After a second antibiogram that was done on mucus samples for Garfield, his vet called me, alarmed, and told me that they found Klebsiella Pneumoniae, a zoonotic bacteria. They explained that since the bacteria came up as sensitive to almost all antibiotics, it's most likely that Garfield caught it from someone in our household. Let me explain. Garfield has been under treatment for almost 8 months with various antibiotics, and other problems and bacteria he had had all had resistance to most conventionally used antibiotics. Since he had done another antibiogram about a month earlier, which showed no signs of Klebsiella, the conclusion was that the bacteria was recent. The vet wrote a medical letter and sent us to the doctor to get analysis and such to find out whether we also have this bacteria. I'm freaking out, because Klebsiella, also known as Friendlander's bacteria, is quite dangerous and since I'm an anemic person who doesn't really receive treatment, I feel a bit exposed. The bacteria itself can lead to pneumonia, bacteremia and even meningitis in severe cases, so you can understand why I'm freaking out. Another week will have passed before I get the results for my tests, but until then, I wanted to ask the community if they have ever encountered such a case. The vet told me it was most likely that Garfield either caught it from one of us (my boyfriend and I) or from a person visiting. Thinking back, we did have a dude sleep over, who had been in hospital for various treatments, is an alcoholic and had been in a coma - all factors that would expose him to Klebsiella. I've read up on forums, but I found absolutely no mention of zoonotic Klebsiella, cases involving this kind of situation or anything about how long it took for possible symptoms to show up. The antibiogram was done last week, and about 10 days have passed since I took the mucus sample - so if we have it, we've had it for at least 10 days or two weeks. It's difficult to find information about this particular type of bacteria and the main thing I would like to learn, preferably before visiting with the doctor again, is how long symptoms would take to show. So, has anyone been confronted with this bacteria in its zoonotic form? Thank you all.
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