Types of Feline Panleukopenia (Cat Parvo)

1 General Symptoms

Panleukopenia, also cat fever/distemper, is a highly contagious viral disease. High death rate; natural infection incubates 4–10 days; any age can catch it.

Symptoms: the cat is listless, won’t eat, with fever and a biphasic pattern; as signs worsen it’s dull, coat rough, head and front paws tucked to the belly, indifferent to you and the world. It usually dies soon after the second temperature rise, or recovers after it settles. Vomiting is common — yellow, foamy. Watery diarrhea with blood. Dehydration brings weight loss. Longer cases anemia with pale conjunctiva; eyes, nose with much purulent discharge. Pregnant cats may abort, premature, or bear stillborn. Survivors may have cerebellar hypoplasia — by 2–3 months a wobbly gait or staring by the bowls.

2 Treatment by Type

Simple type (early): just vomiting, poor appetite, slight fever. Treat: compound daqingye injection 0.5 ml/kg; gentamicin 20k u/kg; anti-emetic 1–2 ml; IM once or split, morning and evening, until cured. Isatis root granules clear heat and cool; 0.5–2 g, 3–4 days.

Enteritis type: early loose stool then yellow, black, or red bloody, foul watery stool; severe dehydration; weak cry; little movement. Treat: globulin 0.5–1 ml SC/IM, IV if needed; 5% glucose 50–100 ml + chloramphenicol 0.5–1 ml IV daily 3–4 days; sulfaguanidine 0.1–0.3 g + baking soda 0.5 g orally twice daily 4 days (up to 7); amoxicillin 125k u, 1–2 caps twice daily 5–7 days. Yujin powder: 1 g each turmeric, chebula, scutellaria, rhubarb, coptis, phellodendron, gardenia, peony; boil, rectal or oral, daily 3–5 doses.

Constipation type: above plus early loose then later constipation. Days of vomiting lose body fluid, gut water can’t move, reverses upward. Stool packs in the lower large intestine, felt as hard masses. For constipation, inject sesame oil ~5 ml per rectum or soft-soap solution, with gentle belly massage; stool passes soon.

No-stool type: above but no stool and no mass — gut empty from vomiting fluid loss. For rectal saline or rectal meds, add more warm water.

Bloody type: same but blood in stool. Yunnan Baiyao 0.1–0.3 g oral or rectal twice daily 3–4 days; carbazochrome 1–2 ml or ethamsylate 50–100 ml IM.

Respiratory type: plus dyspnea, wheezing, cough, serous or purulent nasal discharge. Anti-six-virus immunoglobulin 0.5–1 ml SC/IM, IV if needed; gentamicin or streptomycin 100k u or ug/kg IM; ribavirin 10 ml/kg daily 3–4 times; ampicillin 0.5 g, 1/4 vial twice daily IM/IV 7 days.

Anemia type: longer cases show weakness and anemia, pale conjunctiva; eyes/nose/mouth with anemic purulent discharge, chills, irregular heartbeat. Transfuse whole blood 20–50 ml (plus saline 40–100 ml). One transfusion lasts ~3 weeks, so repeat; to spur erythropoietin, let hematocrit fall below 15% before the next.

Mixed type: any two or more of the above together; combine treatment and raise doses.