Respiratory Infections, Allergens, and Other Causes.An occasional sneeze in a cat is normal and no real cause for alarm.Just as in humans, sneezing in cats is an explosive release of air through the nose and mouth often the bodys response to irritants in the nasal passages.Sometimes, excitement or movement can bring on sneezing in cats.However, if your cats sneezing wont go away, or if other symptoms have cropped up along with sneezing, you may need to check with your veterinarian to see if treatment is needed.Causes of Sneezing.If your cat is sneezing a lot, your veterinarian may initially suspect a cause based on a review of your cats symptoms.One of the main causes of sneezing is infection.In some cases, the vet may take a swab from the mouth, throat, eyes, or nose and send it to a lab to confirm an infection.Inhaled irritants or allergens are other common causes of sneezing in cats.Feline Calicivirus Merck Vet Manual For 2016' title='Feline Calicivirus Merck Vet Manual For 2016' />Issuu is a digital publishing platform that makes it simple to publish magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, and more online.Easily share your publications and get.Viral, bacterial, or fungal infections.If youve got a sneezing cat, chances are good the cat has an upper respiratory infection.Similar to colds in humans, these infections are more common in young cats, especially in those coming from animal shelters.Many of these infections can be prevented with early and complete vaccinations.Viral infections that most commonly cause sneezing in cats are Feline herpes virus.Cats catch herpes from exposure to other cats who are infected.Stress can cause a flare up as well as transmission to other cats.Learn about Exotic and Laboratory Animals symptoms, diagnosis and treatment in the Merck Manual.HCP and Vet versions too Many people who contact me want to know what has caused their cats CKD because they are worried that they did something wrong, and want to ensure they do.Treatment is aimed at controlling the symptoms.Feline herpes virus is NOT contagious to humans.Feline calicivirus.This virus is highly contagious between cats.Mouth ulcers are the most common problem, but it can affect the respiratory tract and even cause pneumonia.These infections may make your cat more likely to develop other respiratory problems that can exacerbate sneezing.For example, a cat with herpes may also develop a secondary bacterial infection.These are often treatable with antibiotics.A wide range of other infections may also lead to sneezing.They include Feline infectious peritonitis, which may cause no symptoms, mild symptoms, or more severe symptoms over time.Feline Immunodeficiency Virus FIV, which develops slowly, but severely impacts a cats immune system, leaving the cat vulnerable to other infections.Feline leukemia, a serious and often fatal infection.Chlamydia, which often produces an eye infection conjunctivitisBordetella.Mycoplasma. Continued.Inhaled irritants or allergens.If your cat only sneezes once in a while, something may simply be irritating the nasal passages.Look for patterns in your cats sneezing.Does it occur after youve lit the candles at the dinner tableAfter your cat leaves the litter box After youve cleaned the house These are all examples of potential irritants or allergens substances that cause allergic reactions in cats Cigarette smoke.Perfume. Pest sprays.Cat litter, especially types that create dust.Cleaning agents. Candles.Dust. Pollen. Mold.In cats, allergies are a less common cause of sneezing than in humans.If sneezing is related to allergies, sometimes itchy skin is also present.Other potential causes of sneezing.A variety of other factors may contribute to sneezing in cats.For example, its common for cats to experience sneezing within four to seven days of receiving an intranasal vaccine.This sneezing lasts for no more than several days.Cats may also sneeze to try to dislodge a blockage in their nasal passages.An infection or inflammation of a tooth root may cause drainage into the sinuses and may also cause sneezing.In very rare cases, sneezing in cats can be a sign of cancer.Sneezing and Other Symptoms.Symptoms that may accompany sneezing in cats may be the result of a wide range of infections and other problems.These symptoms may include Eye discharge, swelling, or ulcers.Excessive nasal discharge, sometimes yellow or green in color sometimes a sign of a bacterial infectionFatigue or depression.Fever. Drooling. Decreased appetite or weight loss.Enlarged lymph nodes.Wheezing or coughing.Poor coat condition.Trouble breathing.Diarrhea. When to See the Vet.If your cat sneezes only once in a while, has no other symptoms, or has only mild symptoms, you may want to simply monitor him or her for a few days.Keep your cat indoors and watch for changes.But be sure to call the vet if your cat sneezes continuously or often, sneezes blood, or has other signs such as those listed above.They may be signs of an illness or condition that needs veterinary care.Treatment depends on the cause of the sneezing.In mild cases, the vet may suggest taking steps to simply help your cat be more comfortable like using a humidifier.In other cases, antibiotics, nasal decongestants, steroids, or fluids may be needed.Rarely, cats that dont respond to medical therapy may require surgery.Sources. SOURCES Merck Veterinary Manual Feline Respiratory Disease Complex, Feline Respiratory Disease Complex, Localized Anaphylactic Reactions, and Rhinitis and Sinusitis.ASPCA Feline URI, Herpes and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus FIV.Cornell University Treatment of Respiratory Infection in Cats, Feline Infectious Peritonitis, Feline Leukemia Virus, and Treatment of Upper Respiratory Infection in Cats.Web. MD, LLC. All rights reserved.Dirofilaria immitis Wikipedia.Dirofilaria immitis, the heartworm or dog heartworm, is a parasiticroundworm that is spread from host to host through the bites of mosquitoes.The heartworm is a type of filarial worm, a small thread like worm, that causes filariasis.The definitive host is the dog, but it can also infect cats, wolves, coyotes, jackals, foxes, and other animals, such as ferrets, bears, sea lions and even, under very rare circumstances, humans.The parasite is commonly called heartworm however, adults often reside in the pulmonary arterial system lung arteries, as well as the heart, and a major effect on the health for the animal is a manifestation of damage to the lung vessels and tissues.Occasionally, adult heartworms migrate to the right heart and even the great veins in heavy infections.Heartworm infection may result in serious disease for the host, with death typically as the result of congestive heart failure.DistributioneditAlthough at one time confined to the southern United States, heartworm has now spread to nearly all locations where its vector, the mosquito, is found.Transmission of the parasite occurs in all of the United States cases have even been reported in Alaska, and the warmer regions of Canada.The highest infection rates are found within 1.Texas to New Jersey, and along the Mississippi River and its major tributaries.It has also been found in South America,4 southern Europe,56Southeast Asia,7 the Middle East,8Australia, Korea, and Japan.Course of infectioneditHeartworms go throughout several life stages before they become adults infecting the pulmonary artery of the host animal.The worms require the mosquito as an intermediate stage to complete their lifecycles.The rate of development in the mosquito is temperature dependent, requiring about two weeks of temperature at or above 2.C 8. 0F. Below a threshold temperature of 1.C 5. 7F, development cannot occur, and the cycle is halted.As a result, transmission is limited to warm weather, and duration of the transmission season varies geographically.The period between the initial infection when the dog is bitten by a mosquito and the maturation of the worms into adults living in the heart takes six to seven months in dogs and is known as the prepatent period.After infection, the third stage larval heartworms L3 deposited by the mosquito grow for a week or two and molt to the fourth larval stage L4 under the skin at the site of the mosquito bite.Then, they migrate to the muscles of the chest and abdomen, and 4.L5, immature adult.Between 7. 5 and 1.Over the next three to four months, they increase greatly in size.The female adult worm is about 3.By seven months after infection, the adult worms have mated and the females begin giving birth to live young, called microfilariae.The microfilariae circulate in the bloodstream for as long as two years, waiting for the next stage in their lifecycles in the gut of a bloodsucking mosquito.When ingested by a mosquito, the microfilariae undergo a series of molts to the infective third larval stage, and then migrate to the salivary glands of the mosquito, where they wait to infect another host.The incubation period required to reach the stage where the microfilariae become transmittable to another host can be as little as two weeks or as long as six weeks, depending on the warmth of the climate, and the larval lifecycle ceases entirely if the ambient temperature drops below 1.C 5. 7F. Hosts of Dirofilaria immitis include 1Clinical signs of infectioneditDogs show no indication of heartworm infection during the six month prepatent period prior to the worms maturation, and current diagnostic tests for the presence of microfilariae or antigens cannot detect prepatent infections.Rarely, migrating heartworm larvae get lost and end up in unusual sites, such as the eye, brain, or an artery in the leg, which results in unusual symptoms such as blindness, seizures, and lameness, but normally, until the larvae mature and congregate inside the heart, they produce no symptoms or signs of illness.Many dogs show little or no sign of infection even after the worms become adults.These animals usually have only a light infection and live a fairly sedentary lifestyle.However, active dogs and those with heavier infections may show the classic signs of heartworm disease.Early signs include a cough, especially on exercise and early exhaustion upon exercise.In the most advanced cases where many adult worms have built up in the heart without treatment, signs progress to severe weight loss, fainting, coughing up blood, and finally, congestive heart failure.Role of WolbachiaeditWolbachia pipientis is an intracellular bacterium that is an endosymbiont of D. Canon Printer S200spx Driver Free Download . All heartworms are thought to be infected with Wolbachia to some degree.The inflammation occurring at the die off of adult heartworms or larvae is in part due to the release of Wolbachia bacteria or protein into the tissues.This may be particularly significant in cats, in which the disease seems to be more related to larval death than living adult heartworms.Treating heartworm positive animals with an antibiotic such as doxycycline to remove Wolbachia may prove to be beneficial, but further studies are necessary.DiagnosiseditThree methods can be used for the diagnosis Microfilarial detection was accomplished most commonly in the past by the microscopic identification of microfilariae on a direct blood smear, above the buffy coat in a microhematocrit tube or capillary tube, using the modified Knott test, or after millipore filtration.The accuracy of these tests, typically used for routine screening or diagnosis of heartworm infection, is improved by multiple testing.The modified Knott test and millipore filtration are more sensitive because they concentrate microfilariae, improving the chance of diagnosis.The direct smear technique allows examination of larval motion, helping in the distinction of D.Acanthocheilonema reconditum.This distinction is important because the presence of the latter parasite does not require expensive and potentially harmful therapy.However, the potential for a microfilaremic infections is 5 6.The number of circulating microfilariae does not correlate with the number of adult heartworms, so is not an indicator of disease severity.Antigen testing, in most practices, has supplanted or supplemented microfilarial detection.Combining the microfilaria and adult antigen test is most useful in dogs receiving diethylcarbamazine or no preventative as macrolides as for example ivermectin or moxidectin typically render the dog amicrofilaremic.Up to 1 of infected dogs are microfilaria positive and antigen negative.Immunodiagnostics ELISA, lateral flow immunoassay, rapid immunomigration techniques to detect heartworm antigen in the hosts blood are now regularly used.The weakness of these tests is they only detect the antigens released from the adult female worms reproductive tract, so produce negative results during the first five to eight months of infection.The specificity of these tests is close to 1.A recent study demonstrated a sensitivity of only 6.Specificity in this study was 9.False negative test results can be due to low worm counts, immature infections, and all male infections.X rays are used to evaluate the severity of the heartworm infection and develop a prognosis for the animal.Typically, the changes observed are enlargement of the main pulmonary artery, the right side of the heart, and the pulmonary arteries in the lobes of the lung.Inflammation of the lung tissue is also often observed.TreatmenteditIf an animal is diagnosed with heartworms, treatment may be indicated.Before the worms can be treated, however, the dog must be evaluated for heart, liver, and kidney function to evaluate the risks of treatment.Usually, the adult worms are killed with an arsenic based compound.The currently approved drug in the US, melarsomine, is marketed under the brand name Immiticide.It has a greater efficacy and fewer side effects than previously used drug thiacetarsamide sodium, sold as Caparsolate, which makes it a safer alternative for dogs with late stage infections.After treatment, the dog must rest restricted exercise for several weeks so as to give its body sufficient time to absorb the dead worms without ill effect.
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