Management of feline diseases Flashcards
Why is feline panleukopaenia virus highly infectious
Very stable in the environment - can last for months
Only requires small doses of virus to cause infection
How should you vaccinate cats for feline pan leukopaenia virus?
8-9 weeks first, second 3-4 weeks later at at least 12 weeks old
In high risk situations (e.g. cattery) another dose at 16 weeks should be given to ensure protection
How useful is interforn for the treatment of calicivirus?
Evidence for its use is lacking
May be more useful against certain strains
How useful are calici virus vaccines?
Virus mutates quickly so there is the chance that vaccines will lot lead to long term protection
MDA can interfere
Vax recommended at 9 and 12 weeks
What is the meaning of being p27 +ve
This animal is viraemic. Cats with this result are always also PCR-positive for provirus.
Viraemic cats should be kept separate from other cats. Given sufficient time, p27-positive cats can
revert to a negative status if they remain healthy.
What does it mean if a cat is -ve for p27?
This animal has either never been in contact with FeLV or it has become immune. If it is immune, it might still be latently infected. Latent infection can be detected by showing proviral DNA using the PCR. Whether a PCR test should be done depends on the situation: a breeder with an FeLV-negative cattery who introduces a new breeding cat may want to be certain that this animal is not latently infected.
What does it mean if a cat is questionably +ve for p27?
This could mean that it has a focus of infection somewhere in the body, which releases low amounts of p27 into the circulation. Alternatively, the weak-positive result could be false. In this situation the test should be repeated after a few weeks, or a DNA PCR could be performed for confirmation.
Outline the importance of chlamydophila
Chlamydophila felis is primarily an ocular pathogen, causing both acute and chronic conjunctivitis. Serological surveys have shown that infection is widespread in cats but most clinical cases occur in young cats under 9 months of age, particularly pedigree kittens from multicat households.
Conjunctivitis is a common reason for presentation of cats to practitioners and Chlamydophila is the single most common infectious cause and possibly the most common cause overall. The conjunctivitis is usually
bilateral but may be unilateral early in infection or in chronic cases.
Chlamydophila will not usually cause corneal lesions
How do you diagnose chlamydophila?
PCR testing of ocular swabs is now the preferred method of diagnosis. Care is necessary in collecting swabs as the organism is essentially intracellular and some conjunctival cellular material is required to optimise the chance of detecting the organism
How do you treat chlamydophila?
3 weeks course doxy to ensure cleared
Topical preparations to make eye comfortable
Outline chlamydophila vax
only available as part of multivalent vaccines.
will prevent or reduce the severity of clinical signs but do not prevent infection.
