Monday Medical: Bobcat Fever is on the rise

There are many things Midwesterners are proud to claim, but sadly Bobcat Fever isn’t one of them. Unfortunately, here is where it originated: the first case of Cytauxzoonosis Felis, or Bobcat Fever, was documented in Missouri in 1976.

Though it remained local to the region for many years, Bobcat Fever has recently found its way into the Mid-Atlantic States and as far north as Pennsylvania.

What is Bobcat Fever? 

Malaria protozoa. Image: PLOS
Biology, Creative Commons 2.5

Ironically enough, it’s not a virus and it’s not a bacterial infection. It’s a protozoan infection.

Protozoan infections are parasitic diseases like malaria, giardia, lice or trichinosis. Odds are, unless you’ve traveled extensively, you’ve never experienced one of these.

The closest most of us come to a parasitic disease is when we volunteer at an animal shelter and see a kennel card declaring that a litter of kittens is being treated for giardia.

The difference between these parasitic diseases and Bobcat Fever is that the others have relatively low mortality rates. Not so for Bobcat Fever. In fact, until 2011, it was considered 100% fatal in domestic cats.

How is Bobcat Fever transmitted?

Through ticks – specifically the lone star tick. This particular tick transmits the disease from bobcat to domestic cat through its bite. Bobcats weather the disease faily well, then become lifelong hosts, transmitting the parasite to ticks through blood transfer.

Ticks in turn pass the protozoa along when they latch onto a domestic cat.

Often, an infected cat won’t present with symptoms until a week or two after they’ve been infected.

Usually a general lethargy, loss of appetite and fever are the three main indicators.

Treatment 

Having a vet available who is equipped to handle Bobcat Fever is critical to a cat’s care. Every cat will need to have fluids administered, and possibly a blood transfusion as well. Nutrition is key to boosting the immune system and helping the cat fight the parasite attacking his body.

There may be complications that can spring up, and these may be every bit as dangerous as the Bobcat Fever itself.


Take loss of appetite as one example: a cat who is off his food for more than a day or so is in jeopardy of Hepadic Lipidosis, or fatty liver disease.

This can prove fatal to an otherwise healthy cat (just read Leo’s story to see how difficult this condition is to beat). But if the cat is already in a weakened state from Bobcat Fever, and it’s compounded by Fatty Liver Disease? You see where I’m going with this.

Thanks to the Veterinary School at the University of Missouri, there is now a course of treatment that improves a cat’s chance of survival to as much as 60%. The treatment involves a combination of antibiotic and antimalarial drugs, along with an anti-protozoal injection.

That’s a huge step in the right direction, but there are plenty of opportunities for treatment to fail. Often it’s because the owner has noticed and responded to symptoms too late for the animal to recover, even with this new treatment.

Prevention 

Outdoor cats,
Wikimedia Commons

The absolute best way to prevent Bobcat Fever is to keep your cat indoors. There are some approved tick treatments out there for cats, but they haven’t been proven 100% effective in preventing tick bites.

If your cat does go outside and you live in an area where lone star ticks are prevalent, try to keep your grass cut and your bushes trimmed. And check your pet for ticks – even between the paw pads.

Perhaps the very best prevention is to read the heart-wrenching journey of one pet owner to save her newly-acquired kitten’s life. Evergreen found his way into the home of blogger Chrystal at Daily Dose of Dogs/Cats with your Coffee sometime in July, and he was covered in ticks.

She has journaled the rocky and uncertain road to his recovery on her blog, including the heartaches, fears and extraordinary efforts made to help this tiny boy pull through. As of this writing, it looks like he just might be in the 60% who make it.

Everly, as he is called, couldn't help it. She found him as a stray. In fact, Cheryl saved his life by bringing him into her home when she did - for he would certainly have succumbed to the disease on his own and without treatment.

But pet owners who live in areas where bobcats and lone star ticks live have the opportunity to save themselves the heartache by simply keeping their cats indoors - especially from March to September, the months cats are most likely to run into ticks.
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Sources:
Science Daily
Centers for Disease Control
University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine
National Institutes of Health Library of Medicine
Wikipedia and Wikipedia

Monday Medical Issues: Bobcat Fever

One of the "joys" of living in the middle of the country (or in warmer climes to the south) are the bugs. And the fact we had such a mild winter means...you guessed it - more bugs!

Some of those bugs can cause some serious health problems with your pets. Thankfully, an ounce (or less) of prevention on the back of the neck once a month saves a lot of headaches. And in some cases, heartaches.

The culprit: Lone Star Tick

As you know, I'm talking about flea/tick/heartworm prevention products such as Advantage or Revolution.

And the reason I mention heartaches is because two of those little bugs buggers can be fatal. This week, we're talking ticks.

Ticks transmit a disease called Bobcat Fever that - up until this year - was almost always fatal to domestic housecats. There is no way to trace the disease, and symptoms are usually very vague - at least in early stage. Lethargy, fever.

But internally, this disease is wreaking havoc, clogging arteries and causing a cascade of irreversible organ failure. In one vet's words, a terrible way to die.

Areas with the most Bobcat Fever cases

Summertime brings a lot of cases to the midwest and southern United States. In rural areas south of Kansas City, it's not unheard of for veterinarians to see three cases or more a week during tick season. But now, for an infected housecat, there's hope. And it's home grown, too.

Dr. Leah Cohn, professor of veterinary internal medicine at the University of Missouri, along with Adam Birkenheuer of North Carolina State University, have come up with a treatment to combat Bobcat Fever. We won't go into the nitty gritty, except to say that the disease is in the same family as malaria and is favorably responding to a cocktail of malaria-type drugs and antibiotics.

In their study, 60% of the infected cats survived after receiving Cohn's new treatment. it's not perfect, but 6 out of 10 cats will now have a chance thanks to Drs. Cohn & Birhenheuer!

Bobcat photo: ucumari. Published via Creative Commons.

One vet who's been dealing with the devastation of Bobcat Fever is Ellen Ratcliff, who practices in the Springfield, MO area. She said that since she graduated vet school 11 years ago, pretty much every cat that contracted the disease died from it. Last summer, with the new medications onboard, almost all of the 25 infected cats she treated were released.

Of course, one almost foolproof way to save yourself a lot of vet expense and heart-stopping worry is to keep your cats indoors. As bobcat fever is transmitted exclusively through ticks or transfusion of infected blood, an indoors-only cat is most probably safe.

But as our vet is fond of saying, it only takes one bite, from one bug.

Just ask Zac March, director of eLearning at MU. His cat rarely went outside, yet was bittten by a tick and infected last year. She was one of the few who did not respond to the treatment - and sadly, they lost her.

Another thing, if you're like me and you have a kitty with clever paws (yes, I'm looking at you, Maxwell!) then you may have the occasional escape artist on your hands. So we happily pay $15/month and apply flea, tick & heartworm prevention.

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Please read labels carefully when applying medication - drugs intended for dogs can kill cats!

Source: The Columbia Missourian.