Rabies in cats symptoms
Clinical symptoms begin to appear only after the spread of the virus throughout the body. They are preceded by a latent( incubation) period. At this time, the animal is also a danger. Most often, the incubation period lasts 10 to 14 days, although sometimes it is quite lengthy and reaches one year.
In its manifestation, rabies is divided into three forms: violent, silent and atypical.
The violent form proceeds in several stages:
1. At the first stage the animal becomes sluggish, avoids people, hides in a dark place, badly eats. Sometimes, on the contrary, a sick cat becomes unnecessarily affectionate and obtrusive. Itching can occur at the site of the bite.
2. In the second stage, the cat has anxiety, fear and increased irritability. She starts constantly looking around and listening, can bite or scratch the owner. A cat reluctantly eats ordinary food, but swallows various inedible objects( pieces of wood, pebbles, etc.).An ill animal constantly combs or gnaws a bite place. Finally, the most important symptom of the disease appears - because of spasms of the pharyngeal musculature, the cat can not swallow water( hydrophobia), saliva is abundantly allocated. In her behavior there is a change of aggression and oppression - she then rushes furiously at people and other animals, then she lies motionless. Any external irritation( noise, bright light) causes a new attack of violence.
Rabies in cats Symptoms of 3. In the third stage, the cat loses voice, it looks drained, convulsions appear, and paralysis progresses. The animal almost always lies. Paralysis of the respiratory system and heart leads to the death of the animal. The disease lasts from 3 to 11 days.
With a quiet( light) form the cat can be very affectionate, not depart from the host. But at the same time it poses a danger, because its saliva already contains a rabies virus. In the beginning of the disease, bites are possible. Gradually the cat becomes restless, then the oppressed state grows. Paralysis develops, the lower jaw hangs on the animal, salivary salivation and difficulty swallowing appear( it seems that the pet choked with bone).Death occurs in 2-4 days.
Atypical form is the most difficult to diagnose. It can last up to 3 months and more. Initially, it can occur with the characteristic signs of gastritis and enteritis( vomiting, diarrhea, or, conversely, difficulty bowel movement, exhaustion), depression, after which there is a temporary improvement.
Cats are more frequent than violent form, quiet and atypical( paralytic) are less common.
Diagnosis
Rabies of cats should be distinguished from Aujeszky's disease( pseudorabies is an acute disease of many animal species, manifested in the disorder of the central nervous system, severe itching and combs), other diseases with similar signs. For example, a cat has pain, salivation, inability to swallow and anxiety when it enters its mouth or pharynx of a foreign body.
If a suspected rabies infection( for example, after biting a homeless animal with local information), the cat is placed for 10-14 days in quarantine, during which it is isolated from people and other animals until the manifestation of her clinical symptoms. Sometimes quarantine can last up to 60 days. At the same time, there is no way to help the animal.
An accurate diagnosis is posthumously based on the results of laboratory studies of the animal's brain. One of the methods of diagnosing is the detection of specific inclusions - Babes-Negri bodies during the histological analysis of the brain.
Treatment of
Treatment of this disease has not been developed. Sick animals are euthanized.
Prevention
The most reliable means for the prevention of disease - vaccination. The vaccine against rabies for cats is developed on the basis of a dead virus, which allows to exclude the possibility of infection from a prick, but it gives a guarantee of protection of a cat from a terrible disease.
Homemade cats are inoculated after a change in milk teeth, cats with access to the street after reaching the kittens of three months of age.
Revaccination of adult animals should be carried out annually. For two weeks before inoculation, it is necessary to make a deworming cat.
Dehelminthization is a complex of procedures aimed at the prevention and disposal of the animal from parasites( helminths).Deworming should be done under the supervision of a veterinarian.
You can not vaccinate pregnant and nursing cats, sick, weakened animals, kittens during the period of teeth change.
It is important to understand that even a domestic pet is not immune from the infiltration of infected rodents and other animals into the house. Vaccinating cats from rabies is vital. Without it, by the way, it is not allowed to transport a cat to other countries, to participate with it in exhibitions.
Another measure to prevent the spread of rabies is the destruction of rats and other rodents in the basements of dwelling houses, landfills, household plots.
A record of the vaccination carried out with the signature of the doctor and the date is entered in the passport of the animal. Travel with a pet is possible only if there is documentary evidence of vaccination against rabies.
Rabies ( or rabies( from Latin rabies), hydrophobia( hydrophobia)) is an infectious disease caused by rabies virus Rabies virus.
Rabies is a very dangerous and transient disease. Such a diagnosis is tantamount to a death sentence, no matter how horrible it may sound. The disease is caused by viruses that are transmitted with saliva when bitten by sick animals or through abrasions and wounds on the skin and mucous membranes. All warm-blooded animals, including humans, can be sick. About the symptoms of rabies in humans look here.
From the site of the bite, the virus passes through the nerve fibers through the dorsal and then the brain, where it multiplies, causing severe irreversible disturbances. From the brain the virus spreads to various organs and tissues, including gets into the salivary glands, infecting the saliva.
The effect of the virus causes damage to the nerve cells, which manifests itself as increased excitability and aggression of the patient, impaired coordination of movement, spasm of pharyngeal musculature, paralysis and muscle cramps of the extremities, respiratory muscles and head, photophobia intensified by saliva.
Wild animals( foxes, wolves, jackals, badgers, arctic foxes, raccoon dogs, rodents and bats) are especially affected in nature. Pets( dogs, cats, ferrets) are infected by biting a wild animal or getting its saliva on the damaged skin area.
The virus is resistant to low temperatures, but is unstable to high temperatures( it instantly dies when heated to 100 ° C, frozen for several months), sensitive to ultraviolet and direct sunlight, and to many disinfectants( formalin solution, alkali, bleach, creolin destroy the virus for several minutes).