Veterinarians at the University of Minnesota have treated eight suspected or confirmed cases of a cat and dog disease called tularemia. Of the eight cats, five died and three lived. This is a spike in a rare disease in Minnesota. What is tularemia?
It is caused by a bacterial infection. The bacteria is Francisella tularensis.
It occurs in wild animals such as rabbit and rodents.
Cats and dogs acquire the disease from a bite from a blood-sucking tick or flea which has feed on an infected host.
Another way for a cat to become infected is by direct contact with an infected wild animal or the carcass of a wild animal. Clearly outdoor cats who hunt are at risk.
The symptoms are:
- weight loss
- fever
- apathy
- depression
- lymph node enlargement
- signs of pneumonia
- oral ulcers
- ulcerated skin sore at the site of insect bite
- possible discharge from eyes and nose
- possible rash on skin
The treatment is antibiotics, as expected, to kill the bacteria. Your vet will prescribe. The course may be long.
Prevention is doing one’s best to eliminate fleas and other insect parasites. Also stopping your cat from roaming and hunting – indoor cat or an enclosure.
The disease can be transmitted from cat to person via bites and scratches (zoonotic disease). Alternatively, contact with a draining skin ulcer can transmit the infection. Wearing rubber gloves when handling cats with draining wounds and employing good hygiene standards is important.
For people handling rabbit meat and pelts the disease is an occupational hazard. The bacteria can survive in frozen rabbit meat.
Care is required when feeding a cat rabbit mean especially from wild rabbits.
Just did a search on “Tularemia” and this is a bit more information, which indicates other ways it can be transmitted, besides wild animals:
What Is Tularemia?
Tularemia is an infectious disease that typically infects:
wild rodents
squirrels
birds
rabbits
Humans can become infected by having direct contact with an infected animal or from “tick, mosquito, or deer fly bites”. The disease is caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. It can be life-threatening.
Thanks Sandy – appreciated.
I appreciate knowing this, and will share on FB. I imagine that rabbit sold in markets are not wild, but farm raised, so I don’t think that’s a concern. Or rabbit in canned cat food, which I see on rare occasion.
Domestic animals are at risk for wild animal diseases if not vaccinated. It only takes one tick to ruin everything.
There is no vaccine against tularemia as far as I know or for that matter tick borne diseases a cat can catch.
That’s disheartening.
One of our dogs suffers from a tick disease similar to Lyme. Too bad there is no vaccine or cure.
Actually, I have to take what I said back. Apparently, there is a Lyme vaccine for dogs, but not for other tick borne diseases so it’s better to use some other ways to prevent tick bites: https://www.vetinfo.com/how-effective-is-lyme-disease-dog-vaccine.html
Dear Michael_
Thank you for posting this information about ‘Tularemia’.
Eva say’s