On one of my visits to the Vet, I came across a cat which was very lethargic as if even the slight movement would cause it excruciating pain. Upon inquiring the vet I found out that the poor soul had tick fever and its owner brought it to the clinic daily for intra venous medicines and blood transfusion but sadly the cat passed away after struggling with the disease for a few days.
Cats are curious by nature and it is almost impossible to stop them from exploring new things and in their exploration adventures they sometimes bring ticks with them. Even if your cat is strictly indoors and does not venture outside home it can still fall victim to ticks that you bring inside with your clothing and thus its absolutely necessary that you regularly check your cat for ticks and remove one as soon as you spot it. Ticks are small insects that are usually present in grass and woods and feed on blood of animals as well as humans. They jump on to the body of the host without being noticed and then suck blood. They leave the host after a few days of feeding but can leave the host with some reactions and diseases.
Symptoms of Tick Bite
You can suspect that your cat has been bitten by tick if the cat is continuously and obsessively grooming and licking a certain part of its body. Moreover tick bites also accompany other symptoms such as lethargy, laziness, staring at a spot in a trance like condition, lack of appetite, development of hot spot where the tick has bitten, dehydration, fever and labored breathing.
Ticks can cause a number of diseases in cats a few of which are Lyme disease and Cytauxzoonosis (also known as Bob Cat Fever). Lyme disease in cats is not life threatening and is curable whereas Bob cat fever which is not dangerous for Bob cats ends up being fatal for the house cat.
Symptoms of Lyme disease include fatigue, painful and stiff muscles, fever, fainting and loss of appetite. In Cytauxzoonosis the cat not only shows fever symptoms but is also afflicted with dehydration and anorexia. The cat will also become depressed and would become lazy and won’t move around much. Due to the pain the cat will experience it will also cry loudly. The cat would also breathe rapidly and the tissues around gums, nose and eyes will become pale.
Diagnosis and Treatment of Tick Fever in Cats
Lyme disease in cats in treated with antibiotics. Treatment at early stages help in a fast recovery but at later stages multiple courses of antibiotics are required to fight the disease. Moreover with the progression of disease relapses are also feared.
A few laboratory tests can be done to diagnose Bob cat fever but currently there is no treatment available for bob cat fever and cats who contact this disease die an agonizing death and in some cases are put to sleep by their owners so as to spare them from the terrible death.
Prevention of Tick Fever in Cats
Like they say prevention the best medicine! So I advise all cat owners to keep their cats safe from ticks and keep them indoors. If you do let out your cat check it thoroughly for ticks once it returns. Also check other household pets for ticks as it is possible that your cat gets a tick from other pets or even from your own clothing. Flea and tick collars can also be used to repel ticks. Moreover certain shampoos also help in repelling ticks but make sure that you use tick repelling products for all the pets in the household.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Ticky in Jicky