How to Deal with a Bartonella Diagnosis in One of Two Newly Adopted Cats?

Felis

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Hi cat people,

I posted a while ago about my planned cat adoption. Initially I needed advice for getting 2 cats from two different shelters, but long story short, we ended up getting 2 cats from the same shelter. Both are adult females, 7 and 9. Cat A was a former pet surrendered, Cat B was born outside, taken in by the shelter as a kitten, and had lived her whole life there. Cat B is FIV+. We had been to the shelter 3 times to interact with them and be sure of our choice.

When we got our cat supplies, we contacted the shelter owner. She said Cat B had had a vet checkup 3 days prior, and it'd be a few more days for the results. But we could get them that day if we wanted. We wanted them ASAP, so we went. It's been a week and everyone is settling in well. Cat A & B are affectionate with us, but aren't friends. They have stare-offs and a light swat sometimes, but it's 90% peaceful. Cat B (the FIV former feral) is never the one to hiss or swat. She'll always calmly stand her ground or retreat.

Today we get a short email from the shelter owner confirming Cat B is positive for FIV, which we knew, but also that she's positive for Bartonella! I was shocked. No elaboration as to what strength of positive. Now, I do have some experience with Bartonella. I had a cat a few years ago who was indoor/outdoor for most of his life and then became an indoor only in old age. He tested a strong 4+ positive a year after becoming indoor only. We did liquid antibiotics with him since he was so gentle, he'd let me get near his mouth. He was also my only cat-- I didn't have to worry about transmission.

Now we have these two cats, and I sent off a long, concerned email to the shelter owner with detailed questions and she has yet to reply. I even tried calling the vet office where she took Cat B, but they really wouldn't divulge any info to me since I wasn't technically the client. The person who picked up the phone (a vet tech I think) said I "DEFINITELY" needed to get my other cat tested if the two shared a litter box and food/water bowls, which they do.

However, I've also heard from other sources that like FIV, you should only care about bite and scratch wounds. Does anyone have a good resource on this? Obviously I plan to bring both cats to the vet for a full workup anyway, but we're not a current client of any office, so I can't just call one up and start asking questions. Not to mention we will likely have to wait a while for a first appointment. In the meantime, do I need to be taking precautions? Thanks A TON!
 

BlackCatOp

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When I first read your post my thought was “isn’t bartonella transmitted by fleas?”

According to the below reference, fleas are required
Bartonella henselae transmission did not occur when infected cats lived together with uninfected cats in a flea-free environment. Transmission consequently does not occur through bites, scratches in the absence of fleas, grooming, or sharing of litter boxes and food dishes. Furthermore, transmission could not be demonstrated between bacteraemic female cats and uninfected males during mating, or to the kittens of infected females either during gestation or in the neonatal period, again in flea-free environments (Guptill et al., 1997).”

I would definitely still get a vet’s input but hopefully the above will provide a little reassurance until you do! Humans are at risk for cat scratch fever so be careful!
Also, what an awesome thing to adopt two adult kitties! I’m sure they greatly appreciate it!
 

sivyaleah

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Our older girl tested positive for bartonella hensalae when we first got her. The vet we had at the time was pushing us to do a long treatment, something like pilling her for a month with a strong antibiotic. We felt this was excessive, and started doing our own research and found out that it's really not an issue unless the cat happens to bite or badly claw another cat. Or us.

We mentioned this to the vet and he made us feel like idiots, telling us not to trust the internet.

Needless to say we left that practice and our current vet agrees with the info we had. Cocoabean is a sweet, gentle soul, zero aggressive tendencies. Had never bitten or scratched us or the cat we had at the time living with her. Only once did she claw at our other cat due to redirected aggression and we went pronto to the vet to have it looked at. It was minor thankfully.

Anyway, we got a kitten last year and had no qualms of her being around the older one at all. Cocoa has been really healthy for all the years we have her which is nearly 9 years or so. The bartonella is a non-issue so far.
 

Caspers Human

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Since the FIV-positive cat is the one with Bartonella, you should probably get it treated.

Bartonella is often self-resolving in healthy cats. You probably don't need to get the cat treated if it is healthy and doesn't show signs of illness.

If the cat has FIV, you'll want to consider get it treated because the cat's own immune system is weak.

If you have kids or if the cat has frequent contact with kids, you might also consider get it treated.
Bartonella IS transmissible to humans. It doesn't always require fleas to vector the disease. Bartonella can be passed to humans through bites or scratches and it can (rarely) be transmitted through feces.

Bartonella is also known as "Cat Scratch Fever." (It's not just the name of a song by Ted Nugent!)
Many people get Cat Scratch Fever without even knowing it.

Check out this link: Cat scratch disease FAQ | CDC

Felis Felis : This link is from the CDC. (Centers for Disease Control) If your vet gives you any guff about it, print that page out, slap it down on his desk and tell him, "So says the Centers for Disease Control!" ;)
 
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di and bob

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Unless your cat is showing symptoms, respiratory, or others, I wouldn't worry too much about it. It can affect up to 40% of all cats, but usually is not transmitted unless you get deeply bitten or have a flea problem. My Chrissy must have had it, a neighbors dog ran up while I was holding her and she bit me. The next day my lymph nodes were swollen, I had a fever and my arm was swollen to twice its normal size. I recovered with no treatment since I started to show small improvements every day. She had before that scratched me deeply and lightly bit me with no problems, so I think you have to be deeply bitten for it to be injected, just like for an abscess to form. If your cat is good-tempered most of the time I don't think you'll have any problems. I think most people would be shocked to learn all what their cats have if they were tested for everything!
 
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Felis

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Hi all!

Thanks so much to you all for your thoughts and quotes + links to source information. This is helpful to have.

As mentioned, yes, the concern is that she's already immunocompromised with FIV. Normally I would agree that with a gentle cat who is otherwise healthy, maybe the antibiotic course isn't top priority... But I do want her to have the best quality of life possible. And if she's been infected since kittenhood, I would like to try and alleviate that knowing she may have other medical issues down the road..

Because she's had it likely her whole life, I (and the shelter owner) can't really say if she's symptomatic or not. She does exhibit some mildly odd behaviors like an aversion to play, which I have considered making another post about (she literally GAGS when I try to engage her with feather or mouse toys, but will play with catnip toys by herself). She also has some gingivitis and inflammation around her teeth, and you can smell her bad breath when she cleans herself, though I realize this could also be the FIV and/or just genetics. Lastly, she yowls briefly during and after pooping, which again, I know could be normal, but could also mean pain.

So things are hazy if she's actually feeling ill effects from it. The shelter owner wants me to come pick up liquid meds for her sometime soon, though I think it'll be a hell of a time trying to get them in her. My sweet, cuddly, previous cat just barely let me get in his mouth with meds, this new girl is very squirmy and sometimes skittish, so I doubt it'll go well...

As for the shelter owner, she has since responded and said that her vet says we don't need to worry much about transmission... So I guess we can put that issue to bed unless the two start brawling.
 

di and bob

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As for liquid meds, I have been giving them for over a year to my leukemia positive cats by putting it in a treat called Delectable Lickables in the stew variety, not the bisque. it is available at Walmart, Target, and Amazon. It is also what I give them when they get sick and refuse to eat, they always take a few licks of this.
 
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