Feline Distemper: Causes, Symptoms, Incubation Period and Treatment

1 Overview

Incubation period of feline distemper: 2–9 days

Can it infect humans? No. Although feline distemper does not spread to people, it spreads very easily to other healthy pet cats.

How cats get infected:

1. Sick cats’ eye/nose discharge and excrement contain large amounts of virus that can be contacted.

2. Healthy cats can be infected by contacting virus-laden urine/feces, feeding bowls and utensils used by sick cats, clothing, and the environment.

3. Healthy cats can be infected through physical contact with sick cats.

4. Blood-sucking insects such as lice and fleas can help spread feline distemper.

5. A pregnant cat with feline distemper can pass it to her fetuses.

6. Recovered cats can still shed virus through excrement and secretions for a long time, infecting other cats.

All of these make infection easy. After a cat is infected, it will show vomiting and diarrhea, poor spirits, and sometimes fever. If you suspect feline distemper, you can buy a test strip to check.

How to treat feline distemper: Once it is confirmed, take the cat to the hospital promptly for hyperimmune serum injections, and give interferon injections daily, controlling the dosage strictly as labeled. Some cats vomit after infection; give an anti-emetic to relieve it and help the gut recover faster. Also give anti-inflammatory medication, dosed by the cat’s weight and the label instructions. If there is diarrhea, an anti-diarrheal may be given; wait about half an hour after medication before feeding.

Feline distemper, also called feline panleukopenia or feline infectious enteritis, is an acute, highly contagious disease in cats. It can infect more healthy cats in a short time, so once a cat is found infected, isolate it immediately and have a veterinarian treat it.

How to prevent feline distemper

In recent years, cat lovers in our country have grown, especially purebred-cat owners, and large numbers of cats are imported from abroad; some enter through smuggling channels without quarantine, and many unhealthy cats have seriously threatened domestic cats after arrival. This is a main reason feline distemper has become more common domestically in recent years.

1. Early signs of feline distemper—what are the symptoms?

If your cat suddenly loses appetite, has a rough coat, elevated temperature, vomits yellow-green fluid, has diarrhea, occasionally bloody and foul-smelling stool, the owner should be alert—your cat may have feline distemper. The correct step is to take it to a veterinary hospital promptly and use blood tests to determine whether it is distemper.

2. Can feline distemper be cured?

If caught early, feline distemper can potentially be cured. Besides maintenance fluids to keep energy and electrolyte balance, injecting feline antiviral serum is the main treatment method domestically.

3. Methods to prevent feline distemper

Feline distemper is indeed frightening, but it is not unpreventable.

Feline distemper spreads mainly through the digestive tract; sick cats’ feces, urine, and vomit contain large amounts of virus, and recovered cats shed virus in excrement for months.

Annual regular vaccination is the simplest and most effective way to prevent feline distemper.

4. What to do after a cat gets distemper

If you keep more than one cat and suspect one may have distemper, isolate it immediately and thoroughly disinfect the home, then closely observe the other cats’ condition; it is best to consult a vet about giving the others serum to resist the virus.

A pregnant cat has stronger resistance; if she gets distemper, the medical approach is to save the mother and sacrifice the kittens, because such kittens have very low survival odds.

Can a vaccinated cat still get feline distemper?

Distemper vaccines come in domestic and imported types. The domestic feline distemper monoclonal antibody vaccine is given to kittens at 3 months, two shots 20–30 days apart, then once a year. The imported FVRCP vaccine also immunizes against distemper.

When giving the preventive distemper vaccine, ensure the cat is healthy before injection and do not bathe it within 10 days after.

Although vaccinated cats have some protection, the protection rate is not 100%.

That is, a vaccinated cat whose resistance drops can still catch the disease if it contacts a sick cat.

Feline distemper is a troublesome disease requiring a recovery period. During this time the owner must keep giving medication consistently so the cat recovers as quickly as possible.