Cat Scratch Fever In Cats: Diagnosis & Prevention | BudgetVetCare

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Cat Scratch Fever
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• Cat scratch fever, also known as cat scratch
  disease (CSD), is caused by bacteria named
  Bartonella henselae.
• The disease is transmitted to the cat through
  flea feces that is present on the cats skin.
  Thus, when the cat grooms himself, he ingests the
  bacteria and becomes infected.
• Although it doesnt cause any severe
  complications to cats other than fever, muscle
  pain or swollen glands, its owner is at a huge
  risk of getting infected with cat scratch fever.
  The disease can be transmitted to humans through
  just a scratch, lick or a bite.

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What is Bartonella?
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• Bartonella organisms are very sneaky in nature.
• They are not easily caught as they gradually
  reproduce by hiding in the circulating blood
  cells and blood vessels in fewer numbers.
• Fleas, spiders, ticks, and lice are known to
  transmit the disease to other animals and
  eventually humans.

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 Some common symptoms of the disease
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• Swollen glands
• Fever
• Lethargic
• Loss of appetite
• Vomiting/diarrhea
• Nasal and eye discharge
• Sneezing
• Inflammation in the mouth and gums

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Diagnosis of Cat Scratch Fever

• To get an exact diagnosis, your vet will need to
  run a few tests. He will require a complete
  medical history of your cat and if he has been
  infested with fleas or ticks in the past few
  months.

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• The vet might run a Western Blot test in your cat
  which assesses the antibodies in the system
  against the bacteria. The test needs to be sent
  to a laboratory and the results usually arrive
  within a few days.

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• Another possible diagnostic test is ELISA
  testing. ELISA stands for enzyme-linked
  immunosorbent assay and its similar to Western
  Blot but takes lesser time to get the results.

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Treating Cat Scratch Fever
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• The treatments are not very complex. Usually, the
  treatment consists of a few doses of antibiotics
  and some rest. Bartonella is gram-negative
  bacteria.
• Hence, its difficult to treat it with
  antibiotics that have low power. To cure this
  disease, intense antibiotics are administered to
  the cat for about three weeks to remove the
  disease from its roots.

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How to Prevent Cat Scratch Fever?
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• If your cat was treated for cat scratch fever,
  ensure that he doesnt come in contact with any
  parasites, otherwise, he has a chance of getting
  contaminated again. Moreover, administering flea
  and tick preventives will protect your cat from
  catching this disease.

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• Frontline Plus is the most effective flea and
  tick treatment for cats. It protects your kitty
  from those annoying parasites for a full month.
  Hence, this treatment will not only be beneficial
  against parasites but itll also protect your pet
  from the diseases caused by them.

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