FELINE BORDETELLA BRONCHISEPTICA
(Kennel Cough in Cats)
(A Breeder's Experience)
by Chrissy Russell - Ayshazen Cats
(c) Ayshazen Cats 2003
(This article was originally published in Our Cats, 20 June 2003 - Please see subsequent updates near the bottom of this page)
Recent publicity about the new vaccine for Feline Bordetella bronchiseptica (Bb) has met with a relatively uninformed audience. Most people I have discussed this disease with were totally unaware of its existence. However, it is far more common than you think, and is potentially a major cause of death in young kittens.
I have experienced this disease in my cattery, and have written this article to help others to understand more about its effects and how to treat it. Ignore it at your peril.
Our Story
In the summer of 2002, a couple of my young cats experienced some coughing. They were aged 4 and 7 months respectively. The 4-month-old Tonkinese boy was the first to start, then followed within a week or so by my 7-month-old Burmese girl. One very astute vet suggested that this may be a condition known as Feline Bordetella bronchiseptica, a bacterial respiratory disease from the same family as that which causes kennel cough in dogs and whooping cough in humans (Bordetella Purtussis). A throat swab confirmed that this was indeed Feline Bordetella, and initially all cats in my household were put on a course of Synulox.
I then scoured the Internet to try and find out more about this disease, with very little luck. So I then telephoned the Feline Advisory Bureau, who advised me that, although it was a fairly mild disease in older cats, there was a very high risk of mortality in young kittens. I was very worried, as I had three litters of Tonkinese due. They further advised me that Intervet were due to release a new vaccine, but were not sure when.
A quick email to Intervet, UK proved to be our salvation. I had a telephone call from Sandra from Intervet, telling me that the vaccination was due for release, but not until the following year (2003). My heart sank. "BUT"…. and a proposal was made to me.
She explained that although it is more common than is realised, Feline Bordetella is not frequently diagnosed in cats, and that they considered themselves lucky that I had contacted them. My cattery, with its mixture of adults, kittens, entires and neuters would be an ideal subject for research. They asked me if I would agree to have a full investigation in return for having my entire household vaccinated in advance of the release of the vaccine. Of course I agreed!!!!
Intervet then contacted Dr Susan Dawson from Liverpool University, and one the UK's leading authorities on feline respiratory diseases, and arranged for her to perform the testing and research. In the meantime, permission had to be sought from the government for the vaccine to be imported. My vets managed to prove that my kittens were at significant risk, and permission was granted for the vaccines to come in from South Africa.
Dr Dawson came down here to Bournemouth and she was a mine of information on the subject. She explained to me that Bb (as it is known) is much more common than originally thought. A study of 740 cats had been performed in which overall 11% tested positive for Feline Bordetella, with a much higher incidence in multicat situations (19.5 per cent in rescue catteries, 9 per cent in breeding catteries, 13.5 per cent in research colonies, and 0 per cent in household pets). (Binns et al (1999)).
My cats were not responding to the Synulox, and more started showing symptoms, so we changed the medication to Ronaxan (doxycycline). In the adults the main symptom was coughing. From my own experience I first noticed that the cats seemed to have a sore throat, making exaggerated gulping movements as they swallowed.
Within a few weeks, we were granted government permission to have the vaccine imported, which was a huge relief. However, that still meant ridding ourselves of our current outbreak before we could vaccinate anyone.
The weeks went by, we had our three litters of Tonk babies, between August and the end of September. One by one, they started to show signs of the disease. The first sign in the younger kittens was a rattling on the chest. Some would cough. Feline Bordetella is notorious for hitting kittens with alarming speed. They can be fine one minute, and die from pneumonia within 12 hours.
Well, it had to happen didn't it? One Sunday morning I got up, to find a 7½-week-old blue Tonkinese kitten (Indie - now known as Izzy), gasping for breath with his tongue out to one side, and rattling badly. We rushed him up to the vets, who informed us that his temperature was down to 36.1 degrees Celsius and that he was wheezing badly. He has pneumonia, and she said that it did not look good for him. She offered to put him on oxygen when he got worse but that it would only delay the inevitable. We were stunned.
Izzy was a big kitten, weighing 1.1kg, but he went down like a stone, and so suddenly. I was terrified for him, and also for my other beautiful babies.
I had been considering changing the antibiotic to Zithromax* (Azithromycin*), now I had nothing to lose. Izzy was going to die. I left it for 24 hours, to allow the Ronaxan to clear from his system, syringe feeding him with kitten glop in the meantime. It was so hard to feed him, he was finding it so difficult to breathe, let alone swallow, and sometimes I wondered if I was maybe making his final hours more uncomfortable for him.
He was still with us the next morning, and I proceeded to give him the Azithromycin*. I was astonished at the speed of the result. This little boy had been on Doxycycline since he was 2½ weeks old; suddenly 12 hours after administering the Azithromycin*, the rattle on his chest had lessened. By the next morning it had completely disappeared. His rapid breathing had returned virtually to normal, and within 4 days he was eating. It took a few weeks for him to regain the 250g that he lost in that couple of days, but it was all positive from then on. The day after putting Izzy on Azithromycin*, I started all of my cats on a course.
All recovered very rapidly, and Izzy made a complete recovery
A couple of weeks later, we were able to vaccinate every cat and kitten in my household with the new vaccine.
|
Izzy aged 5 weeks |
Izzy aged 7 months |
Intervet's Nobivac Bb for Cats is an intranasal vaccine. Using 0.2ml of a live vaccine, the vet introduces it into the nostril of the cat. It is over in a few seconds. One single dose is required (even for kittens) per year. No pain, a quick sneeze afterwards, and that is it. Far preferable to a needle in my opinion. It can be used on kittens as young as 4 weeks of age, and I have experienced no ill effects in any of my cats or kittens. At the time of writing, around 35+ adult cats and kittens have been vaccinated, with nothing but good reports.
Some of my cats were recently tested for Feline Bordetella, and they tested negative. It is now May 2003. We started our outbreak in July 2002, and were finally clear and vaccinated by October 2002.
Diagnosis
One of the reasons why Bordetella has not been recognised in cats until recently was that it often runs alongside other viral respiratory diseases, like Calicivirus or Herpesvirus. Typically a cat is taken to the vet, suffering the symptoms of a respiratory infection. The vet routinely swabs for the viral diseases, and because Bordetella is so little known in cats, they don't consider swabbing for bacterial disease. Of course the viral cultures frequently return a positive result, and hey presto, your cat has a virus! But maybe your cat has also got Feline Bordetella!
The main deciding symptom is a dry hacking cough, during which the cat typically extends his neck. In my experience, there is also commonly hoarseness in the voice too, and a gulping action due to a sore trachea. Please note: young kittens often do not display the cough.
Other symptoms include:
· fever
· sneezing
· nasal discharge
· submandibular lymphadenopathy (enlarged lymph glands located beneath
the lower jaw).
· coughing and
· rales (crackles on the lung)
The disease CAN be transmitted from dogs to cats, and is also a zoonosis, meaning it is also transferable to humans (although it must be stressed, it is extremely rare and usually only occurs in immunosupressed humans). Typical mode of transmission is aerosol, which is coughing or sneezing.
The biggest problem with Feline Bordetella is the asymptomatic carrier. If you have a cat that is tested positive for Feline Bordetella, your vet should advise you to treat ALL of your cats. The one without the symptoms could well be your carrier.
Now that Intervet has released the new Nobivac Bb for cats vaccine, there has at last been some publicity about this potentially killer disease. Hopefully this will raise awareness. The recommendation for vaccination is for households containing 3 or more cats. Kittens should be vaccinated as early as possible from 4 weeks of age.
We were very, very lucky. Izzy is now a very stunning young man, who lives locally with his sister. He is a huge and sturdy boy with mercifully no long term ill effects from his ordeal. He is also a very happy, well-loved and admired boy.
Our very grateful thanks to Intervet, UK (especially Sandra McLaughlin for her constant support), Dr Susan Dawson, to my vet Alyson Richardson of Dunbar Hospital in Bournemouth, to all of my friends and fellow breeders who held me up both emotionally and practically during that nightmare time when I thought my breeding days were over, and that I would lose some of my precious furbabies, and of course, to God for sending me these wonderful people, and for giving me the strength to keep going.
If you suspect a Feline Bordetella infection, ask your vet to do a bacterial throat swab or a nasal discharge swab.
Remember, it is much more common than originally thought, and it KILLS!
Further
information
http://www.felinebb.info
Excellent Vetstream Site
http://www.nobivacbb.com
Detailed
Intervet site, useful info for breeders.
http://www.cats-at-risk.com
Intervet site designed especially for cat owners
http://www.vetinfo.com/catinfds.html#Bordetella%20in%20cats
Generalised Americanised info, but good nonetheless.
Update: 18 March 2004
Well, it is now over two years since we first encountered the dreaded Bb.
I am very happy to report that we have had no further recurrence of Bordetella Bronchiseptica in our household, and none reported in any kittens that have left us. All of my cats are vaccinated for it.
Nobivac Bb for cats is very well tolerated, and I usually vaccinate my kittens between 4 and 7 weeks. This is to try and avoid piling too much pressure on the kittens' immune systems if vaccinated too close to the standard "core" vaccines of 'flu and enteritis. Side effects are few, usually some sneezing, rarely a slight cough for a day or two. Please be sure to isolate recently vaccinated kittens from those that are not protected as it is a live vaccine. All queens who visit my studs must also be vaccinated for Bb at least 2 weeks before their visit, and reports from owners of the queens sometimes include some sneezing for up to a couple of weeks. I have yet to hear of a cat or kitten to develop the full blown disease from the vaccination.
One issue of particular concern to me is that many owners of boarding catteries are still not aware of this disease. I have recently attended a boarding cattery management course, and even the course tutor had not heard of it! The vaccination was rapidly added to their list of available vaccines and my paper was distributed to the class. Due to the mode of transmission being aerosol, and also because the disease is transmissable from dogs with kennel cough to cats, I urge boarding cattery owners to insist on customers vaccinating for Bordetella before their visit.
Since publication of the article on the web, and various magazines, I have been astounded by the number of emails and telephone calls I have had from people who are themselves experiencing feline Bordetella here in the UK.
I also hear from vets, asking me about Zithromax* (Azithromycin*). This is a human drug, produced my Pfizer. It is proving very effective in the treatment of feline respiratory disease, and extremely affective for Chlamydiosis especially.
Most cats are treated with the paediatric suspension, and although not licenced for use in cats in the UK, it is frequently prescribed on private prescription by vets for treatment of the above conditions and also for feline Bordetella, for which it is a drug of choice in the US.
The dosage regime for azithromycin* that I personally used was written up by Lorraine Shelton and can be found Here. In my experience, Bordetella is a stubborn disease and although the usual dosage for feline respiratory disease would be once a day for 5 days, I found that 10-15 days is more the norm for feline Bordetella.
After trying several kinds of antibiotics to no avail, my cattery was finally cured with azithromycin*, for which I am eternally grateful!
* DISCLAIMER: Please note that azithromycin (Zithromax) is unlicensed for cats in the UK, and that although it is used in other countries for cats, the UK has not approved any dosage yet, so the responsibility for using it at any dose is at the owners own risk and I cannot accept any responsibility for its usage or dosage. As always, please be advised by your vet.
Update: 22 September 2004
It is now over 2 years since the outbreak here. We remain totally free of Bordetella, and there have been no reports of any Bb in the kittens that have left us.
Note: SHOWING
Feline Bordetella is spread by aerosol (e.g. it is airborne). It is possible that a Bb infected cat could be sitting next to your cat at a show. If that cat should sneeze on yours, you have a potential problem. Another good reason to vaccinate, but be sure to vaccinate in plenty of time before the show to avoid any side effects.