Feline Distemper (or Feline Panleukopenia Virus)

What is Feline Distemper / FPV in Cats?

FPV / Feline Panleukopenia Virus, otherwise known as Feline Distemper, is a highly contagious, life-threatening infectious disease in cats. It mostly affects kittens and unvaccinated cats, and it can be fatal if not appropriately diagnosed and treated. It is closely related to canine parvovirus (often confused as it is not related to the canine distemper virus).

The feline panleukopenia virus infects and kills the rapidly growing and dividing cells in the body, including cells in the bone marrow, intestines, and skin, and in a developing fetus.

The virus suppresses the production of all white blood cells in the bone marrow. These cells are important to the immune system and are used to fight infection. Without them, the cat is vulnerable to spreading the virus.

Infected cells in the intestines eventually lead to diarrhea, decreased appetite and vomiting. Severe dehydration ensues and the safety barrier between the intestines and the rest of the body breaks down, leading to secondary bacterial infections. The virus spreads quickly and is fatal, if left untreated.

Feline distemper virus is found everywhere in the environment; it is strong and can live for years. The virus can survive in the environment it was shed into or be carried on shoes, paws, bedding, bowls, litter boxes, etc. It can survive at freezing temperatures and room temperatures, and it can also survive the use of certain disinfectants, including iodine and alcohol.

The virus enters the body through the nose or mouth; the specific cat’s immune system determines the number of viral particles that enter the body. Usually, the virus invades the bone marrow and intestines within two to seven days of the cat coming into contact with the virus.

Panleukopenia is considered one of the deadliest cat diseases in the unvaccinated cat population. Kittens, cats with depressed immune systems and pregnant cats are at the highest risk to develop severe clinical signs of this disease.

Symptoms of Feline Distemper / FPV

Symptoms of feline distemper can range from mild to severe and may include the following:

• Lethargy

• Depression

• Vomiting

• Diarrhea

• Painful abdomen (when touched or may appear tense and distended without touching)

• Dehydration

• Weight loss

• Rough or unkempt hair coat

• Fever

• Decreased to absent appetite

• Collapse (in severe cases)

• Bruising of the skin or gums (in severe cases)

Kittens infected in the womb during the late stages of pregnancy may develop cerebellar hypoplasia once born, a condition where the virus affects the formation of a part of the brain called the cerebellum. This is the part that coordinates balance and movement.

Affected kittens will have mild to severe intention tremors and a wide-based stance. They may fall frequently or seem uncoordinated. Luckily, this is not considered a painful condition, and these special-need kittens, if kept in safe environments, can live long happy lives.

Causes of Feline Distemper / FPV

Cats become infected with this virus in utero due to their mother becoming infected while pregnant or being exposed to it in their environment. Kittens can also be infected in utero or via breast milk when feeding from their mother.

A cat carrying feline distemper virus will shed viral particles into the environment through feces, urine, saliva and vomit. Infection occurs when susceptible cats are in contact with these secretions.

Luckily, an infected cat only sheds the virus for a day or two, but since the virus is very stable in the environment, it can live for years. That is why it is common for cats to become infected due to their environment.

Diagnosing Feline Distemper / FPV

Feline panleukopenia can look like many other conditions, such as feline leukemia or feline immunodeficiency virus. Any kitten showing signs of fever, vomiting, diarrhea, depression, and a decreased appetite is a feline panleukopenia suspect. A thorough medical history can be helpful with diagnosis, especially if your cat was recently adopted, has been outdoors frequently, is unvaccinated, and/or has been around other cats.

Your veterinarian will likely do bloodwork to help with the diagnosis. Feline panleukopenia is suspected when exposure history is correlated with very low white blood cells and possibly low red blood cells (anemia).

Fecal testing for feline panleukopenia virus can be performed . If the cat received a panleukopenia vaccine 5-12 days prior to testing, this form of test is often falsely positive. Virus isolation (a test to find the virus in different tissue samples), antibody levels and PCR testing are also available to help confirm suspicions of feline panleukopenia.

Treatment of Feline Distemper / FPV

There is no specific treatment for feline panleukopenia. Dehydration is treated with aggressive intravenous fluid therapy while clinical signs of vomiting and diarrhea are treated with prescription medications.

Antibiotic therapy is often instituted to help control any secondary bacterial infections due to low white blood cell counts. However, antibiotics are not used to treat and clear the actual virus. For kittens and cats who appear in shock, or with severe infections, aggressive therapy and nursing care is necessary for resuscitation, using plasma/blood transfusions and anti-coagulant therapies.

Luckily, cats who do receive and respond well to aggressive therapy during the first few days of feline panleukopenia tend to have a good prognosis for a complete recovery. Kittens infected in utero during the early to middle stages of pregnancy typically do not survive. Those infected in the later stages of pregnancy tend to develop cerebellar hypoplasia but can live happy lives with normal survival times, depending on the severity of the neurological signs.

Prognosis decreases for cats with low protein levels, low temperatures, thin body conditions, and/or severely low white blood cells on bloodwork. These extremely ill cats have a poor prognosis and, on average, will pass away within 12-24 hours.

If a cat recovers from feline panleukopenia, there is usually no permanent damage to their organs, and they develop lifelong immunity to the virus.

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Cat Health

What is Feline Asthma? Clinical Signs, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prognosis

Asthma is a disease of the lower airways of the lungs that affects between 1 and 5% of cats.

Although there is some debate about the definition, most clinicians and researchers agree that feline asthma is caused by an allergic reaction to inhaled allergens— particles that stimulate a cat’s immune system.

When a susceptible cat first inhales an allergen, their system creates specific antibodies to target that antigen. When the cat is exposed to that antigen again, these antibodies recognize the allergen and start a cascade of events that bring many different types of immune cells to the airways. These immune cells then trigger the production of substances that promote inflammation, a condition that results in irritation, swelling, and reactive constriction of the airways. As a result, the diameter of the airways may decrease and mucus may accumulate within the passages. All these processes limit the ability of air to move through the airways and cause the cat to experience difficulty breathing.

The average age of cats diagnosed with asthma is between 4 and 5 years. It doesn’t appear that one sex is more susceptible to asthma, and although some studies suggest that Siamese cats may be predisposed to asthma, this has not been definitively proven.

Clinical Signs of Feline Asthma

Cats suffering from asthma may show signs of:

• difficulty breathing

• wheezing

• rapid breathing

• coughing or hacking

• open-mouthed breathing

• vomiting

These signs can vary in intensity, ranging from acute respiratory crises to chronic, low-grade coughing, elevated respiratory rate, or increased respiratory effort. These signs may happen spontaneously or they may be elicited by pressing lightly on the cat’s throat area. During an asthma attack, many cats hunch their body close to the ground and extend their necks forward in a characteristic posture

Diagnosis of Feline Asthma

There is no single, specific test that can definitively diagnose feline asthma. Instead, veterinarians rely on information gathering and testing to arrive at a diagnosis. If a veterinarian suspects your cat may have asthma, he or she will take into account the cat’s health history as well as the results of imaging studies, microscopic evaluation of the cells in the cat’s airway secretions (cytology), and in some cases, blood and allergy testing.

When it comes to diagnosing feline asthma, a picture is worth a thousand words, so veterinarians employ radiographs (X-rays), computed tomography (CT), and bronchoscopy to see inside a cat’s lungs and evaluate their condition. In cats with asthma, radiographs often – but not always – reveal a characteristic bright branching pattern along the airways that is created by the accumulation of inflammatory cells. Air trapped in the constricted airways may also cause the lungs to become overinflated and appear larger than normal in a radiograph. CT, which uses X-rays to generate three-dimensional reconstructions of the body, may also be useful in diagnosing asthma and distinguishing this condition from other causes of airway disease in cats, but this application of CT is still somewhat experimental.

Bronchoscopy is a technique in which a flexible camera (a bronchoscope) is passed through the mouth and down into the airways of the lungs. This technique, which requires either heavy sedation or general anesthesia, can be used to visualize the inside of the airways and to collect samples of cells that line the airways. Cats with asthma often have distinctive changes in the appearance of the lining of their airways, although some of these changes may also be seen with other respiratory diseases of cats. Analysis of cells from the airways of cats with asthma may reveal the presence of high numbers of inflammatory cells, although these cells may also be found in cats suffering from other respiratory diseases.

When diagnosing feline asthma, it’s crucial to rule out other conditions that can cause similar signs and give similar test results. Chronic bronchitis, infestation with lungworms, migration of other parasites into the lungs, as well as other infectious diseases that result in pneumonia can all result in signs and test results similar to those found in a case of feline asthma. Drugs used to treat these other conditions may not be appropriate for a cat with asthma, and may do more harm than good.

Treatment of Feline Asthma

To treat feline asthma, veterinarians will usually prescribe corticosteroids to reduce inflammation in the lungs, with or without bronchodilators to dilate the airways. Both of these types of drugs come in oral, inhaled, and injectable forms. Although corticosteroids may be used alone, bronchodilators are usually not used on their own as they don’t treat the airway inflammation that brings on asthma.

Other drugs and treatments for feline asthma have not yet been conclusively proven to work. Experimental therapies, including desensitization to specific allergens (like allergy shots in people), the use of omega-3 fatty acids, and drugs intended to disrupt the metabolic pathways that lead to inflammation show some promise for treating feline asthma, but further research is necessary to refine them and prove their safety and effectiveness. Other approaches are sometimes recommended because they are beneficial in human asthma patients, including purifying indoor air and avoiding allergens, but they have not been rigorously tested or proven to work in feline asthma patients.

Prognosis of Feline Asthma

Feline asthma is often a progressive condition that fails to improve significantly over time, and affected cats may experience occasional asthmatic flare-ups that vary in intensity from mild to life threatening. Although cats can never be truly “cured” of asthma, by carefully monitoring their respiratory effort, keeping an eye out for coughing, and intervening with medication when they need help, owners can help their asthmatic cats live happily for years.

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Cat Health

Fungal Disease in Amphibians (Chytridiomycosis)

Chytridiomycosis

Chytridiomycosis is a serious infectious disease caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, a zoosporic fungus related to water molds. The fungus feeds on keratin, a protein found in the outermost layers of the skin, and survives in most environments, even without a host. It is believed that the decrease in the population of frogs in many areas is due to chytridiomycosis.

A common way to recognize chytridiomycosis is to check your amphibian's skin for sloughing or shedding. The disease can be fatal for amphibians left untreated. Therefore, owners suspecting chytridiomycosis in their amphibian must seek immediate veterinary care.

Symptoms and Types

An amphibian suffering from chytridiomycosis may shed excessively, develop thickened or pale skin and, in the cases of tadpoles, disfigured beaks. Other common symptoms or signs include:

• Lethargy

• Loss of appetite (anorexia)

• Constriction of the eye's pupil

• Abnormal posture of the hind legs

• Abnormal behavior and disposition

• Hyperemia (an increase in blood flow to different body tissues)

Some amphibians present no clinical symptoms of the disease, but are still infected with the Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis fungus. These animals are carriers of the disease.

Causes

Chytridiomycosis is due to an infection with the B. dendrobatidis fungus. Generally, amphibians contract the fungus through their skin while in contaminated water.

Diagnosis

Veterinarians diagnose the disease by examining skin scrapings or toe clips that are stained and put under a light microscope. Placing an infected animal in a shallow dish of water will often confirm the sloughing of skin, a common symptom for chytridiomycosis.

Treatment

To treat chytridiomycosis, your veterinarian will prescribe antifungal medication, such as itraconazol, which is usually diluted and administered as a bath. Supplemental treatment may include ultraviolet light therapy.

Living and Management

For unknown reasons, chytrid infections have a high mortality rate. Therefore, it is important you follow your veterinarian's instructions and provide a clean aquatic environment and an appropriate temperature range for your amphibian.

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