Cat Toxoplasmosis and Infectious Feline Peritonitis
Toxoplasmosis
Is a disease that causes great concern, due to comments about the relationship of cats and pregnant women. Cats contract the intestinal parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, when eating infected prey or raw meat, but rarely show signs of disease. Similarly, most humans have contracted toxoplasmosis at one time or another, manipulating raw meat or eating half cooked meat, with only one symptom: a mild cold.
The problem arises when a pregnant woman contracts the disease because there is a small risk of birth defects in the child. The reason cats have bad press is because the parasites eggs are found in the feces and, in theory, humans can get infected when handling contaminated feces.
Even though, the risk to be contaminated is extremely small because who in their right mind would manipulate cat feces and then put their hand in their mouth? Infection is much more likely when manipulating or eating infected meat or dirty vegetables.
Nonetheless, to be sure, pregnant women should use gloves when working in the garden and cleaning the litter box, avoid eating raw meat and always washing their hands after manipulating raw meat.
Infectious Feline Peritonitis
This deceitful disease is caused by a feline coronavirus. It mainly attacks cats under three years of age; older cats usually have a natural immunity. Infectious feline Peritonitis is transmitted through infected feces and saliva, and is a greater risk in large groups of cats that share the same food bowl and litter box. A cat can be infected by another healthy carrier of the virus. A blood analysis won't detect the virus, but will detect the level of antibodies to the coronavirus in the blood. While with most diseases having a high level of antibodies is beneficial, with the coronavirus it is the opposite and a high level of antibodies is worrisome. The good news is that ninety percent cats with coronavirus antibodies don't develop Infectious feline Peritonitis. The bad news is that most cats that develop Infectious feline Peritonitis die within a few weeks.
- Symptoms: Infectious feline Peritonitis is hard to diagnose because the first symptoms (fever, lethargy, weight loss and loss of appetite) are typical of many other feline diseases. With the passing of days, weeks or months, the cat will develop one of the two variations of Infectious feline Peritonitis: in the “wet” form liquid accumulates in the abdomen, which will appear grossly distended. The liquid can also gather in the cat’s chest causing difficulty breathing. The “dry” form can affect the nervous system, causing attacks, loss of balance, paralysis or urinary incontinence. Another sign is bleeding in the front of the eye.
- Treatment: there is no vaccination or active treatment (although it is said that homeopathy is effective to relieve the symptoms). An infected cat must be isolated from other cats. The virus dies outside the feline body in 48 hours, and is destroyed with disinfectants.
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