Coronavirus in cats is quite common, are particularly at risk those Pets, which were not produced by vaccination. According to the statistics, vaccination does not guarantee that the animal will not pick up the virus, but the disease will be gentle.
In order to help the furry pet, you need to know the symptoms and how to warn her.
The action of the coronavirus in the cat’s body
The resulting illness is treated for a long time, its characteristic features are multiple violations in the work of the internal organs of the peritoneum, pathology which often causes the death of a cat. The name of the virus derived from his appearance (around the head are convex, resembling a crown), when viewed under a microscope.
The danger of micro-organism is that its effect on the body of the cat is not one but several diseases, most common of which is viral enteritis. The development of feline infectious peritonitis leads to complication of the condition, which is only a symptomatic treatment, so as to cure the disease fails. None of these viruses are not dangerous to the human body.
The way of transmission
If animals are kept in large groups, for example, in shelters, kennels, while the main mode of transmission is considered to be oral-fecal, young kittens are most frequently infect their mother, after the protective properties of mother’s milk be low (5-6 weeks). In one gram of feces of an infected animal contains about a billion microorganisms of coronavirus, which enter the body of a cat through the mouth with food and water or through breathing.
The virulence of the coronavirus (ability to spread) is high enough to leave to use the tray previously infected cats. Dangerous microorganism contains 60-75% of organisms of all cats, and in contact with him were almost all Pets. In terms of external environment, the virus remains capable of life about 1-1,5 months. Through the staff the microbe is not transmitted, except that the hands, clothing of a Minister of the kennel is soiled with feces of a sick pet.
Through the mouth or respiratory system of the organism falls primarily in the epithelial layer of the stomach or small intestine. The immune system of the animal tries to bring an uninvited infection from the body, and in most cases, the microorganisms leave the body of a cat. The natural process of elimination takes time from 3 weeks to six months depending on the body resistance.
Various strains of coronavirus infection in cats
The virus is divided into typical strains:
- the intestinal action coronavirus of cats (FCoV);
- the causative agents of feline infectious peritonitis (FIPV).
Organisms of similar antigenic composition, and the second type is derived from the first by mutations already in the body of a cat carrier under the action of stress and is 100% lethal threat to your pet. With regard to the intestinal form, mild course of the disease the life of the cat is not in danger.
Despite the fact that infectious peritonitis and enteritis coronavirus arise in the body due to the same pathogen, they do not cause identical disease. If the animal has mild intestinal form of the disease, viral peritonitis it may not face at all. On the other hand, the animal with feline infectious peritonitis may not put into the environment of harmful organisms along with the feces.
The virus that causes severe intestinal disease is a mutated strain of a simple stomach virus, the multiplication which occurs only in the epithelial layer of the intestine. Dangerous strain finds a place of a dislocation in macrophages (the white blood cells in blood system) and is distributed with blood flow to parts of the body, interfering with the operation of all systems.
If identified coronavirus cats, this is not evidence of disease of the animal. Modern studies define only the coronavirus in the blood of the animal or the presence of antibodies in the blood. Easy intestinal form of coronavirus in cats occurs frequently, with regard to serious infectious peritonitis, mutation occurs only in 10% of the total number of infected Pets.
At risk of severe painful Pets that are under one year old, those cats that are in poor conditions, experiencing constant stress, fear and experiencing different States of immunosuppressive in nature.
After penetration of the pathogen into the body developments are such ways:
- cat gets a severe viral peritonitis, and the treatment will be aimed at the maintenance of life by addressing the specific symptoms, disturbing the animal;
- animal for a certain period of time will secrete the intestinal form of coronavirus, then the selection of microorganisms slows down and the content of antibodies in the blood decreases to a zero value;
- pet becomes a lifelong carrier to such a fate awaits approximately 13-14% of the animals, the cat can be perfectly healthy, but his feces will constantly find agents coronavirus in cats;
- some animals are quite resistant to infection by coronavirus, these include about 4% of the representatives of the cat, their natural immunity prevents the spread of disease.
The symptoms of enteritis uncomplicated flow
Gastroenteritis in cats body does not cause significant complaints and occurs with mild symptoms. The main malfunction of the intestine is inflammation of the area of the small intestine, which is called coronaviruses enteritis due to violations of the integrity of the mucus layer in the intestine.
Typical symptoms include:
- severe diarrhea or soft stool with the addition of mucous membranes and bleeding;
- the animal loses weight or bad it is gaining with the growth;
- lack of appetite, the pet turns away from the usual food;
- the increase in body temperature of a cat.
These symptoms are not too aggravate the General condition of the cat, sometimes you need a little medicinal therapy. This condition takes place fairly soon, if it is not associated with another infection or develop comorbidities.
Symptoms of feline infectious peritonitis in cats
If the pathogen is intestinal enteritis mutates under the influence of favorable factors, the animal develops a severe lethal diseasecomplicated by infection mutating pathogen. For severe stage of the disease, characterized by the fact that the transfer of the modified virus does not occur, the body of a sick pet is only a standard exciter coronavirus. Symptomatology differs from the flow of ordinary enteritis.
Symptoms of feline infectious peritonitis at the initial stage not much different from the intestinal manifestations of enteritis, but is gradually joined by cramps, muscle atony. Pathogenic microorganism as a result of their life emit toxic products that are poisoning all the systems and organs of the cat’s body. Often the treatment is late and it is a prerequisite for the development of liver failure and stoppage of the kidneys. Internal organs completely amazed, and this leads to depletion of vital forces.
How to identify coronavirus from representatives of the cat?
Definition of coronavirus refers to the complex diagnosis, as most cats carry it in yourself asymptomatic, and the virus is isolated after a certain period of time.
The main forms of the survey are:
- the most effective way to explore the isolation of the virus FCoV fecal pet, a characteristic that saliva the virus is only at the initial stage of penetration of the pathogen into the body of the cat;
- to identify the disease should be repeated examination of feces, as a single can get to the period when the cat stopped to excrete the pathogen in a specific time period;
- very often good results are obtained with the PCR test, but its conduct to improve efficiency should be combined with tests for antibodies immunofluorescence direction;
- to reliably establish the fact of infection is carried out 5 consecutive laboratory analyses of feces at intervals of four weeks, the causative agent of coronavirus is considered to be not found, if all of them show the lack of it in the feces;
- Swedish scientists have conducted 4 analysis of feces at intervals of 7-9 days, and I think the result is negative, if when all studies coronavirus not detected;
- to establish the ownership of the cats to the group life carriers coronavirus in that case, if after research for 8 months, the tests should show a positive result.
Vaccination
For long studies, many attempts have been made to develop an effective vaccine to protect cats against infection with coronaviruses, but successful results will include unit. To use recognized intranasal vaccine Primucell, Pfizer. The product is made with the use of temperature dependent changes of the strain, which is able to deploy and reproduce only in the mouth or throat. This property allows it to produce a small amount of antibodies and to form immune local value at the occurrence of the virus.
This vaccine preparation is effective against the causative agent of coronavirus and is safe, but for the protection of the animal body from infectious peritonitis conclusive results could not be obtained. The recommended age to start vaccination is 16 weeks, but by that time kittens have already had contact with coronaviruses from the mother’s body, making vaccination unnecessary procedure.
To be able to make a full vaccination in some nurseries practice premature weaning from breastfeeding kittens to term when mother’s milk still present protective antibodies, and they are not destroyed by time. Intestinal virus of cats are vaccinated rarely, and infectious peritonitis effective vaccine have not been established and further research is being done.
Action for the elimination of coronavirus
This question concerned the owners of furry Pets and landlords nurseries. It must be remembered that the body of cats alone are able to get rid of the virus, some time is given to fight the virus then goes from the cat and the animal ceases to allocate in the external environment of the pathogen together with the fecal mass.
On the Internet has a large number of tips to remove the virus from the body of the cat representatives submitted certain schemes, diet and much more. But evidence-based medicine, these councils do not have the slightest relationship, and advisers are far from medicine.
If you do not talk about the unsupervised use in the treatment of immune-boosting means, any diet will not be able to harm neither the cat nor coronavirus parasites in its body. Mutation of the intestinal simple virus the causative agent of peritonitis occurs in animals experiencing chronic stress. Therefore, the higher the host will try to apply animal newfangled schemes remove coronavirus with the use of enforcement tools, the more trauma the animal and the prerequisites for transformation into a dangerous agent.
Medical treatment in case of infection coronaviruses
To restore vitality using anti-inflammatory drugs and immunomodulators:
- the active tablet drug Picopen is produced from bacterial cells, used to inhibit the activity of harmful microorganisms;
- with the antibodies contained in the drug, the pathogen is actively fighting dog Globcan-5;
- actively exerts its bactericidal action of the drug Likopid;
- restores the immune system, destroying the body and viral pathogenic microorganisms, reduces symptoms of stress drug Roncoleukin;
- To restore hemoglobinase increased use of iron-containing glycoprotein, Proliferin A.
Early detection of infections in kittens is credited with immunomodulatory drugs and antibiotics. Pets fed a diet products, exclude semi-finished products and by-products. Recommended multivitamin complexes, but they are used in short courses for the purposes and under the supervision of a doctor.
