After becoming adept at caring for their first cat, many cat enthusiasts are often eager to add another feline companion to their homes. However, before making such a decision, have you considered the safety of your existing feline friend at home? If the new cat brings infectious diseases, putting your original beloved one at risk, wouldn’t you feel guilty? Wouldn’t you regret it? Now, let’s discuss the issues related to raising a second cat!
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Never Threaten Existing Cats
It’s common sense that bringing a cat with a contagious disease home puts our cherished existing one at risk. Sadly, many err in assuming a cat looks healthy and harmless, resulting from ignorance. Even seasoned feline veterinarians can’t guarantee a cat’s health solely through visual inspection. Numerous infectious diseases demand examination with diagnostic reagents, like feline panleukopenia, feline leukemia, feline immunodeficiency virus, pear-shaped mites, feline heartworm, feline coronavirus, etc., requiring prolonged isolation and observation.
Before introducing a new cat, a thorough health check at the vet is crucial, ensuring sufficient home space for isolation. If the new cat has non-lethal contagious diseases like molds, ear mites, scabies, fleas, pear-shaped mites, roundworms, tapeworms, upper respiratory infections, etc., prompt treatment is vital. Isolate the new cat from the original one for at least a month, ensuring the original cat receives full preventive vaccinations.
If, unfortunately, the new cat is diagnosed with a lethal contagious disease, especially feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency virus, serious consideration is needed about keeping it. It must remain isolated from the original cat for its entire life. Don’t assume the original cat is immune because of complete preventive vaccinations; vaccine efficacy isn’t 100%, and exposure to chronic pathogens over time, even with a robust immune system, makes infection hard to avoid.
If the test results are all normal, it does not mean that the new cat can be immediately placed with the existing cat because all diseases have an incubation period and may not be discovered or tested immediately, such as infectious peritonitis, which cannot be diagnosed before the onset. Therefore, the new cat must be isolated for at least a month before being placed with the original cat, and basic health checks should be conducted every week, which is also the most difficult for ordinary people to achieve.
Too many people, due to a momentary impulse, bring a new cat home, or because the cat does not like to be isolated and keeps meowing, they prematurely put it together with the existing cat at home. For the sake of momentary compassion, it leads to a host of problems afterward, causing suffering to the cats, and people also feel heartache. Isn’t it a case of more harm than good?
Isolation: the Key to Protecting Existing Cats
Isolation is a specialized term in medicine, and the general public often has misconceptions about it. The so-called isolation includes two types: direct isolation involves complete contact blockade, where a new cat cannot have any direct contact with existing cats, even through door gaps or cages. There must be independent space, separate air conditioning, and the isolation space should be in a relatively remote and less accessible location.
Indirect isolation involves isolating all people and things that may come into contact with the new cat. For example, the new cat cannot share litter boxes, water bowls, food bowls, towels, cat carriers, combs, etc., with the original cat. After holding the new cat, people should immediately wash their hands and change their clothes. The higher the standard requirements, the more it can ensure the effectiveness of isolation.
Potential Infectious Diseases from a New Cat
1. Upper Respiratory Infections
Respiratory infections are the most common diseases in adopted stray kittens. Among them, calicivirus and herpesvirus account for 80% of feline upper respiratory diseases. Additionally, chlamydia co-infections are common pathogens in kitten upper respiratory infections. Even if the original cat has received a complete pentavalent vaccine, it may become ill if exposed to a large amount of virus in a short period, showing symptoms such as sneezing, tearing, mild fever, and loss of appetite.
The saliva, eye, and nasal secretions of sick kittens contain a large amount of the virus, which can infect the original cat through direct contact, sneezing, or indirect contact with humans. Not only do new cats need treatment, but the original cats may also become ill and potentially become carriers. Cats suffer from upper respiratory infections, and the entire course of treatment takes 2 to 3 weeks, during which you may find yourself extremely busy!
2. FIV
Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is a result of the feline immunodeficiency virus, gradually diminishing the cat’s immune system and causing acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Presently, blood screening is utilized for detection.
FIV is one of the most common and dreaded diseases in adopted cats. Some people mistakenly believe that FIV is primarily transmitted through blood, thinking that as long as cats avoid fighting, they won’t easily contract the virus. This is an incorrect preventive notion. It is crucial to avoid exposing your existing cat to the threat of this virus! In clinical practice, we have encountered cases where two cats that never fought transmitted FIV, highlighting the risk. FIV-positive cats can spread the virus through saliva, and since cats often have inflamed and bleeding gums, they may infect each other through mutual grooming and licking.
3. Cat Leukemia
Feline leukemia is primarily caused by the feline leukemia virus (FeLV). It spreads through direct nose and mouth contact, making it highly prone to outbreaks within cat communities, especially among kittens under four months old, who are more susceptible than adult cats.
Currently, screening can be conducted through blood tests. Infected cats may develop symptoms such as lymphoma, leukemia, bone marrow issues, immune suppression, and other related conditions.
4. Feline Parvovirus(FPV)
Feline panleukopenia, often called feline distemper, may lead to frequent vomiting and diarrhea in kittens. In severe instances, it might cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and even demise. Feline distemper generally emerges during the feline breeding season, predominantly impacting kittens under 1 year old or those lacking vaccination.
Although adult cats can contract the infection, their immune system tends to be more robust than that of kittens. Consequently, gastrointestinal symptoms in adult cats are commonly less severe, with some displaying no signs. Nonetheless, instances exist where unvaccinated adult cats succumb to feline distemper, underscoring the necessity of not underestimating infectious ailments, even in adult cats.
5. Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP)
This is a severe and possibly life-threatening contagious ailment, predominantly initiated by alterations in the prevailing coronavirus within the system, with a minority of instances emerging from transmission. In the initial phases, confirmation through standard testing procedures is unattainable. Recently acquired felines might display sporadic fever indications, succeeded by a gradual decline in weight, abdominal enlargement, or the detection of unusual masses in the abdominal region.
Diagnosing this disease in its early stages is exceptionally challenging. Therefore, regardless of the condition of the new cat, isolation for at least one month is necessary. If fever symptoms occur during this period, the isolation must be extended. Since the mortality rate for infectious peritonitis is nearly 100%, and early screening is not feasible, isolation becomes the only means of protecting existing cats. Never let tragedy repeat itself due to momentary soft-heartedness.
Skin Conditions from a New Cat
1. Ringworm
If a new cat hasn’t shown obvious signs of hair loss, dandruff, or similar symptoms, it’s challenging to detect early on. Hence, isolation becomes crucial. Once symptoms like hair loss and dandruff appear, an immediate skin and fur microscopic examination or fungal culture should be conducted. If the new cat enters the cat group without isolation, all cats must undergo simultaneous treatment, lasting 4 to 6 weeks. Not only does this significantly increase costs, but administering medication to all cats also becomes a substantial undertaking.
2. Scabies
This is an ectoparasitic skin disease that can cause severe itching, dandruff, and red rashes in cats. In the early stages of infection, it is challenging to confirm through fur microscopy; mostly, it first results in dandruff and hair loss around the ears. If not isolated beforehand, it can spread from one cat to another endlessly, requiring all cats to undergo treatment simultaneously. Moreover, the specific medication for scabies may result in temporary blindness for 1-2 months in cats. Would you be willing to let your beloved cat endure such risks?
External Parasites a New Cat Might Carry
1. Ear Mites
Most newly acquired purebred kittens tend to have ear mite infections. Experienced cat owners are aware that treating this condition can be troublesome, especially in the early stages when veterinarians may not detect it. If a new kitten with ear mite infection is not isolated, all the cats in the household are at risk of infection. The treatment with ear drops needs to be administered for a duration of 4 weeks.
2. Fleas
A single female flea can lay over 500 eggs, and these colorless, non-adhesive eggs scatter everywhere, following dust and can survive in the environment for 1 to 2 years in an unhatched state. They await suitable conditions of temperature and humidity to hatch.
Therefore, before a new cat enters the home, it is advisable to have a veterinarian confirm whether there is any flea infection. Even if there are no signs of infection, it is still preferable to administer an external parasite treatment and isolate the cat. Otherwise, a single oversight could lead to a flea infestation throughout the household, taking 1 to 2 years to eliminate.
Internal Parasites a New Cat Might Carry
1. Heartworms in Cats
While the transmission rate of this disease is not particularly high, if a newly adopted cat contracts feline heartworm, it’s akin to placing a time bomb at home, exposing other cats to the high-risk group of infection. Unless the original feline companion routinely takes preventive medication for feline heartworm, it is advisable for new cats, after reaching 6 months of age, to undergo heartworm screening.
2. Giardia
This is the cause of common colitis in cats. Infected cats may experience persistent chronic diarrhea. Currently, there are no available test reagents, and detection relies on fecal examination to identify parasites. Alternatively, samples might require shipping to the United States for PCR testing. The prescribed medication could possibly cause neurotoxic effects in cats, necessitating a comprehensive conversation with the vet before commencing treatment.
3. Coccidia
This is an irritating intestinal parasite that can lead to diarrhea in healthy cats. For kittens, elderly cats, and those with weakened immune systems, it may result in enteritis. Once such parasites infiltrate a cat community, eradicating them becomes challenging, leading to recurrent outbreaks. Therefore, during the isolation period, new cats should undergo a fecal parasite check at least once a week. The traditional treatment method involves oral medication for two weeks.
4. Tapeworms
This stands as a frequent reason for persistent cat diarrhea. Cats carrying the issue may not display diarrhea symptoms, yet they can spread pear-shaped parasites through their excrement, infecting other cats. Standard fecal checks often have a low detection rate, but there are now specialized testing agents with an accuracy exceeding 90%. Once the pear-shaped parasites enter the cat population, there can be intermittent outbreaks that are challenging to eliminate from the cat community. The traditional oral medication treatment typically requires a course of about two weeks.
5. Roundworms
This is the most common intestinal parasitic infection, such as roundworms and hookworms. Although it doesn’t lead to severe symptoms in cats, there are concerns about cross-species transmission. Therefore, newly adopted cats should undergo a comprehensive deworming during the isolation period.
Final Thoughts
Deciding to bring a new cat into your family speaks volumes about your kindness. But love, my friend, needs to walk hand in hand with smarts and caution. Sure, blending different furry personalities can be a bumpy ride, but armed with patience, sharp eyes, and a heart full of understanding, you can craft a space where each purr and playful dash proves the beautiful balance you’ve fostered. Cheers to your feline haven!
