People are cat lovers, dog lovers, bird fanciers, or those who hate all pets.
Dogs are leashed, confined and controlled. Cats may be collared but they are never leashed or chained. They roam free, nimbly climb stairs, and reach high ledges.
Aware that dog bites can cause rabies and death, people, if bitten, immediately seek medical advice and treatment. Cats and dogs belong to the same mammalian species and are branches of the same family tree. Public awareness about the dangers of cat bite is minimal. Pet cats are hardly ever immunized. Their owners do not take bites or scratches (accidental or intentional) very seriously.
A domesticated and docile cat can revert to its "wild ways" and "tom-cat" on certain days. Cats (even well fed ones) occasionally attack, kill and eat other animals. They are territorial and can ferociously defend their perceived living space from other cats. These battles leave them injured, wounded and scarred. They can acquire rabies during these forays, because of the close contact with other infected cats or dogs. After infection, cats can also harbour the dreaded rabies virus and may become asymptomatic carriers. Unlike dogs, cats rarely exhibit the classic form of rabies and become furious biters. Instead, they tend to develop the passive form, remain silent and withdrawn but infective, until they die.
Domesticated cattle often harbour cysts of the organism known as "Toxoplasma gondii". Cats eat the raw carcasses or placenta of these animals even if they are well cared for. Cats then acquire the infection but remain asymptomatic. They shed the potentially infective oocytes of the organism into the environment. Floors of houses or any other surface on which infected cats sit and groom themselves become contaminated. Oocytes remain in the dormant form for years until they are accidentally swallowed.
Children are particularly susceptible both because of their age and their propensity to touch contaminated surfaces and then their mouths. Almost 4% of the adult population has had asymptomatic infection with demonstrable antibody level.
This infection is dangerous if acquired in pregnancy as they can transmit the infection (via the placenta) to the foetus. It can affect the developing brain producing a small head, retardation blindness and deafness.
The Egyptian royal family (pharaohs) eventually became extinct after many members died young or were born deformed with small microcephalic heads. Many suffered from seizures. These are classical symptoms of Toxoplasma gondii infection. Historians now theorize that part of the problem was caused by their propensity to live with cats. Cats were worshiped in ancient Egypt and reared by the royal family. Killing a cat was a serious offence punishable by death.
Almost 75% of cats carry pasteurella bacteria in their mouths and can these contaminate bites. Unless wounds are cleaned thoroughly with hydrogen peroxide solution followed by an antibiotic ointment (Neosporin, Bacitracin) antibiotics may be required.
Fleas and ticks live on cats until they are manually removed by the owner. These fleas can jump on to other convenient warm-blooded hosts (man). This causes itchy red lesions. These can be mistaken and treated as a frustratingly recurrent eczema which remains unresponsive to treatment. The fleas also harbour the bartonella species of bacteria and this can cause "cat scratch disease" with fever body ache and enlarged lymph nodes.
Cats have diarrhoea caused by the same viruses and bacteria as humans. Their excreta contaminate the environment and may dry unnoticed in areas of the house transmitting the infection.
Tonsillitis in humans and cats is caused by identical group of streptococcal bacteria. The disease is mild in cats but can be severe, persistent, recurrent and unresponsive to treatment in children and immunocompromised adults.
Panic occurred among many cat owners when they read that the H. pylori bacteria implicated in stomach ulcers and cancer is found in cats and can spread from them to humans. H. pylori is a familial infection commoner in cat rearing families.
Mycobacteria (TB group) species, typical and atypical can cause disease in cats and be transmitted to humans. This is likely to occur in immunodeficient (HIV) individuals or in young children.
Small pox has been eradicated in the world, but cow pox is still present and transmitted by cats. It can cause fever and rash with a similar confounding appearance in humans particularly children.
Diseases caused by cats are serious in children, pregnant women and immunocopromised (HIV, cancer) adults. The diagnosis may be missed as patients, unaware of the serious implications, fail to mention feline contacts to the treating physician.
Attention "cat lovers",
Immunize your cat, yourself and your family
Treat all illness in the cat promptly
Do not allow cats to sit on areas used for food preparation
Do not feed cats from your plate
Wash hands after contact with cats
Swab the house with a disinfectant solution
Better safe than sorry.
People are cat lovers, dog lovers, bird fanciers, or those who hate all pets.
Dogs are leashed, confined and controlled. Cats may be collared but they are never leashed or chained. They roam free, nimbly climb stairs, and reach high ledges.
Aware that dog bites can cause rabies and death, people, if bitten, immediately seek medical advice and treatment. Cats and dogs belong to the same mammalian species and are branches of the same family tree. Public awareness about the dangers of cat bite is minimal. Pet cats are hardly ever immunized. Their owners do not take bites or scratches (accidental or intentional) very seriously.
A domesticated and docile cat can revert to its "wild ways" and "tom-cat" on certain days. Cats (even well fed ones) occasionally attack, kill and eat other animals. They are territorial and can ferociously defend their perceived living space from other cats. These battles leave them injured, wounded and scarred. They can acquire rabies during these forays, because of the close contact with other infected cats or dogs. After infection, cats can also harbour the dreaded rabies virus and may become asymptomatic carriers. Unlike dogs, cats rarely exhibit the classic form of rabies and become furious biters. Instead, they tend to develop the passive form, remain silent and withdrawn but infective, until they die.
Domesticated cattle often harbour cysts of the organism known as "Toxoplasma gondii". Cats eat the raw carcasses or placenta of these animals even if they are well cared for. Cats then acquire the infection but remain asymptomatic. They shed the potentially infective oocytes of the organism into the environment. Floors of houses or any other surface on which infected cats sit and groom themselves become contaminated. Oocytes remain in the dormant form for years until they are accidentally swallowed.
Children are particularly susceptible both because of their age and their propensity to touch contaminated surfaces and then their mouths. Almost 4% of the adult population has had asymptomatic infection with demonstrable antibody level.
This infection is dangerous if acquired in pregnancy as they can transmit the infection (via the placenta) to the foetus. It can affect the developing brain producing a small head, retardation blindness and deafness.
The Egyptian royal family (pharaohs) eventually became extinct after many members died young or were born deformed with small microcephalic heads. Many suffered from seizures. These are classical symptoms of Toxoplasma gondii infection. Historians now theorize that part of the problem was caused by their propensity to live with cats. Cats were worshiped in ancient Egypt and reared by the royal family. Killing a cat was a serious offence punishable by death.
Almost 75% of cats carry pasteurella bacteria in their mouths and can these contaminate bites. Unless wounds are cleaned thoroughly with hydrogen peroxide solution followed by an antibiotic ointment (Neosporin, Bacitracin) antibiotics may be required.
Fleas and ticks live on cats until they are manually removed by the owner. These fleas can jump on to other convenient warm-blooded hosts (man). This causes itchy red lesions. These can be mistaken and treated as a frustratingly recurrent eczema which remains unresponsive to treatment. The fleas also harbour the bartonella species of bacteria and this can cause "cat scratch disease" with fever body ache and enlarged lymph nodes.
Cats have diarrhoea caused by the same viruses and bacteria as humans. Their excreta contaminate the environment and may dry unnoticed in areas of the house transmitting the infection.
Tonsillitis in humans and cats is caused by identical group of streptococcal bacteria. The disease is mild in cats but can be severe, persistent, recurrent and unresponsive to treatment in children and immunocompromised adults.
Panic occurred among many cat owners when they read that the H. pylori bacteria implicated in stomach ulcers and cancer is found in cats and can spread from them to humans. H. pylori is a familial infection commoner in cat rearing families.
Mycobacteria (TB group) species, typical and atypical can cause disease in cats and be transmitted to humans. This is likely to occur in immunodeficient (HIV) individuals or in young children.
Small pox has been eradicated in the world, but cow pox is still present and transmitted by cats. It can cause fever and rash with a similar confounding appearance in humans particularly children.
Diseases caused by cats are serious in children, pregnant women and immunocopromised (HIV, cancer) adults. The diagnosis may be missed as patients, unaware of the serious implications, fail to mention feline contacts to the treating physician.
Attention "cat lovers",
Immunize your cat, yourself and your family
Treat all illness in the cat promptly
Do not allow cats to sit on areas used for food preparation
Do not feed cats from your plate
Wash hands after contact with cats
Swab the house with a disinfectant solution
Better safe than sorry.
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