Panleukopenia (or feline distemper) is a viral disease that occurs in both domestic and wild cats. The causative agent of this insidious disease is a special picornavirus, which causes a low level of leukocytes in the blood of the affected animal.
How is distemper spread in cats?
First of all, panleukopenia spreads through contact of a cat with infected fluids - with saliva and other fomites, as well as through contact with fleas. Distemper is often transmitted to cats by contact with bowls, bedding, and even with the clothes of owners of already infected animals. Distemper can also be transmitted to cats through other animals (for example, through minks or ferrets).
Distemper symptoms in cats
The panleukopenia virus infects the gastrointestinal tract of an animal. This causes the formation of an internal ulcer, which leads to the complete rejection of the dead tissue of the intestinal epithelium. Symptoms of feline distemper manifest as bloody and profuse diarrhea, severe dehydration of the cat's body, and general weakness. In addition, the animal has no appetite at all.
Unfortunately, such symptoms can cause death of the animal in a short time. A decrease in the level of white blood cells leads to a weakening of the cat's immune system, which causes her to have an increased body temperature, general weakness of the body, drowsiness, vomiting, and loss of elasticity of the skin. Veterinarians note that some cats infected with plague may occasionally bite their tail, paws and tailbone.
In addition, sick cats can sit next to their drinkers for hours, despite their negligible fluid intake. Veterinarians claim that the lion's share of cat deaths from panleukopenia is caused by dehydration of their body, and not by the causative agent of the virus itself. It should be borne in mind that picornavirus is able to kill an animal in less than 24 hours, therefore aggressive treatment tactics are necessary in case of distemper.
Treatment for an infected animal includes complete blood transfusion, intravenous fluids, vitamins A, B, and C (by injection), various antibiotics, and urgent hospitalization. The most important thing here is to manage to avoid sepsis (general blood poisoning). Veterinarians cite sad statistics: among kittens under 2 months old, 95% of individuals die as a result of plague infection.
Young cats older than 2 months have a better chance of recovery: their mortality is about 60% when seeking qualified medical help and about 100% without veterinarian intervention. Adult cats die from distemper in 15% of cases during treatment and in 90% of cases if the disease is already running. By the way, often panleukopenia causes complications in the form of dehydration, hypothermia, hyperpyrexia, hypotension.
