Now Persil has Erlichia!

I cannot believe how unlucky my poor little girl is. AS you all know, I have been paranoid about her health since her hernia op in January, and kept telling myself I was imagining things, but I was sure she was not quite herself. She is not growing the way she should and her coat is not in good condition, but I kept saying this was all a result of being sick before. Today she went in for her 90 day check and final Xray after the op, and all is fine in her chest. But after reading here about heartworm (something I had never considered before) I asked for her to be tested. Heartworm was OK but the test proved positive for erlichia, a parasite I had never heard of. I have looked it up and it seems much more common in dogs than cats, but if left can cause anemia and death by attacking the bone marrow. She will start treatment on Friday and the vet thinks she will be OK. But does anyone here have any experience? The vet was a bit inconclusive about the danger to the other cats, but I will have them tested anyway. Please, if anyone knows anything, tell me. Is it really fully treatable? Can it be passed on? Is there anything else I can do for her to prevent anemia? I already supplement her diet with egg yolk and goat milk as kitten food is not available here.

Oh Jenny!!!! Poor little Persil, as if she hasn't been through enough!!

If no one comes up with anything i can e-mail my friend Emma to see if her surgery has any knowledge on it?!.

Are you unable to but kitten kibbles even?!

This must have been shocking for you, Jenny. It sure is a good thing you had Persil tested! Now that she will be treated, I'm sure she will recover quickly. Now she will be healthier than ever! Persil, baby, please get well soon!

Sorry to hear about your baby, I'll be adding her to my prayers. I've never heard of that either, it's hard to believe just how many things can go wrong.

poor persil!

i hope with all my heart she gets through this. you've both been thorough so much.

pm me if you need to talk

I am so confused and angry, and I don't know what to think. It was my private vet who did the test, as the Vet Faculty (where Persil had her op) had no tests or microchips so I took her to the other vet, mainly to get hte microchip done as she needs that for the rabies certificate to be valid. While there we did the FIV/Felv (neg rersult) and hte heartworm, as I mentioned in the pother post. Anyway, I mentioned the positive result at the faculty, and the nice vet there who saved her life said he had never heard of Erlichdia here, it was a tropical disease in cats, and he questioned a) the result, b) the honesty of the vet! He also saw her this morning for the Xray and said that he would have noticed symptoms. I saw the test being done, but the vet then took the tray away for twenty minutes, so I can't swear that it was not tampered with. Anything is possible in this country, and there is no doubt that the vet was pretty pissed off that I was taking her to the Faculty. But they saved her at Christmas when he was away, and he had actually been treating her for hte wrong thing anyway. I asked the Faculty vet if they could retest her, but they dont have the test packs. So I am left to decide to treat her ( which is apparently 2 painful subcutaneous injections per day for 14 days), or not to and risk there being something after all. Erlichdia can kill if left untreated.

oh Jenny its so unfair!

it just comes down to whether you trust the vets test results. i dont think i would get her treated unless i could get a second opinion.

this must be so hard on you!

Jenny i have to agree with Nicky as well on getting another vet to see Persil on this.

They certainly have you where you don't know what to do?!

I would get a second opinon. Never take a chance on your babies health.

Here is a quick definition of erlichiosis:

"Erlichiosis

A tiny organism called Erlichia, which lives in the saliva of Brown Dog Ticks, causes this disease in dogs and cats. The organism spreads through the blood of a tickâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s host, and it can begin to inflame and damage the animalâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s internal organs. If the disease becomes very advanced, it can damage an animalâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s bone marrow, causing anemia and suppressing the immune system.

The symptoms of Erlichiosis vary, as the effects of the disease can range from very severe to very mild. Some animals will simply be lethargic; others may develop fevers, infections, nosebleeds, enlarged lymph nodes, difficulty walking, and more. Veterinarians can use various blood, urine, and other tests to detect the present of Erlichia in an animalâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s body. Pets can generally recover well from Erlichiosis. They may be treated with antibiotics, fluids, steroids, and even blood transfusions.

There is no vaccine for Erlichiosis, but you can protect your pets by guarding them against ticks. If your cat or dog goes outside in an area that has ticks, protect him with some kind of a tick repellent. There are a number of options; you can ask your veterinarian which is best for your pet."

I would check about the incidence of the carrier in your area, and ask the vet to check into some of these other options. It may behove them to order in the test and re-do it especially if there is the possibility that the host and the illness are in their area.

Good luck
Kathryn

Oh my goodness! Poor Persil

This is awful!!

Is it really possible where you are that the vet is lying? Why would they do that - to get your money?

Are you able to take your cat anywhere else? Thats what I would do - even if its miles away. You'd only have to go once presumably. If it did need treating then you could go somewhere nearer?

Okay,

Here is a pretty technical link to studies that include erlichiosis - it is the human variant that also infects cats and dogs through tick bites - it does mention that in Slovenia there is a 15.4% incident of positive results among their test subjects.

For what it is worth, I do know that one of the local conservation areas (Panola Mountain State Park) about 15 miles from me and where I like to visit, is posted as having ticks testing positive for erlichiosis and the risk for infection increases starting in April and continuing until December. I don't think it is just a tropical disease. There is a variant of it that appears only in Japan but the human granulocytic erlichiosis (HGE) does exist in temperate climates. Interestingly, the treatments appear to be with antibiotics primarily. I would suggest that your clinic investigate a little bit further and consider ordering in the tests. They are done with a blood smear.

Good luck. The prognosis with treatment looks good, actually, if it turns out that Persil is infected. Now, it is a tick-bourne illness so somehow she would have to have been exposed to an infected tick, or bitten or scratched by another infected animal so that it passed from the other animal's blood stream into hers.

btw 'Anaplasma phagozytophilum' is the official name of the organism that causes erlichiosis.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol9no10/03-0206.htm

Kathryn

Jenny I'm so sorry, how frightening for you - poor little Persil, she looks such a sweetheart. The second opinion idea sounds like a really good one, this is so much for both of you to have to go through unless it's really necessary. Thinking of you both. :Hugs:

Hugs and headbutts for Persil and for you, too.

It basically comes down to me having two opinions already - the private vet I have worked with for 3 years, and the University Vet Faculty. There is no one else in Sarajevo. I always trusted my private vet until this Christmas, when he misdiagnosed Persil and I had to take her over Christmas as an emergency case to the Vet Faculty, where they operated on a diaphragmatic hernia and saved her life. Since then the Vet faculty have treated her, as I wanted the same surgeon to spay her etc. and do her aftercare. BUT the vet Faculty do not do these tests, and had no microchips and I am in the process of getting my girls ready to travel to the EU. SO I had to take her back to the private vet, who do run the tests and can microchip. I hate to say it, but people here do lie, not so much for money, though it happens, but more out of jealousy. That was the immediate reaction at the Faculty - that he was jealous. He was certainly angry, and told me that the rabies and vaccination shots the vet faculty had done were invalid, not 'official' , though the vet faculty told me thay had done hundreds for people travelling to the EU, the US, etc. He wants to redo everything! I know it all sounds incredible, but that is the way things are here. Meanwhile I do not know what to do for Persil. Dr Haris at the Faculty is discussing it with his colleagues to see if htere is any way they can run a blood count and test her, but he says has never seen a case here, and I have never seen a tick. If she is sick I must treat her, but I do not want to put her through a long painful treatment for nothing - she has had so much already. While they were taking her blood this morning she was so good, meowed but didn't struggle, and kept looking at me with a 'why, mummy?' expression on her face and then made a dive for inside my coat as soon as she could.

Awww bless her little heart

Well going off what you've said Jenny, i'd go for this Dr Haris at the vet faculty and let him do the blood work.

I don't like the sound of the private vet from how you've described him, and i wouldn't like to leave one of my cats with him if he's ticked off because you went elsewhere!.

Oh boy...I had never heard of this. Thank you to Kathryn for all the information.

I think the first thought that came to mind, was that any vet who would, for whatever reason, want you to subject your cats to un-needed second round of rabies and other vaccinations because of where you had them done, isn't putting your cat's health first.

I am not sure I'd put her through it, perhaps preferring to follow her with blood work to check for any developing anemia, until you can find a vet to retest once you've moved.

Fwiw, can you get Pet-Tinic? It's an excellent liquid supplement with vitamin b's, I also give Patrick a vitamin b supplement w/iron - Twin Labs Super B Complex, Regular Formula (a human supplement). Both are discussed on feline crf.org site, under anemia. The Pet-Tinic can be used as an overall supplement, I would of course, not add either, without your vet's approval, and doseage discussion.

Sweet Persil...I really, really hope this is a case of human falliability <---sorry, I am just rotten at spelling(aka sucumbing to jealous) versus her really having this parasite

I wish I had some wonderful advice, but I don't. My heart just breaks for poor little Persil! She has been through so much. I am praying for her.

Thank you, everyone, especially Kathryn for the extra info. It seems there are always unheard-of diseases that can leap up and bite.
Anyway I will see what Dr Haris at the Faculty says tomorrow morning, after he has discussed it there with his colleagues. I certainly do not intend to make Persil go through extra shots for nothing! It seems, looking online, that it is possible to treat this with tetracycline, administered as a standard injection. If that is all it takes, and not the other one mentioned to me whose name I forget, then it could be that it is worth doing as a precaution. I will see tomorrow.