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Health Issues For information on Pyometra, please see the separate page on the index on Pyometra. On this page there are articles on: General anaesthetics used for small procedures, pectus excavatum, and feline herpes. The first topic covers use of anaesthetic gas without first using a sedative, as some vets do at times. Herpes - we've not had experience of this problem, but feel it's useful to us all to know something about. Pectus, we have experience of. Use of General Anaesthetic gas for small procedures As far as we are aware, only two kittens/cats have died after leaving us (both Ocicats), and because a post mortem wasn't done the cause of death in the first was a mystery, so although all sorts of suggestions were offered by the vet at the time, such as accident etc, we'll never know the cause. The second kitten who died was taken to a vet, but not the owners regular vet, but one who was cheaper, for a blood test prior to mating, which is normal. Now the blood test procedure takes about a minute, is generally done with the owner present, and a small sample is taken from a vein in the neck or front leg. This vet gave general anaesthetic gas for a very simple procedure that most vets do without any sedation. The cat died. The owner said that it was an allergic reaction but no post mortem was done to find out exactly what had happened. On seeking advice from professionals this is what we were told: 'Even the safer anaesthetics can cause arrhythmias in people and animals. My guess is that she was terrified and fractious which is why she needed to be sedated and had lots of epinephrine and other vasoactive substances running wild in her system when she was given the anaesthetic. She likely had a fatal arrhythmia under those circumstances. This is not a congenital or heritable problem, but one caused by the juxtaposition of a scared cat and a very potent anaesthetic. But a Post Mortem should have taken place by a third party to find out exactly what DID happen'. The owner of this cat had said she'd heard that allergies can run in families, showing up in various ways, so we asked the Feline Advisory Bureau about this aspect (although since virtually all the kittens we've sold have been neutered and have had no allergy problems with anaesthetics or anything else at all, we thought this unlikely) and the Feline Advisory Bureau have stated very clearly that they do not consider that there is any likelihood of allergic reactions in these lines based on this incident. This is really sad - an unnecessary death of a kitten we'd bred at just a year old, and we hope that telling others about it might help prevent it happening again to other breeders and owners. Even when operations are performed a sedative is used to sedate the cat before anaesthetic gas is used and giving a gas to an already excited cat puts them more at risk of something like this happening. It is not normal for a cat to be given anaesthetic gas for a simple blood test. We've had many blood tests done by our own vet and gas has never been used. This information was taken directly from a good vet's site with their permission: 'The use of a "premed" has various effects to try and increase the safety of anaesthesia. Patients are generally more relaxed and less stressed after a premed. The reduction in anxiety levels and circulating adrenaline will help to reduce the risks of having anaesthetic complications. The actual dose of anaesthetic required is often much lower after a premedication injection. This will mean that the body has to do less work to clear the anaesthetic from the system. Other effects may be to reduce the volume of secretions produced within the lungs and mouth.' We are going to start a list of vets recommended by people we know and the above information about use of 'premeds' comes from one of those vets and they can be found on: www.vethospital.co.uk/ They are in Harrogate. We would also recommend our own vets in Sleaford, Lincs. That is Matthew Fry, and the telephone number is 01529 307878 - he doesn't have a website as yet.
Pectus Excavatum - Chris Hughes Latest news: We are very pleased to report that a research group, http://www.think-project.org/, has been founded to raise funds and collect data in order to create an academic research post to investigate thoracic deformities in kittens, particularly FCK and pectus, with the aims of: Identifying
specific thoracic deformities clearly The organisation will be launched formally at the GCCF Supreme Show in the UK in November 2005. It is likely that at least £300,000 will be needed to fund this research adequately (salary, overheads, consumables, lab and bench fees etc.), and we cannot expect to find all of this from veterinary sources. Initially we will need funds to gather primary data and organise a program of education through vets surgeries, as well as bringing the scheme to public attention. If you would like to make a donation to the fund it will be possible to do so through PayPal (any currencies) or by sending a cheque (GBP only). Please contact me for further details. Pectus Excavatum – Sam When Sam (Merrydancer Samba) was born he seemed fine, but within a few days we realised there was some deformity in his ribs. We weren’t sure if this was a case of being flat chested, or what. It was only a couple of weeks later that we realised this was pectus excavatum – where the sternum dents inwards.
People from all over the world very kindly sent us information on the subject, and we are hugely grateful to Sue Shorey, who send us a link to a site that detailed an operation her kitten had successfully had - http://www.vetsurgerycentral.com/pectus.htm Initially we were hopeful that this condition could right itself without intervention, but when it suddenly started to affect him just before he was 5 weeks old, the vet x-rayed him and tested his heart and lungs. His heart was being pushed to one side by the sternum pushing inwards, but no damage had been done, while his lungs, being somewhat constricted, were just beginning to cause problems. Then when he went downhill overnight, showing the first signs of difficulty in breathing, we decided after discussion with the vet, that we had no choice but to try operating. He wasn’t going to survive until the age of 7-8 weeks which is normally the earliest the operation would be done. Sam had the operation as detailed in the link above – our vet used this information to guide him. This was just how our vet did it (this picture is from the link, but Sam looked exactly the same):
Chris Hughes
Herpes (Feline Rhinotracheitis) – Just one type of Cat Flu.© C.M.Hughes First of all, I’m no vet, but as a responsible breeder, I am interested in anything that can affect my cats, and only got interested in this subject because a friend had Feline Herpes in her household. Because it was difficult to get answers to questions she had, a few of us looked into it to find as much out as possible. There is a lot of contradictory information available, but I’ve done my best to sort through it as much as I could. Some of this information came from vets, some from the internet and other breeders, and some from vet books. I’ve mentioned some of the sources of this information at the end of this article. The best way to prevent viral diseases, such as Herpes, is vaccination, (but this doesn’t always prevent the cat catching Herpes, but limits the severity, and doesn’t prevent carrier status). There are two types of vaccination for Herpes, Calici and Enteritis; and these use either live or dead vaccines. Some say that a live vaccine gives better protection, but there have been cases of kittens being affected with the disease they’ve been vaccinated for with the live vaccine, usually in a much milder way though. A recent study has shown that if the live virus is ingested or inhaled from the coat after vaccination, then this could be a cause, and a way to prevent this would be to swab the vaccination site with alcohol after the jab, to inactivate any virus that leaks out. Feline Herpes virus can present itself in a very mild way, causing very mild symptoms, but can be very serious and sometimes fatal. Young kittens are particularly susceptible to infection with viruses that cause respiratory disease, such as Feline Herpesvirus and Feline Calicivirus, which are the most common of the cat flu’s, as well as Chlamydia which is fairly common, or Bordatella, which in the past was often unrecognised, and the symptoms just put down to ‘cat flu’, but there has been a test developed recently for it and many more cases are showing up than were expected. A whole litter can die from respiratory disease or dehydration, or suffer from brain or liver damage, and they can be infected by their mother while still in the uterus. In very young kittens (or immunosuppressed cats, e.g. those co-infected with FeLV or FIV, or on corticosteroid or Ovarid treatment, but it has to be borne in mind that the dosage of Ovarid breeders generally give their cats is far less than the manufacturers recommended dose, and we don’t know what dosage was used in testing cats on Ovarid for Herpes) cat 'flu can progress to severe pneumonia but if they can be brought through the early stages then it can be possible to vaccinate early (but this vaccination starting at about three weeks, and revaccinating every three weeks would only be temporary and used when there is a particular risk of the kittens being infected by the queen), and by weaning early and isolating from a carrier queen at 3 to 4 weeks, it is possible to still produce kittens not carrying Herpes, but a breeding queen will usually infect successive litters of kittens. If queens have only low levels of anti-FHV antibodies in their milk, their kittens may be protected from showing disease but are not sufficiently protected not to get infected, so that they can become carriers without having shown disease. At room temperature the virus can survive in the environment for up to 10 days (I tried to find out how the virus is likely to survive in heat and cold, but was unable to find any data on this). Clinical signs usually appear 2-7 days after exposure, although there has been the odd case of 17 days, but there is a suspicion that perhaps the cat could have been infected from a different source from that previously thought, and signs of Herpes can be very similar to Calici, and can only be identified by testing (by a vet). The illness will peak about 10 days after first signs, starting with severe bouts of sneezing for 1-2 days, then conjunctivitis and water discharge from eyes and nose, suggesting flu, will appear. By the third day there can be fever, apathy and loss of appetite and the discharge from the eye or nose will be mucous like, as bacteria becomes involved. The temperature can go as high as 105 degrees F. In Herpes, cats can also develop ulcers on corneas on the eyes – if this develops the eyeball can even rupture, and eye drops can be used to prevent this. Dehydration and starvation are among the complications that can lead to death. Lesser known signs include abortion and/or reabsorption of kittens in pregnant cats. It can also be responsible for fading kittens from infected queens. This usually occurs when the kittens are around 2-4 weeks of age. It has been suggested that if kittens begin to show signs of fading, then giving antibiotics quickly can pull them back. Cats
suspected of having Herpes should be isolated and encouraged to eat and
drink, being supplemented by fluids if necessary.
If the cat won’t feed or drink at home then it may be necessary
to be admitted into a vet hospital to be put on a drip or tube fed.
Because cats rely very much on their sense of smell, if their nose
is blocked then the appetite goes. Antibiotics
can be used to prevent or help with further problems with bacterial
infections, which may affect respiration etc.
Viruses don’t respond to antibiotics. There
have been some anecdotal reports of the benefits of interferons
in the treatment of Herpes and Calici virus infected cats. Interferons
are among a number of substances produced in response to the presence of
enemy cells. Not only do they "interfere" with foreign invaders
that may cause infection, but they can prevent the growth and spread of
other diseased cells as well.
Recently the amino acid
L-lysine has been advocated as a possible treatment for Herpes virus
infections at a dose rate of 500mg twice daily. L-lysine is thought to interfere with replication of
the herpes virus, so it can shorten the course of the disease and possibly
make it less severe although it is not a cure as such. In the US
intranasal vaccines are available that can be used as soon as the kittens
open their eyes, which many breeders there use, but they are not, as yet,
available in this country. But there is a suggestion that they have caused
the disease when given to kittens of less than 12 weeks old or in kittens with
FeLV, FI V. This is a
purely personal opinion, but I do wonder if the reason this conclusion has
been come to is because
people most likely to use this product already have Herpes in their
household and the kittens had already been infected, either before they
were born or before the intranasal vaccine was used, so developed the
disease for that reason, and it wasn’t caused by the vaccination. Around
80% or more, of Herpes infected cats, become permanent carriers.
The virus lives and multiplies in the lining cells of the throat
and the nerves near the face, and if the cat become stressed (physically
or emotionally) with situations such as illness, operations, (or given
steroids), or the addition or loss of pets in the household, house moves,
additions or losses of people in the household, being left in a cattery
while owners go on holiday, going to shows, or having kittens, or
re-homing, as a few examples, then immunity is lowered and the virus is
shed in the mouth secretions, and the cat MAY exhibit signs of a mild
upper respiratory illness. Some
may even shed permanently, without exhibiting symptoms. Cats that recover may show permanent damage with chronic eye
and nose problems. Carriers can be vaccinated against Herpes along with
the other usual virus vaccinations, but this will not stop them carrying
the disease. An active phase,
healthy looking carrier cat can shed as much virus to others and into the
environment as a newly infected sick cat! Testing for Herpes in a cat that has been vaccinated is difficult. If the cat is not shedding, Cortisone (steroids) can be given to make the cat shed the virus, for testing, but not many people would want to induce a bout of Herpes in their cat. PCR - Polymerase Chain reaction – the way DNA is multiplied in a laboratory, can be used but it is difficult to distinguish between the vaccination and the virus, but the usual test is done from growing anything found on a swab, in a laboratory. A throat swab can show Herpes, but one negative swab cannot be taken to mean that a cat is clear, so repeated tests would need to be done on suspected carriers, because detection depends on whether one is lucky enough to swab the cat at the time when it is actually shedding. Section 4, Rule 3(c) of the GCCF states: In the event of any other infectious disease, with the exception of Feline Leukaemia virus or Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, being diagnosed by a veterinary surgeon in my/our cattery/household, no cat owned by me/us or living at the same address will attend any show/exhibition until at least one month after all cats owned by me/us and/or living at the same address have been examined by a veterinary surgeon and pronounced free from any evidence of the disease in question. (Amended 1.6.86, 1.6.92, 21.10.92). Cats from households where there is a known carrier of Herpes can still be shown because it is felt that if the carrier isn’t shedding the virus (at the time of testing, at least), then technically it isn’t showing evidence of the disease. The Feline Advisory
Bureau states the following to the question of ‘Can my cats catch ‘flu
at a cat show?
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