How to Recognize Panleukopenia, One of the Most Serious Diseases of Cats

You, as cat keepers, will probably be frightened when hearing “cat plague”. But precisely this phrase is sometimes used for panleukopenia which is a very dangerous cat disease. You may not only prevent it thanks to information obtained but to identify its symptoms as well.

You, as cat keepers, will probably be frightened when hearing “cat plague”. But precisely this phrase is sometimes used for panleukopenia which is a very dangerous cat disease. You may not only prevent it thanks to information obtained but to identify its symptoms as well.

Panleukopenia or parvovirosis is aggressive and highly contagious disease, affecting only cats (or feline). It is tricky because of its rapid progress the fact that it is manifested with strong and sometimes even bloody, diarrhea and vomiting. Exhausted animal then quickly gets into mortal danger. The cat is usually apathetic, loses its appetite and stops to drink even before the digestive disturbances occur.

“Panleukopenia in cats is a serious fatal disease which can be prevented by timely and proper vaccinations, preferably in a juvenile cat. When the disease outbreaks, it is necessary to start with an intensive therapy which requires patient’s hospitalisation. The diagnosis of the disease is made after the evaluation of the clinical state and the blood count. It is also possible to complement the diagnosis with a commercial test on virus identification in the faeces. But even an early therapy does not have to be successful" says MVDr. Aneta Kasanová, a vet.

The incubation period of cat plague is 2 to 10 days. The cat can be for example infected through  a bowl with water contaminated with saliva etc. The insidious and very resistant parvovirus that causes the disease is transmitted by all body fluids. The infected places remain infectious for several months. Even the cat that was successfully treated is infectious for the next couple of weeks.

The parvovirus quickly replicates following the outbreak and it gradually gets into blood which is spread in the body and it attacks various organs, including the gastrointestinal tract. It also attacks white blood cells and reduces its number and it significantly decreases the immunity of the infected cat.

If you are scared panleukopenia, ask the vet for vaccination. Prevention is in this case more than desirable, there is unfortunately very often no help to the animal after the outbreak of the disease and the treatment is at least complicated.

Related articles

How to teach a dog to wear a muzzle

In the life of any dog, a situation might come up, when it is necessary to put on a muzzle. And if the dog is not used to wearing it, it might mean a stressful situation. I will advise you on how to avoid stress and how to get your dog used to wearing...

Don’t underestimate regular veterinary check-ups

Same as in people, also our pets should go to regular check-ups to a doctor. We might neglect this quite often, but it is still something else in animals. A dog or a cat won’t come up to you to tell you, that they’re not feeling well. That’s why an...

Four-legged diabetics

You probably have someone among your friends, who has diabetes. However, do you know, that cats and dogs also suffer from this disease quite often?

What our pets dream about

Do you know, what dreams our pets have? Besides myself, also a number of scientists were interested in this question and they came up with various hypotheses. Would you guess what our four-legged friends dream about?

5 tips for taking pictures of your pets

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.3px 'Times New Roman'; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} All of us surely likes to take pictures of our pets. However, the photographs don’t always turn out according to our...