Cats often divide people’s opinions as most feel strongly about them one way or the other. However, it is safe to say that cats are among the most popular pets in the whole wide world, but regardless of whether someone owns a pet cat or not, one thing is for sure, no one wants to see these little animals in pain and suffering from a disease.
As common sense dictates, it is up to the owners or pet sitters to discern if the cats have contracted a disease or not from their behavior and actions – as cats themselves will not be able to tell in any meaningful way what is going on with their bodies. So here are a few causes and symptoms for some of the most noteworthy feline diseases.
Feline Dental Disease
Gum disease is a common enough disease in human beings that it warrants a yearly dental roundup.
The same is true for cats too, they can as easily suffer from early stage gingivitis to later stage dental problems.
It happens if the cat’s oral and dental hygiene hasn’t been properly taken care of by the owners.
The carbohydrate-rich foods can also cause the plaque to accumulate more quickly which can turn into tartar and cause tooth decay, gum infection and bad breath.
If you see any such things, take your cat to the vet for a professional tooth cleaning.
Feline Leukemia
There is no cure for this disease so you have to take preventative actions from the start.
Feline Leukemia virus is generally contracted via bites, shared food and water, and bodily fluids. Symptoms can range from all kinds of infections to diarrhea, eye disease and include cancerous symptoms.
If you suspect anything foul, take the cat to the vet immediately. As a precaution, you should provide your cat with a clean atmosphere, hygienic food, proper vaccination and limited exposure with other cats, especially non-pets.
Feline Rabies
Feline rabies can be contracted by cats if they are bitten by wild animals. Like any other animal, cats can prove to be extremely dangerous if they are rabid.
Again, there is no cure for feline rabies so you should take all the precautions with vaccinations and keep your cats away from dangerous animals who may bite them. Strange behavior, weight loss, fever, and yowling are some of the symptoms.
Feline Respiratory Infections
This type of infection in the sinuses, nose and throat are fairly common among cats.
They are generally called upper respiratory infections (URI) and are highly contagious.
They can spread through shared food and water and so can easily be avoided or treated.
The symptoms of such an infection are similar to humans such as a runny nose, fever, and no appetite among other symptoms.
You can give your cat antibiotics to keep help them recover and as a preventative measure, keep them vaccinated and indoors if the infection is viral among cats.
Feline Abscess
Cats don’t cut open the skin of other cats in the form of large wounds while fighting because their skin is tough. However, the claws and teeth do penetrate and create small puncture wounds which sometimes leave bacteria inside the tissue.
Since the cats heal quickly, their skin regenerates and closes the puncture, allowing the bacteria to grow in a warm environment. In a few days’ time, this causes an abscess and swelling under the skin which can be quite painful for the cat.
If you see that your cat is being overly lazy, has a fever, has lost all appetite and looks in pain, check for any abscess or swelling under on its body.
Normally the abscess ruptures and puss drains before the cat resumes eating but if that doesn’t happen, take the cat to the vet and have the abscess treated.
Author’s Bio
Hannah Carter is an avid blogger and a digital marketer from the UK. She lives in London but loves to travel and write. In her spare time, she loves to cook and eat, her favorite meal is the traditional English breakfast.
Tagged with: cat diseases • cats don • Feline Abscess • Feline Dental Disease • feline leukemia • Feline Rabies • Feline Respiratory Infections • pet cat • properly taken care • the cat • the vet • your cat
Filed under: Cat Health
Very well done! I enjoyed browsing your site and reading. I have one senior cat, one almost senior, and one young adult. I like to learn new information about caring for them!
Your article is very informative. I would make one suggestion. One of our cats, Oscar, was a handsome stocky mackerel tabby. One day I suddenly noticed he was looking a bit thinner (he was pretty much 4 square when we rescued him). Our vet at that time was quite blinkered with respect to small animals and told us it was old age. As our cats usually live to the 19 year or older mark, and Oscar was 8 1/2, we told her that was BS! So we found another vet who diagnosed him with FIV (the feline version of AIDS). Unfortunately the time wasted by the first (basically useless) vet lost us the chance of treating the symptoms.
Now FIV isn’t too common but appears to becoming more so. And it can take years to appear. So prevention needs to be looked at very early in the cats life.
It could prevent a lot of heart ache later on.
Great article
Cheers
Helen
Hi Helen,
A cat I helped back to health about 10 years ago was thought to have Feline Aids (FIV). Even though he was a lovely cat, my vet recommended I not adopt him once he was well as, while he didn’t suffer from FIV or feline leukemia, he was a carrier for the leukemia virus. He had to go to a cat-free home.
There aren’t many cases of FIV here in Ireland but they do exist. The risk is low so I don’t have any worries about letting my cats out into the garden. Naturally, the roam further than that and there are other cats in the neighborhood. The likely source of infection ish feral cats and there are none in my area.
But you’re right, prevention is always better than cure.
Good tip too on seeking a second opinion if you don’t trust your vet’s diagnosis. After all, no one knows your cat’s behaviour better then you.
Gary