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.
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:
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.
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.
UPDATE LATE 2017- Myxomatosis is once again rare in pet bunnies in Adelaide, but vigilance is essential. Please let us know if your rabbit becomes infected.
Myxomatosis is a serious and common disease of pet rabbits in Adelaide. We’ve put together this information for rabbit owners about preventing and treating myxomatosis.
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.