As hard as it is to understand the many needs of your feline friends. Harder still is learning how to properly cope with their fragile health. As a current or even aspiring cat parent. It is essential to familiarise yourself with the possible difficulties you might face when raising your little furball. So, to help run you up to speed. Here are our picks for the most common diseases in kittens and how to work around them:
1 Feline distemper:
Scientifically called panleukopenia, this condition is a viral infection that can affect nearly all cat breeds and are among the most common diseases in kittens. It is similar in pathology to canine distemper in that they are both caused by parvoviruses. But differ in symptoms and relative effect. Distemper is often fatal in kittens. Due to the resultant bone marrow degradation and damage to the intestinal wall which causes sepsis and malnutrition respectively.
Vaccination against distemper makes this disease unlikely, although still possible. It is crucial to ensure that your furry companion is jabbed when adopting since it is impractical to treat an acute infection.
2 Respiratory diseases:
Infections of the respiratory tract are another form of common disease in kittens. Symptomatically, these conditions present with persistent sneezing, discharge from the nose, and conjunctivitis (inflammation of the eyes or pink eye). The two main viral culprits responsible for this are the feline herpes virus and feline calicivirus; however, bacterial chlamydia infection is also possible.
Like with distemper, viral infections can be caution by vaccination. Additionally, bacterial infection can be treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics such as tetracyclines. It is also important to note that the bacterial form can spread to humans causing conjunctivitis, so, should taking care of swiftly and with care.
3 Fading Kitten Syndrome:
FKS is a rather dark and detrimental condition, yet is among the most common diseases in kittens. FKS typically presents between birth and the first few weeks of development and affected kittens are rarely viable. This condition is characteris by a failure to reach developmental milestones such as rolling over after 3 days and standing upright by two weeks. The most common symptoms include lethargy, poor suckling while weaning, no weight gain, constant whimpering, and laboured breathing.
There are treatment strategies that can help manage the condition if identified early into the onset. But these options are only aiming at improving the kitten’s quality of life, not as a cure. Vets will often provide nutritional, breathing, and temperature regulation support, however, the end result is always grim.
4 Parasitic infections:
Flea/tick infestations are annoying, mostly harmless conditions in adult cats but are bad news for kittens. These common diseases in kittens are highly transmissible, dangerous, and have drastic consequences. These include conditions such as Haemobartonellosis (caused by Haemobartonella leading to anaemia), tapeworm and roundworm infections (causing diarrhoea); and so on.
Issues caused by parasites are very easy to manage by antiparasitic medication. However, timing is still important – the earlier that treatment is to administrate, the less likely it is that there will be lasting damage to your little one.
The list of particular diseases is endless, but these remain the most common diseases in kittens that you ought to be aware of as a responsible pet owner. If you’d like to learn more about safe adoption or would like to adopt a protected furry friend of your own, go down to Camlist to find a match for you today!
