’s special about cat diseases, you need to look at how they began. So stick with me! What I’m about to discuss could be the most important health issue of cats.
Any disease that can jump from pets to people is famous, and toxoplasmosis is no exception. But that doesn’t mean everyone understands how it works.
Like how many cats get it and how they pass it on. Or how to stay safe, especially if you’re pregnant. And the disease in cats and dogs themselves. We’ll cover all these here.
Much has been said about a recent false positive test for COVID-19 in Australia. What is missing from the conversation is how normal this can be. It’s an everyday problem for all health professionals.
If you understand why that is you’ll be much better equipped to talk to your vet about any tests on your pet.
There’s a good reason why I’d written 500 pet health articlesbefore broaching the subject of diarrhoea in cats. When it isn’t easy to treat it can be extremely frustrating. There’s also a lack of good quality information for cat owners.
First let’s define the problem, and then discuss a logical treatment plan.
News Flash: Since writing this, there have been increasing reports of feline parvovirus outbreaks in the northern suburbs of Adelaide.
A few years ago I started getting questions about a new cat viral outbreak called cat plague. Cat plague? I may have been seeing cats for 25 years, but this was news to me too.
A quick google and it all became clear: this is a new name for an old disease. It goes by all these names:
There’s just one common cause of a lump on a cat’s face. Have a look at the picture above. I hope you can see that the left cheek isn’t chubby, it’s swollen. This is an abscess and it needs veterinary attention.
Have a look at the picture above. You could be forgiven for thinking that Barlie’s gums are just the result of a good chew on a bone. But hang on: why are there red spots a long way from the gumline and even on the tongue?
The answer is a disease you won’t easily find if you look up the causes of bleeding gums in dogs. Even though what Barlie had could have killed her.
Here are the most common reasons why a cat might sneeze. As nearly every one is associated with a runny nose, there’s also a description of the nasal discharge that goes with it.
For each, there’s a suggestion of the best treatment.
Does your dog do this? When mine gets excited or playful he starts sneezing.
Sneezing during play isn’t well understood, but it’s clearly one of the least serious causes of sneezing in dogs.
I’ll take you through the other common reasons, from minor to major. As nearly every one is associated with a runny nose, I’ll also describe the nasal discharge that goes with it.
By the time you make it to the end, you’ll be an expert!
Feline infectious peritonitis or FIP is probably the number one fatal viral disease of young cats around the world. Up to now FIP has had no effective treatments and no vaccine.
Now there is real hope of a successful treatment. I’ll explain it below after dismissing a few false hopes.
When I was young, like all kids, I wanted to know why everything happened. Having vets as parents, I can distinctly remember asking why male cats needed to be desexed.
“It’s because otherwise they fight so much that they get run down and die early.”
With the benefit of hindsight, this is pure folk wisdom. People could see that fighting was associated with sickness, but not yet why. Then, in 1986, hot on the heels of the discovery of the human AIDS virus, researchers in the USA put two and two together and found a feline AIDS virus in cats like these. We call it FIV.
What if I told you that your backyard chickens are carrying a respiratory illness? Even if they look perfectly fine. You’d have every right to be offended.
Well the truth is that most flocks carry more than one disease, and yet many never seem to have a problem. You’re about to find out why. You’re also going to learn what to do when one breaks out.
For a variety of reasons, lip and mouth problems are common in both kittens and cats. Most are easy to fix, but beware: they are hard to tell apart and some are extremely serious. Here are the essential facts for cat owners.
Vomiting can be a symptom of a wide variety of illnesses in cats, many of which are featured in this article. Vomiting can also be normal, so let’s start by deciding when to go to the vet.
Cat flu isn’t influenza or a cold, it’s either a herpesvirus or calicivirus
Symptoms include fever, not eating, and eye or respiratory infection
Many infected cats become virus carriers or have lifelong problems
Rarer conditions caused by cat flu include arthritis, gingivitis, eye damage, stillbirths & abortion
Now dive deeper.
A stray kitten was found in a backyard a few weeks ago. Like most people do, her finders never hesitated to give her a home. Straight away, however, they knew something was wrong.
That’s her pictured above and below. She’s obviously miserable, but it’s the second photo that shows what’s really going on. This is ‘cat flu’.
You probably diligently vaccinate your cat against flu but do you know what it is? Cat flu is nothing like what most people think. For a start, it’s not flu!
Common Symptoms Of Cat Flu
Cat flu just looks like a severe cold until you take a closer look. It causes:
Mouth ulcers, conjunctivitis and nasal discharge in a poor kitty with cat flu
Fever, lethargy and not eating or drinking
Clear or yellow-green discharge from the eyes and nose
Ulcers on the mouth, tongue and occasionally the eyes
But that’s not all. These nasty viruses sometimes do a lot more damage. Other important effects can be:
Arthritis
Viral pneumonia
Stillbirth, abortion or birth defects
And yet, there’s still even more. Most of the time it doesn’t go away…
How Long Does Cat Flu Last?
For a simple, uncomplicated case of flu, a cat might be back to normal in seven days. However, in most cases, secondary bacterial infection of the eyes, nose, sinuses or chest increases both the severity and duration of the illness.
Cat flu is treated by:
TLC, fluid and nutrition support
Antibiotics and eye ointments for secondary infection
Bathing and steaming to reduce buildup of secretions
More TLC
Most of these cats will still make a full recovery, although they suffer quite a bit in the process. For many, though, and especially the young or neglected, long-term problems persist.
Long-Term Effects of Cat Flu
Chronic rhinitis is a nasal infection that persists for life
Stunted growth is common in infected kittens
Stomatitis-gingivitis complex is a severe mouth infection
Most cats who get infected will carry the virus for life
If there’s just one thing I want all cat owners to understand about flu, it’s this last point about carriers.
How Cats Catch Flu
Cat flu is spread in the saliva of apparently healthy carrier cats. Nearly every cat who got cat flu once will carry and spread the virus for life. Carriers are estimated to represent around 30% of all cats.
It’s not their fault. It’s up to all of us to know where the real risk is and stop it. Here’s what I do…
How I Prevent Cat Flu
The viruses spread both directly from cat to cat and indirectly via objects, people and the environment.
I assume that every cat I see could be a carrier
I wash my hands between each cat and change my coat regularly
I use an isolation room for known infected cats
I clean and disinfect all equipment after every cat I see
I change my clothes when I get home
I ask breeders to test their breeding stock for carriers
I get my kittens from trusted sources like good breeders or the Animal Welfare League
Have something to add? Comments are welcome below and will appear within 24 hours. By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. These help topics are from a series regularly posted on email and Twitter. Subscribe via email here to never miss a story! The information provided here is not intended to be used as a substitute for going to the vet. If your pet is unwell, please seek veterinary attention.
UPDATE: We are glad to inform you that our standard Nobivac DHP vaccine has been proven to protect against strain CPV-2c. See more below.
Every dog owner’s worst nightmare is Parvovirus. This week the detection of a new strain in Australia was announced. Although there’s no reason to panic, here’s what vets and dog owners need to know.
It now seems clear that the K5 release was not very significant to pet rabbits (as we predicted!)
There is more evidence that the current Cylap vaccine is effective. A further study (reference below) has demonstrated 100% protection in a small group of rabbits experimentally exposed to K5 virus.
In early March 2017, the new K5 strain of calicivirus is planned to be released at 600 sites across Australia and 45 in South Australia. Here’s what pet rabbit owners need to know.
See also information in the comments regarding home disinfection.
To those who love rabbits it’s been a tough few years.
On the 24th of February, 2016 we were notified that the new strain of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus called RHDV2 had reached South Australia and was causing deaths around Adelaide.
We posted an alert on our Facebook page, and only then did the true horror of what was happening become clear.
Many of our cat-owning clients will already know how much we hate the name ‘cat flu’. The name comes from a time when we didn’t fully understand what these viruses were. These are serious diseases with often lifelong consequences for the infected cat. Here are the stories of four such cats: Felix, Sooty, Princess and Twitch.
(U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Christopher Boitz)
The most common bleeding disorder in dogs after rodenticide poisoning is a low platelet count.
Platelets are the small darkly stained blobs in this blood smear (the larger ones are red blood cells). They don’t look like much but they perform an essential function.