Even if you take good care of your cat, unfortunately, it can always happen that such a beloved house cat falls ill. Fortunately, many diseases of the cat can be prevented with vaccinations. Other diseases can be cured or at least alleviated with early treatment. Read here everything about the most common diseases in cats, how to recognize them and how they are treated.
Cat Cold
Symptoms: runny nose, sticky, watery eyes, fever, loss of appetite, fever, bloody ulcers on mucous membranes.
Risk of infection: Humans cannot be infected, cats infect each other by droplet infection.
Treatment: The best prevention is vaccination. This is one of the basic vaccinations that every kitten should receive. Cats that are infected can be treated with antibiotics and thus cured.
Feline Epidemic
Symptoms: Fever, vomiting, listlessness.
Risk of infection: harmless to humans, cats usually become infected at common feeding places.
Treatment: Best prevention by vaccination. If detected early, there is a good chance of cure. The cat receives interferons, serum antibodies and infusions to maintain water balance.
Toxoplasmosis
Symptoms: Often runs without symptoms. At most, some floppiness is noticed. The situation is different in kittens or cats with weakened immune systems. They often become severely ill with a strong feeling of illness and can also die from toxoplasmosis.
Risk of infection: Humans can also become infected with toxoplasmosis if they come into contact with the feces of an infected cat. However, the infection is only really dangerous for pregnant women, as the parasites can be harmful to the unborn child. Pregnant women should therefore not clean the cat litter box at all or only with disposable gloves. Toxoplasmosis can also be transmitted through raw meat.
Treatment: Depending on the degree of infection, toxoplasmosis can be treated with antibiotics. If the parasites have already multiplied too much, only medication can ensure that the parasites do not leave the intestine. In this case, a relatively normal life is possible.
FeLV (Feline Leukemia)
Symptoms: Fever, weakness, loss of appetite, diarrhea, ulcers and tumors.
Infection: Harmless to humans, highly contagious to other cats through droplet infection.
Treatment: The disease is unfortunately not curable, only the symptoms can be treated. In most cases it ends sooner or later unfortunately fatal.
FIP
Symptoms: Loss of appetite, bloated body, vomiting, colds, later inflammation of the organs. Clearly detectable only by blood values and abdominal secretion.
Infection: Harmless to humans, probably contagious to other cats through feces or saliva.
Treatment: Unfortunately FIP leads sooner or later to death. Currently only the symptoms can be alleviated.
FIV (Feline Aids)
Symptoms: Fever, weight loss, diarrhea, vomiting, hair loss
Infection: Not contagious to humans. In cats, the infection proceeds like an HIV infection in humans. It is usually transmitted through bites, but also through sexual intercourse. Cat puppies can get it transmitted from the mother.
Treatment: Unfortunately, there is still no cure for FIV. Also a vaccination is not possible. However, an infected cat can carry the virus for a long time without an outbreak of the disease. Infected cats should be kept as stress-free as possible as indoor cats, as stress is thought to cause the disease to break out.
Renal Failure
Symptoms: vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss, weakness.
Infection: renal failure is not contagious.
Treatment: Unfortunately, the disease is not completely curable. However, symptoms can be treated. In older cats, renal failure is one of the most common causes of death.
