Lyssavirus In Cats Symptoms

Leomc123

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  • All lyssaviruses cause a similar illness known as rabies
  • Rabies is a viral disease that specifically affects a cat's central nervous system (CNS).
  • Once the virus enters the cat's body, it replicates in the cells of the muscles and then spreads to the closest nerve fibers, including all peripheral, sensory and motor nerves, traveling from there to the CNS via fluid within the nerves. The incubation of rabies is, on average, between one and three months, but can be as little as a day and up to a year. Once the symptoms have begun, the virus progresses rapidly.
  • Rabies virus and other lyssaviruses (including ABLV) are spread from infected animals to people through bites or scratches, or by being exposed to infected animals’ saliva through the eyes, nose or mouth.
  • There are two forms of rabies: paralytic and furious
  • Furious rabies is characterized by extreme behavioral changes, including overt aggression and attack behavior.

    This is a fast-moving virus. If it is not treated soon after the symptoms have begun, the prognosis is poor. Therefore, if your cat has been in a fight with another animal, or has been bitten or scratched by another animal, or if you have any reason to suspect that your pet has come into contact with a rabid animal (even if your pet has been vaccinated against the virus), you must take your cat to a veterinarian for preventive care immediately

  • Paralytic rabies, also referred to as dumb rabies, is characterized by weakness and loss of coordination in the cat, followed by paralysis.
Symptoms
  • Pica
  • Fever
  • Seizures
  • Paralysis and Paresis
  • Hydrophobia
  • Jaw is dropped
  • Inability to swallow
  • Muscular lack of coordination
  • Unusual shyness or aggression
  • Excessive excitability
  • Constant irritability/changes in attitude and behavior
  • Paralysis in the mandible and larynx
  • Excessive, dripping salivation (hypersalivation), or frothy saliva

In the article and many research the virus once it has been contracted by a mamal a cat or dog the symptoms shows up slowly and can take a year to show in some cases. I posted this information because the symptoms were like what my cat had and i think he may have contracted this virus as we have bats around our house who like to eat fruits and drop it on the garden and i think my cat accidentally got the saliva on him and contracted the virus. He never had any blood tests done, but his x ray showed nothing major for him to have a paralised hind legs.

His Symptoms :
Paresis (limping on one leg) for 3 and 1/2 months

Paralysis (and then suddenly not using back legs at all , became incontinent in the last 2 weeks and was dragging his back legs around with him.

Pica : I didnt realize it at the time, but when i brought him in the house he would eat rubbish or little fluff on the floor, grass pieces, and if he was on my bed he would eat the cotton fluff on the blanket, outside he would nibble little bits and pieces on the floor as if he was looking for something to eat, even though he had a good large meal, he was a big eater, so i thought he was just exploring new smells on the floor.

Muscular lack of coordination : Could walk straight without limping, but if he turned to the left he would wobble and drop, if he was standing and shook his head it would throw him off balance that he would pause for a bit regain balance slowly.

Excessive excitability: He started meowing a lot more than usual, more like talking meowing and his eyes were very dilated all the time day or night.

Constant irritability/changes in attitude and behavior aggression : If he was laying down on the floor and i am 3 meters away, He would be sitting there licking his paws being all fine and dandy, then all of a sudden he would intensely stare at me and start meowing with the mating cat call sound loudly, and then he would get up , walk or run at me and start attacking me out of the blue, as if he was trying to attack another cat. This is even when he had a limp he would just come at me and bite into my arm it was very hard to get his mouth off my arm. It was like a cat fight with a human, the noises he was making was like he thought i was another cat in his territory. If i looked at him or not look at him he would come at me out of the blue. If i touched his bed or blankie, he would walk to his bed or blankie and start pulling it under his legs like he is trying to mate with it making the growling meow sound or is telling me that this blankie or bed is mine !! and then he would come after me to attack me, like chase me around the back yard, it was a slow chase as he couldnt walk that well , until i tired him out that he would stop and lay down, or snap out of it.

He did salivate a bit it was a drippy saliva when he would sit on my lap at times after he drank water it would be a little dribble on his chin but it was thick saliva, or when he drank water from the tap when he was sick at the end.

Unusual shyness or aggression : He did have a gradual aggression from mild to severe - his base personality for 12 years was that he never attacked me once, never bit me, was the most gentle, placid , easy going cat you would ever know for a 6.5 kg cat. Then out of the blue its like he wants to rip my arm off. It was psychologically he thinks i am the enemy one minute and the next minute we are best friends more like Jekyll and Hyde .

And he did shake his head a bit like something was irritating him, but the way he shook his head was not a one shake like he was getting rid of a fly on his ear, it was like several vigorous head shake like it was psychological. Its hard to explain.

in 4 months he deteriorated fast in last 2 weeks and i put him down cause the vet was telling me that it may be a tumor in his spine and another test would cost alot of money that i didnt have, but now the more i research i think leo contracted the virus from the fruit bats in our trees.

I posted this information as it may help someone one day, and i guess maybe i am still looking for answers as to what happened with my cat. Maybe i regret not doing a blood test for him as it could have been something else and being to quick to put him down, i dunno i just hope it helps someone here.
 

FeebysOwner

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I am so sorry it had to come to this for you and Leo. RIP, little one.

Thanks for the information. I have nothing I can offer you in terms of suggesting what could have been done otherwise. Maybe other members will see your post over the course of the day, and provide some personal experience/insight?

Please don't burden yourself too much with the whys/what-ifs. Most importantly is to relish in the memories and the moments that you and Leo were together. Hopefully, that will bring you at least a little bit of peace in this trying time.

If you want to - and when you feel up to it, you can post about Leo (and provide pictures as well) in the Crossing the Bridge section of this site. It is where we go to pay homage to our lost loved ones.
 

Mamanyt1953

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I am so very, very sorry for the loss of your precious Leo.

Thank you for sharing this. It will be invaluable to someone one day.
 

Norachan

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Thank you for sharing this information. It's too bad that the vets didn't do any blood work, but you shouldn't blame yourself for that. It's really something the vets should have suggested to you, because how would you have known that a disease like this would cause all of these symptoms? I hope that others will learn from what happened to your precious Leo.

I'm going to post a link to Leo's Crossing The Bridge thread here, so people can offer you their condolences.

I Feel Dead After Putting My Cat Down

I'm so sorry for everything you and Leo had to go through.

:grouphug2:
 
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