Pale and wan

In the last few weeks we have seen several anaemic cats. Their carers brought them in because they sensed something was wrong but they weren’t sure what. 

All of the cats had gone off their food and were a bit quieter than usual. Anaemic dogs

are more lethargic than normal, but it’s hard to tell if a cat is lethargic, especially in winter!

On examination we found the cats’ gums were paler than usual and ordered a blood count. All of them had red cell counts that would have humans gasping for an oxygen mask. Cats are definitely experts at conserving energy and hiding any illness.

The youngest kitten had found a tasty box of rat poison, which stops the blood from clotting normally. He had bled into his chest and was having difficulty breathing. The direct antidote and a few days in hospital soon had him back on the prowl.

The pathologist found some blood parasites called Hemoplasmas in a blood smear from a four year old Burmese named Chloe. Rest and a course of antibiotics soon had Chloe in the pink again.

Old Jester was not so lucky. His vet found that he had an enlarged liver. When we took a sample of the liver we found cancer cells. He had bled into his abdomen. Chronic diseases like cancer also suppress the bone marrow where blood cells are made. 

Old timer Lord Wellington had kidney disease. Cats with kidney disease are often anaemic. Wellie is on a special diet for his kidneys, which has bought him several extra years of life so far. He is comfortable with his moderate anaemia at the moment as he has had time to compensate for it. Anaemia of kidney disease is difficult and expensive to treat but his carers are considering his options at the moment. 

Blood transfusions in cats are always a risky business. Both donor and recipient have to be exactly the same blood type. We also cross match the bloods because some cats react even to their own blood type. On most occasions we can avoid a transfusion if we keep the patient quiet and unstressed for a few days.

If you think something is not quite right with your feline friend you are probably right! We always take your gut feelings seriously so don’t hesitate to call us. Better to catch dropping blood counts early than let your cat suffer.

DON'T feed the man meat...

Kittens on all meat diets soon get thin bones. 

Young Rolly’s arm broke last week when he jumped off the couch. It was not very far down from the couch, especially for an energetic 4 month old kitten.

When we looked at his X-rays we were horrified to find that his bones had less calcium in them than his muscles.

Rolly prefers plain meat so his owner had been feeding him just that - chicken breast, beef mince and the occasional chunk of liver. 

No meat has enough calcium in it for growing bones. The ratio of calcium to phosphate is completely upside down causing the body to mobilise calcium from bones for essential organ function.

Specialty kitten diets have extra calcium and protein in them. The calcium and phosphorous are in the correct ratio to support bone growth and organ function.

While I recommend that all kittens should taste a variety of meats so that they are not fussy later on, kitten foods of all kinds should be the mainstay of a kitten’s diet. 

Once they are adults cats can have more meat. Meat strips and chunks keep adult cats’ teeth clean and healthy.

Rolly is on a good quality kitten food and a calcium supplement to strengthen his bones. He also sports a smart fluoro green cast on his left arm.

Herpesvirus and sore eyes

Two cats with sore eyes came to visit this morning. Meeka is a bouncy 8 week old Burmese. Jafar is a more sedate, but no less fun-loving, 7 year old Himalayan.

Meeka came from a breeder last weekend and has just developed a bit of a crusty discharge in the corner of both eyes. When I had a close look his eyes were a bit red and more watery than normal.

Jafar has episodes of red weepy eyes every few months. He is a bit of a stress-head and the episodes seem to correspond with changes in the household like a new house, visitors or an intruder cat in the yard.

They are both showing signs of feline herpesvirus infection. Meeka’s infection may progress to a runny nose and sinusitis or she may throw it off and never have another episode. If she goes off her food or is lethargic we will prescribe antibiotics for secondary infections.

Herpesvirus in Jafar hides in a nerve ganglion and just comes out when he is stressed. The conjunctivitis is a bit painful so we recommend artificial tears to keep the eye well lubricated. He is also taking an antiviral drug to try and reduce the viral load and conjunctivitis.

The other cat in Jafar’s household must have developed an immunity to the virus as she has never shown signs even when Jafar is shedding virus everywhere.

We keep a close watch on Jafar’s eye because herpesvirus can cause ulceration of the cornea, the window of the eye, and occasionally loss of the eye.

Cat medicine study

Sorry posts to Hall Cat Vet have been sparse lately. I have been studying an intensive cat medicine course this year and Cleo has been very strict with me. Here she is supervising my nutrition study.
The good news is that she thinks my knowledge is now adequate and I will have more time for translating it onto Hall Cat Vet now!

Feline’s superior taste

Have you ever wondered why cats are not interested in chocolate cake, doughnuts or jelly beans? Recent research has found that they don’t have the taste buds for sweetness.

Researchers found that carnivores like cats have lost the gene that encodes the taste buds for sweetness. This is because their diet is primarily animal-based rather than plant-based. 

The missing gene is necessary for successful utilization of plant material.  In human beings and other omnivores, and in herbivores the missing gene codes for the taste receptors for sweets of plant origin like fruits and berries.

Because cats have a mainly animal-based protein diet the genes for the missing enzyme were not selected for and so they evolved without it.  

Other affected species included dolphins, sea lions, seals, otters, and hyenas. It appears that the ability to taste sweets has been lost in most carnivorous species. I guess they’ll never know what they’re missing.

Feline AIDS and your outdoor cat

Cat AIDS results from infection with the Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV). FIV suppresses the immune system of infected cats. Like a human infected with HIV, a cat infected with FIV shows no signs for years and then falls foul of every passing parasite and infection. 

Australia’s cats have one of the highest rates of FIV infection in the world. Because the virus is spread by biting, outdoor cats are more likely to be infected. In a Sydney survey 25% of a feral cat colony were infected with FIV.  In pet male cats allowed outside the prevalence was 12%.

Fortunately an FIV vaccine is available in Australia. Kittens under 6 months who go outdoors are vaccinated at their kitten checks. 

We can run a test for the virus at the Surgery for older cats before we vaccinate them. Cats who go outdoors, especially if they fight, should be tested and vaccinated.

Cats with FIV eventually become ill with diseases like trench mouth, demodex, toxoplasmosis, cryptococcosus, kidney disease, fitting and cancer. Although we treat each disease as it comes up, eventually the infected cat dies at a much younger age than its peers. 

Treatment of the FIV infection itself is very difficult as cats are very susceptible to the side-effects of many of the drugs used to treat HIV. Feline interferon shows some promise but is very expensive.

I always knew cats were different!

BRAIN not needed: nerve signals are not necessary to control the muscles of a cat's pupil. A light-sensitive pigment in the iris can do the job instead.

Mammals were thought to rely on signalling between the eye and brain to resize the pupil and control the amount of light reaching the retina, but researchers at Johns Hopkins University discovered that eyeballs isolated from animals that are active at night or at dusk and dawn - including cats - continued to respond to light. They traced the effect to melanopsin, a light-sensitive pigment in the iris muscle.

The pigment plays a similar role in birds, fish and amphibians. It might provide dark-loving mammals with an additional pupil-shrinking tool that helps them avoid being dazzled if suddenly exposed to light.

See this report for more information on this intriguing finding.