What to do after a cat gets feline distemper
Methods/Steps
Diseased cats
Cats with incomplete or no vaccinations are prone to get feline distemper, especially 3-5 months old kittens. Maternal cats infected during pregnancy will cause stillbirths, abortions and neonatal kittens with neurological symptoms. Transmission is via contact with virus-carrying urine and feces or via blood-sucking insects and fleas. The pathogen is a virus of the family of small viruses and the genus of small viruses. After entering the body, the virus can survive in the kidney for more than 1 year. The fine virus can survive in the environment for a longer period of time, but can be inactivated by formalin, sodium hypochlorite (household disinfectant), or huxodialdehyde.
What to do after a cat gets feline distemper
Symptoms: the incubation period of feline distemper fever is 2-9 days, and the clinical signs are related to age and virulence of the virus.
Kittens are mostly acute onset, with an elevated body temperature of more than 40°C and vomiting, and many cats do not show any symptoms and die suddenly, and some may show signs of spinal ****jet disorder.
Most cats over 6 months of age have a subacute clinical picture, with fever first reaching about 40°C, dropping to normal temperature after 1-2 days, and then rising again after 3-4 days, i.e., biphasic fever type.
The sick cat is mentally unstable, anorexia, persistent vomiting, vomit is yellowish-green, oral cavity and eyes, nose with viscous secretions, feces viscous-like, when diarrhea occurs, it indicates that the animal is in the late stage of the disease, feces with blood, severe dehydration, anemia, and death in severe cases.
Characteristics:
This virus infects domestic cats as well as other felines (e.g., tigers, leopards) and skunks (minks) and raccoons of the bear family. Cats of all ages can be infected. In most cases, cats under 1 year of age are susceptible to the disease, and the infection rate can reach 70%, with a mortality rate of 50% to 60%, and the mortality rate of kittens under 5 months of age can reach 80% to 90%, and the morbidity rate decreases with age, and cats kept in groups can have outbreaks in the whole group or the whole litter. The disease can occur throughout the year, especially in winter and spring.
Cats can excrete large amounts of virus from feces, urine, vomit and various secretions, and the virus can survive in the environment for a long time. Cats in the infected stage can also be transmitted by blood-sucking insects such as fleas, ticks and flies.
What should be done after a cat gets feline distemper
Specific therapy
Use feline distemper high-immunity serum or feline monoclonal antibody intramuscularly or subcutaneously, 2 ml per every kilogram of body weight, usually every other day, or if very serious can be daily, up to 3 consecutive shots.
Use feline recombinant interferon, 300 to 500,000 units per kg body weight.
Symptomatic therapy
Stopping vomiting: fasting and water should be prohibited when vomiting occurs. Gastrografin injection 0.15~0.25 ml per kg body weight twice a day, intramuscularly or subcutaneously.
Anti-inflammatory: gentamicin 10,000 units per kilogram of body weight or kanamycin 50~100,000 units per kilogram of body weight twice a day, intramuscular or subcutaneous injection.
Antipyretic: Chai Hu injection 0.3 ml per kg body weight twice a day.
Hemostasis: vitamin K3 injection 0.3 ml per kg body weight twice daily, intramuscularly.
Rehydration: when dehydration or vomiting occurs, 25% dextrose 5~10 ml, 5% sodium bicarbonate 5 ml, compound saline 30~50 ml, mixed transvenous injection.
Food therapy: It is recommended to feed a small amount of easily digestible, low-fiber food containing little fat 3~6 times a day. Prescription foods for acute gastroenteritis disease may also be used. Gradually increase the amount of food over several days to meet the animal's needs.
What should a cat do after getting feline distemper
Precautions
Cats are very tolerant animals, and in the early stages of feline distemper it may not be easy to notice, manifesting itself as signs such as poor spirits, excessive sleep, loss of appetite, and drooling, and then in the middle of the period this manifestation becomes more obvious, and in severe cases there is a refusal to eat. As an owner, you should carefully observe your cat's condition and measure its temperature as soon as you notice any abnormalities, as early detection is more helpful for treatment and recovery.
The treatment of feline distemper requires attention:
1. Be sure to keep warm.
2, if there are other cats at home, please isolate the sick cat and pay attention to good environmental sanitation and disinfection.
3, feline distemper high immunity serum is very important, actually is the antibody of feline distemper virus, in the treatment only this is specifically against the virus. But be careful not to inject for more than three consecutive days, more also have side effects. If the local medical condition does not have high immunity serum, you can find an adult healthy cat that has been vaccinated, extract the blood of the healthy cat, and take the separation method to extract the serum for the sick cat.
4. Fluid Replacement and Prevention of Acidosis
Fluid infusion is the best treatment. If you can't give your cat fluids, you can feed him a mixture of 10% dextrose injection and saline every once in a while to help him replenish his energy and water. If you can buy liquid electrolytic multi-vitamin for pets is more effective.
5, with antibiotics to prevent secondary infections
Commonly used antibiotics are gentamicin, twice a day, once fed 20,000 units.
Now there is a new antibiotic medicine for animals called Puccin, you can consult the doctor about the dosage.
There is also a traditional Chinese medicine Qingkailing injection, which also has a good effect.
6, antiemetic
Gastrointestinal injection is a very good antiemetic drugs, very important during the treatment. It can be injected or taken orally.
7, regulate digestive function
The treatment period due to the use of a large number of antibiotics, resulting in intestinal and digestive beneficial flora and fauna disorders in cats. It is necessary to take large doses of medicines or health care products that regulate the health of the beneficial intestinal flora; such as Lactasexant, Mamma Mia Love, probiotics and so on. This kind of intestinal digestive drugs should be separated from antibiotic drugs by more than half an hour.
8, other, such as dexamethasone and VC drugs are to help the metabolism of the drug, you can add depending on the situation.
9, the recovery period diet should pay attention to the bottom protein (milk, eggs, chicken liver, etc. do not feed for the time being), easy to digest semi-liquid food to the cat. You can buy a nutritional cream for your cat for more comprehensive nutrition. Or consider purchasing Hills' prescription AD (debilitating/malignant disease) cat cans, which are filled with crumbled minced meat broth that can be fed via syringe to cats regaining strength after illness.
Lastly, it is important to note that in the later stages of feline distemper, there may be blood in the stool, which should be prevented by giving your cat a hemostatic injection or oral Yunnan Baiyao.