Rabies is a particularly dangerous disease of domestic and wild animals and humans, occurring with damage to the cells of the central nervous system of the diseased organism. Cats, just like other animals, suffer from this disease. Domestic cats accustomed to the street have the opportunity to contact a variety of animals, including those with rabies. You need to keep this in mind and constantly monitor the he alth of your pet.
Signs of rabies in cats depend on the nature of the disease itself and are divided into three conditional forms - atypical, mild and violent. The atypical form of the disease is manifested by signs atypical for rabies, and sometimes it is not accompanied by almost any signs at all. The animal may experience vomiting, diarrhea, bloody discharge from the mouth. With this form of flow, it is very difficult to determine rabies.
In a mild form, the clinical manifestation of the disease is also completely uncharacteristic of rabies. Typical signs of rabies in cats with this form are also practically absent. The cat is affectionate and playful. Paralysis of the pharynx may suddenly set in, leading tothe impression that the cat choked on something. A person can become infected when trying to examine the throat of an animal or when trying to get a foreign object out of it. After paralysis of the pharynx, some signs characteristic of rabies appear - this is profuse salivation, drooping of the lower jaw, rabies and paralysis of the limbs.
The first signs of rabies in cats with a violent form can be: lethargy, loss of appetite, excessive shyness and irritability. In the future, they develop into clearly expressed aggression. At the same time, the animal grabs and gnaws inedible objects, sometimes breaking its teeth, and seeks to attack any moving target. Rabies is considered a particularly characteristic sign of rabies.
Rabies phobia is a symptom very characteristic of rabies. It does not occur in any other disease. Even if there are no other signs of rabies in a cat, but there is rabies, the diagnosis can be unequivocal. If you splash a small amount of water on an animal, the patient has a completely inadequate reaction - a fright bordering on hysteria.
An equally characteristic sign of rabies is the desire to move forward. A sick animal can run several tens of kilometers in a day, biting and scratching everyone in its path.
It should be remembered that with any form of the disease, the rabies virus appears in saliva 10 days earlier than any other signs of the disease. Thus, when a person is bitten by a seemingly he althy animal, rabies infection is not excluded. In the following days, the cat should not show the characteristic signs of rabies, in addition, the animal should not disappear, since the desire to run will be developed on a subconscious level under the influence of the disease.
Because cats may or may not show signs of rabies, a veterinary examination should be carried out in any case of inappropriate behavior of the animal to rule out rabies. This must be done in view of the extreme danger of the disease to humans. Just like animals, medical assistance to a bitten person can only be provided during the period of the incubation development of the disease, that is, even before the first signs appear. Once detected, the disease cannot be cured, therefore, the outcome will always be fatal.
When the cat returned from the street, did the examination of her body reveal bite marks or scratches? This is an occasion to contact the veterinary clinic for urgent measures that can prevent the appearance of signs of the disease. The transmission of the pathogen from a sick animal to a he althy one occurs in most cases through bites. Transmission of the pathogen through saliva is possible if a sick animal inflicts injuries with its claws, but saliva from its mouth gets on the injured skin.
Laboratory diagnosis of rabies is difficult, and this is due to the difficulties of virological studies. As a rule, a rabies test takes several weeks, and in some cases even months. Therefore, we cannot wait for laboratory results.research. Waiting can take precious time, which is very limited and should be spent on remedial measures.
