Cat: Achoo!

Cats, just like humans can also be prone to sickness. In fact, cats are succumb to two cat viral infections. These two common viral infections are Feline Herpes 1 virus and Chlamydia psittaci and mycoplasma infections.

So? What will happen to a cat with these viral infections? When a cat is infected, they will experience several signs and symptoms of infection like fever, weepy eyes, crusty nose and excessively sneezing. This can just disappear after how many days with or without treatment but this can also reoccur.

In worst cases, cats which are infected with this virus may also develop a condition called Feline Keratoconjunctivitiswhich is an eye condition that mainly affects the conjunctiva of the cat. Here’s how the virus works: when a cat have this condition the virus settles in the nerves around their face that can lead to eye complications and affectation. Corneal scars can be seen to a little over a centimeter in diameter leading to difficulty of the cat to see.

So how can I manage a cat with this condition? Fortunately, this can be treated using an amino acid called –lysine by reducing the amount of another amino acid called arginine that is present in the cat’s body.

You also have other options like you can try topical antibiotics for secondary infections and topical anti-virals that are designed to directly fight the virus. These medications are relatively expensive and have to be given 5 times a day.

The good new is that there are vaccines to prevent his condition from happening to your cat. Ideally, this should be given to a cat during their 9th, 12th and 14th week of age and given to the anterior side of a rear leg and massaged after wards to prevent tumors from forming in the injection sites.

Cat viral infections are common among kittens but they can be prevented and cured. You have to know first which one you are dealing with so the proper medication can be given.

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