If you live in Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, or other southern states, you need to be aware of cytauxzoonosis. Cytauxzoon felis is a protozoa that wild bobcats carry. Your cat can catch it from a bite from an infected tick.Although it’s not fatal in bobcats, it is in domestic cats. This protozoa infects your cat’s white blood cells, where it reproduces. When the white blood cells are full of these protozoa, the cells become too big to fit through small blood vessels, which blocks the vessels. This, in turn, decreases blood flow in your cat’s body.Restricted blood flow causes many problems, including fluid in your cat’s lungs, severe anemia, and clotting abnormalities.Your cat can die of this disease within five days of being infected. Symptoms include decreased activity and appetite, a high fever, weakness, depression, jaundice (yellow discoloration of skin and gums), and rapid breathing.Right now there’s no cure for cytauxzoonosis. Treatment consists of intensive supportive care, as these cats are extremely ill.
Intravenous therapy to combat dehydration, feeding tube placement to provide nutritional support, and oxygen supplementation are the usual treatments, along with pain medicine, if needed. Cats are also given antibiotics since their white blood cell counts are often very low, and medicines may be needed to prevent clotting abnormalities. Blood transfusions are given if the anemia is severe.
Right now prevention is the best remedy. Keep your cat indoors during spring, summer and early fall, and use a tick preventative every three to four weeks during peak tick season. Keep grassy areas mowed to keep the tick population lower.
To learn more, read Cytauxzoonosis In Cats, published by the Oklahoma State University Center for Veterinary Health Sciences.
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14 Comment(s)
By Teresa on Apr 9, 2008 | Reply
I should know for sure tomorrow if cytauxzoonosis is what my cat has. I’m curious (and angry!) why I’ve never heard of this DEADLY disease?! How long has this been around? I’m feeling horribly that my sweet Puma kitty may die within the week.
By admin on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
Teresa, I’m so sorry about Puma. I hope it’s not cytauxzoonis. This disease has been in the US since 1976, so I really don’t understand why nobody is warning cat owners about it.
I just found an article at the Pet Health Library that states:
“In one study, diminazene aceturate treatment was able to save several cats. Another study has reported success in one cat using imidocarb diproprionate. Cats must be hospitalized while having their blood anti-coagulated, which prevents inappropriate clotting and vessel clogging with schizont-laden macrophages.
A milder strain of Cytauxzoon felis seems to have emerged in west Arkansas and east Oklahoma, where a number of cats have survived without treatment (as do most bobcats). These cats continue to have piroplasms in their blood but seem to have no effect from this.”
About the only way to prevent it is to keep ticks off your cat, which is hard to do if you live in an affected area and your kitty goes outside.
I’ll keep Puma in my prayers!
Darlene
By Joann on May 16, 2008 | Reply
I’m from Gainesville, FL and one of our two cats named Jet Blue (nearly 1 y.o.) had to be put down today because of this disease. I live in/near woods and we have bobcats around here. Needless to say, we are very sad.
I will now use Frontline in addition to Advantage Multi (which is used for heartworm prevention) to discourage ticks. I advise that anyone else in or near wooded areas in the south/southeast also do the same. I had never heard of this until I went to the vet today, and he said that this was the 3rd case he saw of this in the last 10 days.
By admin on May 19, 2008 | Reply
Joann, I’m so sorry to hear about Jet Blue. This is a terrible disease, and unfortunately most cat owners don’t know anything about it. Maybe we can start getting the word out about it.
It’s awfully hard to lose a kitty. They’re such good little friends. I hope you find some comfort in remembering the good times you had with him.
Best wishes,
Darlene
By margaret on May 31, 2008 | Reply
I also had my beloved Princess die from this Thurs morn. She was my baby and only 2 yrs old. I live in Oklahoma, in the country on 20 wooded acres. The first I heard of this diease was first of this May when I went to buy some flea prevention for her. When my vet told me about it, I bought Frontline Top Spot and put it on her immdeately.I thought she would be safe. She was not. Sunday she came down with high fever. My vet was not in on Monday, so I took her to another vet. He ran blood test and put her antibotics. Wed I took her back as she was no better. He put IV in her and kept her overnight. She died at 1:30 Thursday am.
CAT OWNERS, please be aware that products like
Frontline, evidently do not keep ALL the ticks off. If it did, my Princess would stll be with me.(When I took her to the vet Mon, she had some fleas and they found 2 ticks crawling on her.)
You need to check your cat daily, if they go outside, to remove all ticks that the treatments did get. I am telling everyone I know this, and please do the same. I even called my vet and told her she needed to inform her customers that tick treatments are not 100%. If I had been told, I would have checked her and she might still be with me.
By admin on Jun 1, 2008 | Reply
Margaret, I’m sorry you lost your Princess. Thank you so much for letting other cat owners know that they still need to check their kitties for ticks even if they’re using a product to keep ticks off. You may have saved another cat’s life.
I know how hard it is to lose a special kitty friend. I’ll keep you in my prayers.
Darlene
By Brenda on Jun 3, 2008 | Reply
I lost my beloved cat Tommy to this horrible disease May 30. It killed him so quickly & suddenly,within 3 days. I’m still grieving over him.It was a horrible death. I wrote an article in our local newspaper to warn cat owners about this. So many people don’t know it exists.Teresa, I hope Puma is not infected.Our cats are so precious to us.
I live in GA & my vet said she’s seen this several times in a 10 mile radius
By admin on Jun 4, 2008 | Reply
Brenda, how terrible. Please accept my sympathy for your Tommy. And thank you for writing an article in your paper about cytauxzoonosis. We need to get the word out to as many cat owners as possible so that more cats don’t die from this disease.
I emailed Puma’s owner, and as I recall, it turned out to be something else. I hope he made a full recovery.
Anyone who reads this, feel free to reprint this article, as long as you link it back to this blog.
Darlene
By Brenda on Jun 12, 2008 | Reply
Thank you Darlene. It’s really been tough, losing Tommy the way I did. I’ve got 2 friends whose cats died recently. One was about 3 weeks ago, same symptoms & one yesterday, same thing. I wish they had taken them to have blood drawn to see if it Bobcat fever but they were found dead & they didn’t think to do it.My friend Bobbie lost her cat Otis yesterday & from she described to me, it was Bobcat fever.We live in GA, about 20 miles apart.It’s terrible that our cats are dying from this awful disease.I hope for a cure soon.
By Brenda on Jun 12, 2008 | Reply
Margaret, I’m so sorry about Princess. It’s so hard to lose a beloved pet, as I lost my cat Tommy May 30th.Also a friend lost her cat Otis yesterday. Tommy had Bobcat fever & it sounds like Otis did too.So many people have never heard of this & I’m telling everyone I know about it,even my dog groomer. We have to do something to protect them even more, I feel so helpless since there’s no cure.
By Rita on Jun 13, 2008 | Reply
Late Wednesday morning, June 11, 2008, we learned that it was likely that our precious two year old black and white female, Stray, had contracted cytauxzoonosis. We had never heard of the disease and our vet was only vaguely familiar with it. By 3:00 that afternoon, she was gone. To say that we are crushed is an understatement. We were aware that she had not been her usual active, fun-loving self for 2-3 days but began a round of antibotics, thinking it was just a “bug” from which she would recover with the help of Clavamox. Little did we know that the “bug” would take her from us so quickly. Our vet had administered a sedative to her in order to draw blood and provide IV, so fortunatley she slipped away with seemingly little pain at the end.
We live in east-central MS on the border of a wildlife refuge. Through the years we have accumulated quite a collection of cats and dogs that have been discarded by people (makes one ashamed of her own species!). We dedicate much of our time and a considerable portion of our income to caring for our pets, always vaccinating, nuturing and spaying, using flea and tick products to improve the quality of their lives, and providing quality shelter and food–and much, much love. Our home is in an isolated area, safe from traffic but apparently prime for cytauxzoonosis! It is frigthening to realize that the very protective environment we have provided is no haven!
Until the loss of Stray on Wednesday, we were owned by 12 felines ranging from about 12 years of age to 1 year of age. This includes the three Straylings–the offspring of Stray. Each of the three have their mom’s beautiful yellow almond-shaped eyes, white stocking feet, long tails, and love for the mischevious! Now, I have to figure out how to keep them and my others safe! It’s frigthening.
My heart goes out to all of you who have experienced the loss that is so new and painful to us! I work at a university that has a veterinary school–my plan is to learn as much about the disease as fast as I can in order to safeguard my others!
It does my heart good to know that there are so many others who love their felines as much as I do mine! Take care!
By admin on Jun 14, 2008 | Reply
Rita, I’m so sorry for your loss. It doesn’t make any difference how many animals you have, every one is precious. Stray sounds like she was a real sweetheart. At least you still have her kittens.
Thank you for the work you’re doing with throw-away cats and dogs. It’s a huge problem here where I live in TN. All I can say is that people are ignorant. I can’t understand this mentality myself.
Perhaps you can help get the word out at the vet school. Many vets have never heard of this, and it’s new to cat owners too.
Brenda, keep telling people about this disease.
You’re doing an important job.
Thank you all for your comments. I’m sorry it had to be because of such a sad reason.
Darlene
By Loretta on Sep 23, 2008 | Reply
We have now lost 4 cats to this horrible disease - Whiskers, Jasper, Snooky Wookims, and Graybo. It has been a very “quick” process for our cats - here in Northern Arkansas. They show signs of lethargy, we take them to the vet, and they die within about 24 hours - even with antibiotics and other measures.
We have always used Frontline because we live in the country, but it doesn’t seem to work 100% of the time. We have 4 other cats that are ok so far, but we are watching them closely and trying to keep them in the house as much as we can.
By admin on Oct 4, 2008 | Reply
Loretta,
I’m so sorry to hear about your kitties. I understand that Frontline is pretty good for fleas, but it doesn’t kill ticks right away. I think it takes several days, and by that time, your cat can already be infected.
This disease is very hard on outdoor cats. The best thing you can do for your cats is to keep them inside as much as possible if you live in an area where ticks are common. Check them carefully when they come inside. Check yourself, too, if you’ve been outdoors, since a tick can come in on you and wind up on an inside cat.
Best wishes,
Darlene