Feline Infectious Anemia (Hemobartonellosis)
By Jill Anne Sparapany
Joy with a feeding tube for eating!
Feline
infectious anemia is a significant world-wide bacterial parasitic disease that
infects red blood cells to live and reproduce. It is caused by Mycoplasma haemofelis, formerly known as
Haemobartonella felis. Cats of all
breeds and ages can be affected.
Predisposing
risk factors include any disease that causes immunosuppression, such as cancer
or FELV (feline leukemia virus), deficient vaccination status, recent history
of cat bite abscesses and exposure to fleas and ticks. Mosquito are another
transmission vector. Intact male cats may roam and be at higher risk due to
fighting behaviors.
Mycoplasma
organisms lack cell walls and depend on the host animal to survive. Since it
does not survive alone, it is a parasite dependent upon the host for survival.
It attaches to the surface of red blood cells in the bloodstream. The cat’s
immune system recognizes the foreign invader on the RBC surface and destruction
of the RBC’s begins resulting in anemia.
·
This
is different from AIHA, AutoImmune
Hemolytic Anemia, when the immune system starts to destroy healthy red blood
cells.
It is not
definitively known how the parasitic bacterium is spread from cat to cat but
the major transmission vectors are blood-sucking insects, fleas, ticks,
mosquitoes, etc. Other possible transmission routes are blood transfusions and
cat fight wounds.
Newborn
kittens may be infected but it is not known if infection is spread through
placenta, during birth or by nursing.
Clinical Signs: Signs related to
anemia.
·
Pale
mucous membranes, gums
·
Weakness
and lethargy
·
Depression
·
Weight
loss
·
Loss
of appetite
·
Diffuse
whole body tenderness
·
Fever
·
Jaundice
(yellowing of skin, eyes, mucous membranes)
·
Increased
respiratory rate
·
Shock
Diagnosis: By microscopic examination of the
RBCs, small dots can be seen on the blood cell surface. Depending upon the
numbers of Mycoplasma present, diagnosis can be difficult and may take several
blood smears to confirm.
Other
tests include Coombs, chemistry panel, urinalysis, FIV and FeLV testing. PCR
analysis is the best test to confirm presence of Mycoplasma haemofelis infection. PCR quantifies the amount of
mycoplasma DNA, which can be monitored for response to treatment.
Treatment: Underlying diseases or stressors must
be treated since this is an opportunistic disease affecting weakened animals.
·
Antibiotics
in the tetracycline family are the treatment of choice. Tetracycline and
doxycycline. **Doxycycline may cause
esophageal strictures in cats when given in pill form – give 1-2 teaspoons of
water after administering the pill to ensure the pill is swallowed completely.
Doxycycline is available in liquid formulation.
·
Prednisone
may be given to reduce the immune system’s destruction of RBCs.
·
Transfusions
may be necessary in some cats with severe anemia.
Home care and Prevention:
·
Administer
medications as prescribed. If you cannot give your cat the medicine, notify
your vet! The antibiotic treatment is absolutely necessary to save your cat’s
life!
·
Follow
recommendations by your vet for re-check appointments during recovery.
·
Keep
your cat indoors to prevent exposure to vectors of infection, reduce fighting
between cats and reduce exposure to other diseases and viruses.
·
Neuter
outdoor cats to reduce cat fighting.
·
Use
flea and tick medications, recommended by your vet.
Prognosis: If treatment is not started in the
acute phase, up to 1/3 of all FIA cats will die. Cats who survive early stages
will become chronic carriers and may be susceptible to relapse with stress or
illness.
Comments from Alana: If your cat is an outdoor cat, has issues with fleas, is a new cat that you just got and presents with anemia, make sure your vet checks for hemobart. It may not occur to them. You have to be your cats best advocate.
Comments from Alana: If your cat is an outdoor cat, has issues with fleas, is a new cat that you just got and presents with anemia, make sure your vet checks for hemobart. It may not occur to them. You have to be your cats best advocate.
Joy loves the attention she is getting!
Thank you so much to everyone for your generous gifts from our Amazon wish list!!
Pepper playing Santa!
Amazon often does not put packing slips in the boxes and they never give us your contact info so we are not able to personally contact you to thank you. Please know that we deeply appreciate your kindness and are very grateful to you for your support!
This list is from several days of boxes :)
Natalie wishes everyone a Merry Christmas!
| Thank you Jamie Seaward for the clavamox! | |||||||
| Thank you Kathy Novakovic for the cat food and play cube! | |||||||
| Thank you Kelly Shedlock for the cat tree and shark steam mop! | |||||||
| Thank you Michele Tiner for the cat food and fortiflora! | |||||||
| Thank you Nanci House for the cat food, cat toy, paper towels and activated carbon! | |||||||
Thank you Sharon El-Saadi for
the cat toy!
Sterling wishes everyone Happy Holidays!
|
Socks loves the Holidays!
Don't forget tonight we open tour and boxes tonight at 6:30 P.M.
Thank you to the wonderful people who share their auctions with the cats!
You may find lots of them at
Here is another auction of a laptop for sale. She is donating 100% of the auction with the cats!! Here is the link:
Another auction that an ebay seller is donating 100% to the cats!
Lisa hope everyone will vote everyday!
NEW CONTEST - Snicker says please Help the cats win $1,000 and You win a $100 package too Please put Blind Cat Rescue under the shelter block Here is the link: http://www.dailykibble.com/promo/SpreadtheLove2014/
Thank you for helping!!
Snicker will smile more if more people vote for us!
New Contest (#3) Please Help the cats win 10,000 meals from Halo (that is lots of food!! http://tinyurl.com/k5kf2v9 )put in shelter name, Blind Cat Rescue, town St Pauls, NC Thank you for helping the cats!!!!
Candy is licking her lips for all food we will win, she ask please vote!
We only have 60 calendars left!!
Please get your now!!
We are now taking orders for calendars and will try to ship them in December. We will try to get them to you by Christmas if your in the US if your international we hope you will get it by then (if not we are sorry), Please order by December 19th 2014. They make great Christmas gifts and what a great way to start the new year with one!
Don't forget we have our annual Christmas tree decorating fundraiser! It makes a great gift for someone who has everything! Here is the link: http://blindcatrescue.com
Do you walk or run? The Droid app is finally ready. If you pick Blind Cat Rescue as your charity, every time you walk/run they will donate to the cats!
Link: http://www.resqwalk.com/
CFC #67324
Comments
Post a Comment