Cat Mastitis: Symptoms and Treatment
📝 Summary
Cats usually have 4 pairs of nipples, symmetric. Mastitis can hit one or several glands and is common during lactation. It is a bacterial infection of the mammary gland. The most common bacteria are E. coli, staphylococcus and beta-hemolytic streptococcus.
1 Overview
(1) Kitten nursing injury: around 2 months kittens grow deciduous teeth and more easily wound the nipple. Also, not-yet-weaned kittens suck hard and easily wound the nipple.
(2) Mammary trauma: a fight wound to the belly can scratch the gland; though maybe only skin-deep, kitten nursing raises infection chance.
(3) Milk stagnation: milk pools and stagnates in the gland, causing heat, hardness, swelling and pain.
Mastitis Symptoms and Treatment
Symptoms: the gland is hot, hard, swollen and painful; milk is thin with curds or blood. The cat usually has fever, poor appetite and dehydration.
Treatment:
1. Usually isolate kittens and hand-rear them.
2. Apply warm compresses to the gland several times daily to ease swelling and pain.
3. Severe cases need surgery – incision to drain pus. (If mastitis comes from delayed weaning because kittens grew teeth, force-wean the kittens.)
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