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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / February 2005Info *ALL* cat owners should read about Bartonella
I have just recently had a second cat test positive for Bartonella. Both cats were tested because they had odd teeth issues, and after doing more research I am now aware that Bartonella can be the cause for many things, including inflammatory bowel disease and skin problems. Bartonella is commonly transmitted by flea bites. My cat Annie is now 11 and I have had her since she was 7 weeks old. She never had fleas in my home so she most likely had it since before I got her. Murphy was a feral I trapped in the winter and did not have fleas, but he was no doubt exposed to them at some time. It seems I'm going to have to get everyone tested, but I'll have to decide which would be most at risk and do those first since the test is $50. There is a good article about Bartonella here: http://www.knowlesanimalclinics.com/miami/bartonella_and_cats.html If you have a cat that has had any of the issues listed in the article and at any time in their life may have been exposed to fleas, or has IBD, gingivitis, skin issues or other inflammatory type health issues, testing for Bartonella is definitely worthwhile. Treatment for Bartonella is a 3 week course of Zythromycin (10 mg/kg) and will eliminate the infection, which in turn should resolve any health issues caused by it. Megan  Signature"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke Learn The TRUTH About Declawing http://www.stopdeclaw.com Zuzu's Cats Photo Album: http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22 "Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way." - W.H. Murray >I have just recently had a second cat test positive for Bartonella. Both >cats were tested because they had odd teeth issues, and after doing more >research I am now aware that Bartonella can be the cause for many >things, including inflammatory bowel disease and skin problems. >Bartonella is commonly transmitted by flea bites. My cat Annie is now 11 ... Thanks for this. When I got Jackie a few months ago I had to have all of her teeth extracted because she appeared to have an allergic reaction to them or to the bacteria around them. She also has chronic diarrhea and presumably IBD for which I've been giving her Prednisone. I have a call into the Vet and will discuss the possibility of testing Jackie for Bartonella. >I have a call into the Vet and will discuss >the possibility of testing Jackie for >Bartonella. I think this is an excellent idea and if Jackie were my cat, considering the health issues she's had, I would definitely have her tested. Let us know the outcome. Megan Signature"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke Learn The TRUTH About Declawing http://www.stopdeclaw.com Zuzu's Cats Photo Album: http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22 "Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way." - W.H. Murray >>I have a call into the Vet and will discuss >>the possibility of testing Jackie for [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > He wasn't overly impressed with the idea. He says that one of the symptoms of Bartonella is low RBC and Jackie's are excellent. I have a good deal of respect for his opinion since he's been right on target with Jackie from day one. I'll find out a bit more about this. >He says that one of the symptoms of >Bartonella is low RBC and Jackie's are >excellent. I have a good deal of respect >for his opinion since he's been right on >target with Jackie from day one. I'll find >out a bit more about this. Annie had a full blood workup just before she had her dental and everything was normal. While a low RBC *may* be a symptom, it certainly isn't written in stone, and I personally know of two other cats that also had perfect bloodwork yet tested positive for Bartonella. The ONLY symptom for Annie was tooth issues that weren't revealed until she was under anesthesia and they did xrays. I have another cat with severe gingivitis (and perfect bloodwork) that I took to the University of MN vet clinic and the first thing they recommended was to test for Bartonella. This is still a fairly new area, but I guess that in my view, doing the test and maybe finding a treatable underlying reason for all the health issues would be worth it to me as opposed to doing nothing when the cat may very well have a treatable disease that is responsible for current health issues. Even if the test came back negative, I'd still be glad I did it. At least I'd know. Megan Signature"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke Learn The TRUTH About Declawing http://www.stopdeclaw.com Zuzu's Cats Photo Album: http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22 "Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way." - W.H. Murray Just to add to my response to your vet's misguided assertion that a Bartonella+ cat would present with a low RBC, I found this case study of a cat that tested positive for Bartonella and in part it says "Previous diagnostics included a full chemistry profile and CBC on 8/9/03 that was unremarkable." http://www.veterinaryspecialistsnetwork.com/vsn_case.htm Megan Signature"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke Learn The TRUTH About Declawing http://www.stopdeclaw.com Zuzu's Cats Photo Album: http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22 "Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way." - W.H. Murray >Just to add to my response to your vet's misguided assertion that a >Bartonella+ cat would present with a low RBC, I found this case study of [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > He didn't say that all cats with Bartonella have low RBCs, just that most do. I think that I'll head over to the Feline IBD yahoo group and see what they have to say. The site also says: "The clinical signs of Bartonella sp include: gingivitis, stomatitis, oral ulcerations, submandibular lymphadenopathy, upper respiratory infections, rhinitis, sinusitis, uveitis, chorioretinitis, conjunctivitis, inflammatory bowel disease, fever of unknown origin, hepatic peliosis, bacillary angiomatosis, valvular heart disease. The most common manifestation is gingival and ocular disease. *However, any cat with chronic inflammatory disease should be tested for this organism."* The above is from a diplomate in veterinary medicine. When you've got a cat that has not one but *two* presentations of inflammatory disease, why not do the test to rule this in or out, especially if it might give you some answers and Jackie relief? This isn't a major procedure. It's a simple blood test. Megan Signature"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke Learn The TRUTH About Declawing http://www.stopdeclaw.com Zuzu's Cats Photo Album: http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22 "Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way." - W.H. Murray > I have just recently had a second cat test positive for Bartonella. Both > cats were tested because they had odd teeth issues, and after doing more [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] > > - W.H. Murray I just found out today that Sebastian has Bartonella. He has had a few mild upper respiratory flareups, leaking nose and eye goopiness since I adopted him about a year and a half ago, but they were never anything that bad and always subsided in short order (he did get antibiotics a couple of times). The vet just thought he was one of those cats who are suseptible to periodic respiratory infections. Recently I noticed he was having periodic sneezing fits and was wheezing slightly after running. I took him in for a dental that had been previously scheduled and the vet took chest xrays. They didn't see anything and he underwent the dental fine (his first dental had to be postponed when he seemed to develop a cold). Given this recurrance, they suggested the test for Bartonella. If a cat has the bacteria in his system, the severity of the infection is indicated on the test via a scale of 0 to 4 and he was a 4. Oddly enough, his upper respiratory problems had disappeared right after the dental. So now he's beginning the 3 week treatment. Nothing in the bloodwork he had done in his physicals showed anything unusual. This might be a way forward on my mystery case. Cat with good bloodwork, except indication of inflamamtion, chronic vomiting, hair loss, lumpy skin. I'll be talking to the vet on Monday. Thanks for the info NT Thanks for posting this. I've never heard of this before. Has anyone heard of a relationship between this and UTI in cats? My Noel has had IBS, a rodent ulcer and chronic UTI. The vet and I dicussed problems with his immune system and he's been tested for FeLV and FIV (both tests negative). I'm wondering if bartonella could be a factor. He is an indoor cat and he's always up to date with his flea treatments but he was a stray before I adopted him. I think another trip to the vet is in order to check this out!
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