Cat diarrhea is not good for old age, feline infectious diarrhea and diagnosis and treatment! Diarrhea is a common symptom of domestic pet cats and a pathological symptom of abnormal conditions in the animal body. A cat's so-called normal feces vary depending on its diet, body temperature and exercise. The water content in feces is significantly different between normal and various types of diarrhea. Normal feces contains about 70% water. The water content of typical diarrhea is more than 80%.

Figure 1 Diana came to the hospital with diarrhea and dehydration

1. Pathogens

1.1 Bacteria

1.1 .1 Escherichia coli: Escherichia coli is a common flora in the intestinal tract of humans and animals, but it can cause disease under certain conditions. There are five types of Escherichia coli that cause infectious diarrhea; toxigenic Escherichia coli, pathogenic Escherichia coli, enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, invasive Escherichia coli and adhesive Escherichia coli. Among them, pathogenic Escherichia coli and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli are the two most important types of cat diarrhea. Clinically, the main symptoms are high fever, diarrhea, and vomiting. Both adults and children are susceptible to this disease, and the fatality rate is high. All cats are susceptible to this disease and have similar symptoms, but some cats only experience vomiting and panting, and most do not experience diarrhea.

Figure 2 Escherichia coli under the microscope

1.1.2 Shigella dysenteriae: Shigella in Shigella dysenteriae often causes infection in young cats. After infection, tiger cubs become depressed and unwilling to move or play. They frequently pass loose stools with pus and blood. Their stools are bright red and smelly. Symptoms of anemia and dehydration often occur.

Figure 3 Shigella dysenteriae under the microscope

1.1.3 Salmonella: This bacterium has a higher infection rate in young cats and has obvious clinical symptoms; many adult cats have Salmonella carriers, but clinically the incidence of Salmonella is not high. Infection with this bacterium is mainly caused by unclean food and drinking water. Young artificially suckled animals are often caused by feeding spoiled milk powder.

　1.1.4 Campylobacter jejuni: This bacterium is a zoonotic bacterium that can also affect poultry. It can invade the intestinal mucosa and produce enterotoxin, destroy intestinal villi and intestinal wall cells, and cause diarrhea. . Both young and adult cats are susceptible.

1.1.5 Pasteurella: When this bacterium infects cats, the disease will become acute and the mortality rate will be high. Suffering animals suffer from lethargy, weight loss, fatigue, lying on the ground, elevated body temperature, mouth breathing, and often constipation first and then diarrhea.

　1.2 Viruses

　1.2.1 Feline parvovirus: This virus mainly causes feline panleukopenia or feline infectious enteritis or feline distemper (details) fever in cats. It is one of the most serious infectious diseases in cats and is characterized by sudden high fever, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration and obvious cytopenia. It is currently reported that almost all felines are infected, with young cats over one year old being the most susceptible, with mortality rates as high as over 90%. After some cats are infected with this disease, they do notDeath occurs within forty-eight hours after typical symptoms. The disease is distributed around the world, with a high incidence rate in winter and spring. It is mainly transmitted through direct and indirect contact. The saliva, feces and urine of sick animals pollute the environment, and susceptible animals drink contaminated feed and water and become infected.

Figure 4 Loose feces caused by feline parvovirus

1.2.2 Rotavirus Rotavirus is a zoonotic virus. Since MEBUS was first reported from calves with diarrhea in 1965, After being isolated, it was found that the virus is the main cause of acute diarrhea and death in infants and young animals. Newborn animals such as piglets, lambs, horses, dogs, cattle, rhesus monkeys and cats are often infected and sickened. Non-bacterial diarrhea in newborn kittens is also mostly due to rotavirus infection. After the virus infects cats, the animals often show symptoms of depression, anorexia, vomiting, and watery diarrhea, which are spray-like. If not treated in time, they often die of dehydration. Kittens artificially breastfed with poisonous milk or milk powder sometimes show severe flatulence.

　1.2.3 Coronavirus This virus is also a zoonotic virus, which mainly manifests respiratory and digestive tract symptoms. In cats, gastrointestinal symptoms are primarily caused by enterocoronaviruses. The animal's body temperature rises, appetite decreases, sometimes vomiting, diarrhea, and in severe cases dehydration.

　1.2.4 Cats infected with this virus mainly show respiratory symptoms, but sometimes they also experience vomiting and diarrhea, and ulcers appear on the tongue and palate, which may be related to secondary bacterial infection.

2. Pathogenesis and clinical connection The mechanisms of diarrhea caused by various factors can be roughly divided into:

2.1 Toxin-mediated Diarrhea-causing bacteria do not invade the intestinal mucosal tissue. They only multiply in the intestine and produce toxins. The toxins are absorbed by the intestinal villi and produce a series of physiological and biochemical reactions to cause diarrhea. Toxigenic Escherichia coli is a representative of this category. Escherichia coli is a common conditional pathogen. When the immunity of animals is reduced due to internal and external factors, Escherichia coli will multiply and produce a large amount of toxins. The toxins destroy the brush border of intestinal villi and affect the absorption function of the intestine, thus causing diarrhea.

2.2 After invasive diarrhea bacteria and viruses infect animals, they enter the intestinal mucosa, use the body's substances to multiply, destroy the intestinal wall structure, cause widespread inflammation of the intestinal mucosa and lead to diarrhea, such as Shigella dysenteriae wait.

2.3 Clinical manifestations The common symptom of infectious diarrhea in cats is diarrhea, but according to the pathological manifestations advocated, it can be divided into:

Exudative diarrhea: Exudation is the basic feature of inflammation. . After the pathogen invades the intestinal mucosa, it damages the intestinal wall, causes inflammation, and causes a large amount of exudate to enter the intestine. When the inflammation worsens, ulcers or even perforation of the intestinal wall may occur, forming abdominal inflammation. At this time, the diarrhea contains exudate and blood. If the bacterial disease is in the small intestine, due to intestinal peristalsis, the exudate will be evenly mixed with the feces, and sometimes there will be shed intestinal mucosa.

Secretory diarrhea: caused by enterotoxins. After the toxins are absorbed, they change the permeability of the intestinal microcirculation and destroy the osmotic balance inside and outside the intestinal wall. A large amount of water and inorganic salt cells escape from the cell side. After entering the intestinal cavity, the feces of animals with diarrhea are watery and contain a small amount of debris. The feces contain a large amount of electrolytes, mainly potassium ions and sodium ions. There is no pus or blood in the feces. The diarrhea does not stop after fasting, and the animals often become severely dehydrated. Electrolyte imbalance and acidosis often lead to death if not treated promptly.

3. Treatment and prevention

3.1 Treatment measures

For diarrhea caused by bacteria, the application of antibiotics is necessary. Due to the misuse of antibiotics, many drug-resistant strains have emerged. Therefore, before treatment, a drug sensitivity test should be conducted to select sensitive antibiotics for treatment. Drugs that improve intestinal motility such as atropine and 6542 mixture can also be used to reduce intestinal spasm and relieve diarrhea. Intestinal adsorbents and astringents such as Smecta, silica silver, silica silver, etc. can absorb toxins and reduce their poisoning to the intestinal wall. Some microbial preparations can re-establish the normal flora of the intestinal tract, which is especially suitable for newborn kittens that are artificially breastfed. For diarrhea caused by viruses, injection of specific antiviral serum is effective. Immunoglobulin, interferon, cell transfer factor, thymosin and other immunity-enhancing drugs can be used at the same time to improve the body's anti-viral ability.

Figure 5 After long-term diarrhea, the cat showed messy coat color and ulcerated tail root