Treatment of coronavirus infection in cats. Symptoms and diagnosis. How to identify coronavirus gastroenteritis in cats

Diseases of the digestive system are among the most serious illnesses cats, as they can have the most negative impact on the health and general condition of the pet. Of particular danger are inflammatory diseases, including gastroenteritis. Moreover, it occurs quite often in cats, and therefore any owner should know how to help their pet in case of illness.

Description of the disease gastroenteritis in cats

Gastroenteritis is nothing more than inflammation of the stomach and small intestine, accompanied by digestive disorders, and both of these pathological processes occur in the body of the purr simultaneously and are closely related to each other. Gastroenteritis is caused by many unrelated reasons, including shortcomings in keeping the cat, including such dangerous ones as meningitis or coronavirus.

Attention!

According to the nature of the inflammatory process, gastroenteritis is divided into serous, catarrhal, hemorrhagic, fibrinous and purulent.

And by origin - infectious and non-infectious. At the same time, the reasons infectious gastroenteritis Often there are diseases that pose a serious threat to the health and life of the cat.

Clinical manifestations: symptoms and causes

Symptoms

In the vast majority of cases, the cat experiences a decrease or complete absence appetite. The animal is weakened and looks depressed.

In addition, the following signs of digestive disorders are also observed:

• Vomiting - sometimes with traces of blood or bile.
• Diarrhea - often also with blood, mucus and waste of undigested food, and can also be with signs of the presence of fat (steatorrhea, or, in other words, fatty feces).
• Abdominal pain - the cat is hunched over and behaves restlessly.
• When palpated, her abdomen is painful and tense.
• With the purulent and hemorrhagic form of gastroenteritis, the temperature may be elevated, and pus and blood are visible in the feces, and they themselves have characteristic appearance so-called raspberry jelly. The animal is lethargic, apathetic and inactive.
• Because of frequent vomiting and diarrhea, dehydration can develop, during which the cat loses a lot of weight, it becomes sunken, and the skin loses its elasticity and, if it is folded, it will not straighten out immediately.
• The mucous membranes are pale; if the process is involved, they may also be jaundiced.
• With coronavirus gastroenteritis, damage to the central nervous system: The cat may have paralysis, paresis, ataxia and seizures.

Causes

Non-infectious gastroenteritis:

• Incorrect, unbalanced nutrition: feeding low-quality, rough, spicy or too salty food, skipping feedings for no significant reason.
• Binge eating.
• Salt poisoning heavy metals, which may be present in the stern.
• Food allergies.
• Side effects of medications that negatively affect the digestive system.

Infectious gastroenteritis:

Non-communicable diseases and pathological processes in organism:

• Diseases gastrointestinal tract: liver disease, pancreatitis, intestinal obstruction.
• Accumulation of hairballs in the stomach or intestines - trichobezoars, which are caused by ingestion of hair during licking.
• Congenital or acquired defects in the structure of the digestive organs.
• Stress.

Important!

One of the heaviest and dangerous forms gastroenteritis - hemorrhagic, often begins without any visible reasons. Scientists suggest that this disease is of an autoimmune nature, or that it can occur due to infectious diseases.

Kinds

Coronavirus

Coronavirus gastroenteritis often occurs in cats. This is not surprising, given that many of them have been carriers of coronavirus almost from birth. The fact is that the causative agent of this disease is highly virulent, or, to put it simply, the coronavirus is very contagious.

It is easily transmitted from one cat to another, and animals kept in nurseries or shelters are at particular risk, since it is their large concentration that simplifies the route of transmission of the virus.

If a cat gets sick with coronavirus, it will be monitored following symptoms diseases:

• Vomiting.
• Weak or no appetite.
• Vomiting and/or diarrhea.
• The stool is liquid, and the vomit is often yellowish and foamy.
• The animal is apathetic, its gaze becomes dull.
• The temperature usually rises.
• If you try to feed a cat, it may have so-called “dry vomiting”: the animal vomits, but no vomit is released.

Attention!

If your cat has any of these symptoms, let alone more than one, you should immediately take him to a veterinarian for diagnosis and treatment.

Non-infectious

Gastroenteritis caused by incorrect or, for example, less dangerous for a cat than an infectious disease.

It is faster and easier to treat and, as a rule, it causes full recovery.

But at the same time, it is necessary to remember that if the cause of the pet’s illness is not immediately eliminated and you do not select for it proper diet, then the disease may recur.

Diagnostics

As a rule, when there is gastroenteritis, the veterinarian will first examine the cat's mouth. With this disease there will be noticeable white coating In addition, the animal may drool profusely.

Besides this they do general analysis blood and biochemistry and stool analysis for worm eggs. They may also recommend doing scatology to identify blood, pus, fats and undigested food particles present in the stool.

Virological and bacteriological diagnostics are also indicated.

In addition to this, it is done X-ray examination intestines and ultrasound of the abdominal cavity.

If coronavirus is suspected, a separate special test is performed.

Attention!

With the hemorrhagic form of gastroenteritis, a violation is often observed heart rate, and therefore an additional ECG should be performed.

What can trigger the disease?

Gastroenteritis often occurs against the background of an existing disease, and sometimes it is caused by negative external factors.

Diseases that provoke gastroenteritis:

• Meningitis.
• Pneumonia.
• Oncology and benign tumors.
• Coronavirus infection.
• Poisoning.
• Diseases of the pancreas.
• Addison's disease.
• Hyperthyroidism.
• Viral diseases.
• Escherichia coli.
• Salmonellosis.
• Intestinal volvulus.
• Pathological processes of the gastrointestinal tract, such as gastritis and pancreatitis.
• Intestinal obstruction.
• Liver diseases.
• Atherosclerosis.
• Heart diseases.
• Metabolic disorders.
• Worms.

External factors leading to gastroenteritis:

• Unbalanced diet.
• Lack of a stable pet feeding regimen.
• Binge eating.
• Poor quality ready-made food which contains an excess of dyes and preservatives.
• Food allergies.
• Ingestion of a foreign body.
• Stressful situations.
• Excessive licking leads to the formation of trichobezoars in the cat's stomach - hair balls made from ingested hair.

Infection process

Coronavirus is one of the most mysterious viruses, known to science. There are two strains of this found in cats. pathogenic microorganism: FIPV and FECV.

The first of them causes infectious peritonitis, but the second is precisely the cause of infectious gastroenteritis.

As a rule, cats become infected by eating feces or sniffing them, and microscopic doses of the filler on which the causative agent has come into contact with the disease are sufficient for infection.

The virus persists in the external environment for quite a long time - up to a week, which makes it even more dangerous in terms of virulence.

There is no intrauterine transmission of the virus through the placenta. Moreover, as long as kittens receive antibodies from their mother cat’s milk, they do not get sick with coronavirus.

The “dangerous” age comes later - at 5-7 weeks, when passive immunity is already fading, and active immunity has not yet had time to develop. At this time, children are especially vulnerable and susceptible to infection with coronavirus.

But a particular danger to the health and life of cats is that the relatively harmless FECV, under the influence of certain, not fully studied factors, can mutate and turn into a deadly FIPV, causing infectious peritonitis, from which a lot of cats and, especially, kittens die. .

Important!

Even if the coronavirus has entered the cat’s body, this does not mean that it will certainly get sick. If the animal is healthy and has good immunity, then the coronavirus pathogen will be completely eliminated from his body. This process can take two weeks or several months.

For the cat itself, excretion of the pathogen along with feces is completely harmless, but at the same time it can infect other animals that have weaker immunity.

Is it transmitted to humans?

Both strains of feline coronavirus do not pose a danger to humans, and this applies to those with weakened immune systems, the elderly, and even newborn babies.

Therefore, if a cat in the family gets sick coronavirus gastroenteritis, you should not be afraid of infection and, especially, there is no need to euthanize or throw the animal outside for this reason.

How to treat?

Concerning medical supplies, used in the treatment of gastroenteritis, especially if it occurs in purulent or hemorrhagic forms, or is infectious in nature, then all prescriptions should be made only by a veterinarian.

Attention!

You should absolutely not treat gastroenteritis on your own, since with this disease extreme symptoms can develop. serious complications and in case improper treatment the matter could end in death.

What are the prognosis for coronavirus gastroenteritis in cats?

The prognosis for coronavirus gastroenteritis can be completely different: from complete recovery to the death of the animal.

• In approximately 50% of cases, the cat will get this disease with strong signs diarrhea, after which clinical recovery will occur, when all symptoms of the disease disappear and the cat looks completely healthy. But for a long time (from 1 to 9 months), the virus will be excreted along with her feces.
• In approximately 10% of cases, cats die because the virus has mutated into a form that causes incurable coronavirus enteritis, in which irreversible pathological processes occur in the body.
• It also happens that the disease takes chronic form. This happens when the cat has good immunity, but cannot completely cope with the causative agent of the disease. Then the purr will experience diarrhea from time to time, which can, to one degree or another, be treated with improvised means. But in this case, the cat will remain a lifelong carrier and distributor of coronavirus.

Recovery

The first thing to do if a cat develops gastroenteritis is, if possible, to eliminate the cause that caused the disease and establish proper nutrition:

• For the first two days, do not feed your pet anything at all.
• Later, give him low-fat beef broth and a decoction of herbs: sage, chamomile, St. John's wort, flaxseed, and a weak decoction of oak bark.
• On the fourth day you can feed one boiled or raw egg three times a day, liquid oatmeal or rice porridge, and you can add a little boiled chicken or minced beef to them.
• Next you can give dairy products, porridge with milk and vegetable soups.
• From the tenth day, if everything is fine, you can return to your pet’s normal diet.
• In case of coronavirus gastroenteritis, your pet should be fed light, well-digestible food. For example, you can give him boiled chicken or boiled lean fish. If the animal is too weakened by illness, then it is best to feed it only low-fat broths.

Important!

Diet for any gastroenteritis is of primary importance for recovery. Therefore, it is necessary to feed a cat with this disease only those foods that are allowed and in no case give it prohibited treats.

Prevention

It is necessary from the very beginning to establish a proper diet for the kitten, excluding the pet from consuming foods that are harmful to it, spices, or excess salt. You can’t overfeed your cat, and you can’t skip feedings unless necessary.

You should feed either high-quality purchased food premium class and higher, or natural products, but under no circumstances mix dry food and natural food.

If there is a need to change food, then the new product must be introduced gradually, increasing its share in the daily diet over several days.

It is necessary to periodically remove worms in accordance with the recommendations of veterinarians.

To avoid the possibility of infection coronavirus gastroenteritis, need to:

• Avoid contact of your cat with sick and street animals that can spread coronavirus.
• If the cat did come into contact with them, then it is necessary to minimize the likelihood of any stress, since most often it is they that cause the disease.
• If another cat is taken into the house, it must be kept in quarantine before introducing it to the purring cat already living in the house.
• If there are several cats in the house, their litter boxes should be located as far from each other as possible.
• If a nursing cat is found to be a carrier of the coronavirus, the kittens should be separated from their mother in the first five weeks of their life.
• As a filler for trays, you should use a mixture based on clay and minerals, which clumps together after use.
• Carriers of coronavirus and cats that have not previously been in contact with the causative agent of the disease should not be kept in the same room: they must be separated.

Important!

Under no circumstances should you take another cat into a house where the carrier lives if the cat has not been in contact with the coronavirus. And you also cannot take an animal that already has the virus in its body into a house where there lives a cat that is free from carrying this pathogen.

Useful video

In the video below, a veterinarian talks about coronavirus in cats, methods of transmission, symptoms and treatment.

Conclusion

Gastroenteritis is a very serious and unpleasant disease for cats. Fortunately, in most cases, unless it is particularly severe forms This disease, with gastroenteritis, complete recovery is possible. But to do this, you must follow all the veterinarian’s recommendations, and, of course, do not self-medicate your pet.

Most often, animals kept in large groups (in nurseries or in group housing) become infected with coronavirus enteritis. Infection occurs fecal-oral route, most often the source of the virus for kittens is their mother.

Coronavirus in cats large quantities(billions of viral particles per gram of feces) is excreted in the feces of infected cats. Coronavirus infection occurs when cats ingest or inhale the virus. The virulence (infectiousness) of this virus is high; a small particle of filler from cat litter box, which was previously used by an infected cat. By various studies Between 60 and 80% of the entire cat population is infected with the coronavirus or has been exposed to it.

Feline coronavirus is relatively stable and can remain viable in the environment for 7 weeks.

The virus enters the body through the oropharynx and primarily affects the epithelial cells of the gastrointestinal tract (small intestine). The immune system cats work to eliminate the virus, and most animals overcome the infection, which leads to the elimination (removal) of the virus from the body. The process of natural elimination of coronavirus can take from several weeks to several months.

Feline coronavirus almost never crosses the placenta to the unborn kitten. Most kittens become infected after the level of protective antibodies in the milk has subsided, i.e. usually at 5-7 weeks of age.

The risk of indirect transmission (through clothing, hands of owners, animals of another species) is small; such transmission is possible only when clothing or shoes are directly contaminated with feces of an infected cat.

Coronavirus strains. Feline viral peritonitis

It is customary to distinguish two strains of the virus - the actual “intestinal” feline coronavirus (FCoV) and the feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV). These viruses are extremely similar in antigenic composition, with FIPV being a mutant form intestinal virus(the change occurs in the body of the carrier animal under the influence of stress factors).

The intestinal form of coronavirus enteritis (FCoV) is usually quite mild and is not a life-threatening disease, while the systemic form, infectious peritonitis, is a severe 100% fatal condition.

It is very important to understand that although the disease coronavirus enteritis and infectious peritonitis have the same pathogen, they are fundamentally different and by no means identical diseases. A cat with enteric coronavirus may never develop viral peritonitis, and a cat with FIP may not shed the virus from the intestine in the feces.

Virus infectious peritonitis cats FIPV is a product of a mutation of a strain of intestinal coronavirus. FCoV has a tropism for epithelial cells intestines and multiplies only in them, while after mutation the virus infects macrophages (cells of the leukocyte system, the main function of which is the absorption of foreign cells) and spreads through the bloodstream throughout the body, thus affecting all organ systems.

Important! Coronavirus does not equal FIP! If your cat has been diagnosed with coronavirus, this does not mean that she is sick. There is no reliable test for FIP, that's all modern methods studies can only determine the coronavirus itself or antibodies to it.

Contagiousness intestinal form coronavirus is extremely high, while the likelihood of triggering the disease with feline viral peritonitis, on the contrary, is small - feline viral peritonitis develops in less than 10% of cats infected with coronavirus.

At risk are animals under one year of age, as well as those kept in unsatisfactory conditions, experiencing the effects of stress or other immunosuppressive conditions.

When a cat comes into contact with coronavirus, there are 4 scenarios:

• The animal will develop FIP (as stated above, this occurs in less than 10% of infected animals).
• The cat will shed the virus for a while, produce antibodies, then stop shedding the virus, and the antibody titer drops to zero. In approximately half of all cases of infection, shedding of the virus lasts within a month, and only 5% of cats shed the virus for more than 9 months.
• The cat becomes a carrier of FCoV for life (13% of all infected cats). These cats continually shed FCoV in their feces and it can be detected. Most lifelong carriers remain clinically healthy, but some develop chronic diarrhea.
• The cat is resistant to the virus - it appears that about 4% of cats from the entire population are completely resistant to coronavirus infection, they never shed the virus during external environment, they develop an immune response that is almost impossible to detect, because the antibody titer is extremely low.

Symptoms of coronavirus enteritis

Coronavirus infection in cats most often occurs without any complaints or manifests itself moderately severe symptoms related to inflammatory process V small intestine(coronavirus enteritis) due to destruction of the intestinal mucosa.

Manifestations coronavirus enteritis in cats:

• soft or loose stool, with an admixture of blood or mucus (or without impurities);
• poor weight gain;

Typically, these symptoms do not cause serious deterioration general condition and do not require drug treatment, if we are not talking about joining secondary infection or concomitant diseases.

Vaccination

There have been many attempts to develop an effective and safe vaccine for FIP, but most have failed. Currently on the market is the intranasal vaccine against feline coronavirus Primucell, Pfizer.

The vaccine is made on the basis of a temperature-dependent strain of coronavirus; this strain is capable of replication (reproduction) only in the oropharynx, where more low temperature so it calls local immunity at the gate of entry of the virus, but produces very small amount systemic antibodies.

This vaccine is effective against coronavirus and meets safety requirements, but there is no convincing evidence to support its effectiveness against infectious peritonitis caused by coronavirus. In addition, by the time they reach 16 weeks of age (the recommended period for primary vaccination), most cats at risk are already seropositive (have had contact with coronavirus), which means vaccination does not make sense.

Enteric coronavirus is not serious illness, therefore, vaccination against it is rarely used, while the effectiveness of FIP requires further research. As of 2014, this vaccine is not included in the list of those recommended by the vaccination committee of the World Association of Small Animal Practitioners (WSAVA).

Diagnosis of feline coronavirus

Coronavirus is quite difficult to diagnose, due to the fact that the vast majority of cats are asymptomatic carriers or shed the virus for a significant period of time.

FCoV is shed in stool, so the most sensitive test is to detect the virus in feces. Very rarely, coronavirus is released in saliva; as a rule, this occurs on initial stage infection.

One-time fecal examination PCR method little information: if a cat excretes the virus from time to time, then it may or may not excrete the virus for a short period of time.

PCR testing should be part of a series of studies and is best done in combination with immunofluorescent antibody tests.

Exist different opinions, about how to reliably establish the fact of elimination of coronavirus (freeing a cat from infection) - as a rule, this requires performing 5 consecutive fecal tests using the PCR method with an interval of 4 weeks, and getting all the results negative. According to the Swedish Institute of Virology, a cat is considered not to be shedding coronavirus if 4 fecal PCR tests taken one after another with an interval of 7-10 days are negative.

In any case, a cat that does not excrete the virus according to the results of a series of tests is not dangerous to other animals either in keeping or in breeding and does not infect other cats through contact, sexual and vertical (through reproduction) routes.

Reduction of antibody titer to the level<10 также указывает на элиминацию вируса, но обычно снижение титра антител наблюдается уже после того, как кошка перестала выделять вирус.

To establish that a cat is a lifelong carrier of coronavirus, stool test results for FCoV must remain positive for at least eight months.

Prevention of coronavirus infection

In groups of cats that are not infected with coronavirus, it is necessary to examine all new cats being added, and not introduce seropositive animals into the pride.

It is advisable that newly admitted cats come from catteries where all animals are tested for FCoV and are seronegative. Quarantine in a separate room with a separate tray should be 12 weeks, after which a repeat test will be carried out. Only cats with zero antibody titers should be allowed into FCoV-free catteries.

FCoV infection can be naturally cleared from a cattery with fewer than 10 animals, whereas if more than 10 animals are in contact in the same facility, spontaneous natural clearance of the virus is very unlikely because there is constant cross-transmission from one cat to another. In such groups of cats, it is necessary to conduct testing and isolate cats and kittens for 12 weeks. Early weaning (before 4 weeks) and removal of kittens from seropositive mothers at 12 weeks helps eradicate the infection. All cats that test positive should be removed, although this does not guarantee rapid elimination of the virus, as asymptomatic carriers may be seronegative.

If cats are kept indoors, it is necessary to provide an individual litter box for each cat, ideally in different rooms. Trays should be kept clean, and residues of dried feces, which become volatile, should be avoided. It is preferable to use closed tray houses and dust-free clumping litter to minimize the spread of fecal microparticles.

If you have lost a kitten due to FIP, wait at least a month before getting a new pet.

Virus elimination

Many cat and cattery owners are concerned about the speedy elimination of coronavirus in cats. On the Internet you can find the most fantastic multi-stage schemes for removing the virus, containing recommendations on diet, courses of immunomodulators from several drugs, vitamins, antioxidants, homeopathic remedies, etc. As a rule, the authors of these schemes have a distant relation to veterinary medicine and even more distant relation to the principles of evidence-based medicine.

If we are not talking about the uncontrolled use of a set of immunostimulating drugs, any actions of the owner aimed at “elimination” will not harm the animal, but are unlikely to affect the virus. It is necessary to understand that sooner or later the vast majority of cats eliminate the virus on their own (otherwise, the mortality rate from the virus would be very high), and cats that first showed carrier status (without clinical signs of the disease), and then stopped showing the virus in tests, practically do not get FIP, or rather their risk of getting viral peritonitis is equal to the risk for the cat population as a whole.

Important! The harmless coronavirus mutates into lethal FIP under stress. The less stress, the smaller the cat population, the greater the chance that FIP ​​will not develop if infected with coronavirus. The more owners begin to experiment, “treat” and “eliminate” the virus, especially if this involves the forced administration of any drugs, the more stress they cause in the animal and thereby increase the likelihood of developing FIP.

For cats carrying the coronavirus, the greatest chance of developing FIP is before one year of age, so if your cat develops antibodies to FCoV later in life, it is unlikely that she will develop FIP.

Measures that may contribute to the elimination or at least asymptomatic transmission of coronavirus:

• Good care, maintaining a high level of hygiene;
• Complete, varied feeding of high-protein food. There is an opinion that acidification of the gastrointestinal tract environment, which is achieved primarily by a high proportion of thermally unprocessed meat products in the diet, can contribute to the elimination of coronavirus, but this is not confirmed by any extensive research, in addition, feeding a raw diet naturally increases the risk of helminthiasis. toxoplasmosis, etc.;
• Antioxidants such as vitamins A, C and E and zinc may have antiviral and/or immunostimulating effects. It makes sense to use all vitamin preparations in relatively short courses and under the supervision of a veterinarian. Vitamin A is poorly absorbed in cats from plant foods, but the source of this vitamin can be liver or fish (halibut, cod). Vitamin A should not be used for longer than 6 weeks because there is a risk of excess accumulation in bone tissue. Vitamins C and E can be given to a cat over a longer period of time, but it is necessary to control the pH of the urine, which can become acidic from the use of ascorbic acid, leading to cystitis and the deposition of calcium oxalate crystals. There is no need to continue using antioxidants longer than a few months after a cat has been exposed to FCoV, and it may be harmful.

Acute gastroenteritis in a cat is a severe lesion of the intestines and stomach involving the mucous, submucosal and even muscular and serous layers. There are hemorrhagic, mucomembranous, diphtheric, croupous, phlegmonous, mixed and purulent gastroenteritis; occur primarily and secondarily.

The etiology of the disease is similar to the causes. Usually this is also overfeeding, as a result of which fermentation and putrefactive processes intensify, as well as feeding with inferior, low-quality feed.

With vitamin and mineral deficiency, especially during pregnancy, the appetite is distorted, animals eat inedible substances, leading to poisoning and injury to the gastrointestinal tract.

Secondary gastroenteritis occurs with volvulus and twisting of intestinal loops, intussusception, coprostasis, hemostasis, and with infectious diseases.

In such sick animals, digestive, secretory and motor functions are impaired. The functions of the cardiovascular system, kidneys, and liver are impaired. Protein products and microorganisms enter the lymphatic system, causing fever.

Exicosis (dehydration, dehydration) and toxicosis cause severe disease.

Acute gastroenteritis. Symptoms.

The disease is developing rapidly. The cat has:
♦ Depressed state.
♦ Fever.
♦ The cat refuses food.
♦ Signs of colic.
♦ (sometimes with blood).
♦ (often bloody).
The animal is indifferent to its surroundings, muscle tone decreases, the fur is disheveled, and emaciation progresses rapidly.

Acute gastroenteritis. Treatment.

In case of secondary gastroenteritis, measures are taken against the etiological factors of the disease. The cat needs to be provided with complete rest, a gentle diet and plenty of fluids are prescribed (preferably with the addition of baking soda). To cleanse the gastrointestinal tract, laxatives and emetics are prescribed to cleanse the stomach.

Internal antibiotics are recommended (biovetin, phthalazole, biseptol, enteroseptol), sulfonamides. Raw eggs, benzophthalate, mucous decoctions of oatmeal with the addition of salol, rice, and flaxseed are also useful. Multivitamins, enveloping drugs and adsorbents (activated carbon, almagel, starch, talc, magnesium trisilicate, flaxseed), 10% calcium chloride solution are administered intravenously.

For prolonged diarrhea, astringents () are recommended (oak bark decoction, bird cherry fruits, blueberries, chamomile flowers, alder fruits, St. John's wort herb, tanalbin, osarsol, burnt alum, dermatol, xeroform, basic bismuth nitrate).

Health to you and your pets.

Sometimes the causes of gastroenteritis are acquired or congenital abnormalities of the digestive organs. Coronavirus often affects animals that are in a state of stress (separation from the owner, the arrival of a new family member in the house, moving to another place of residence).

There are many reasons for the appearance of coronavirus enteritis, the most common of which are:

1. 1. Stagnant or untreated water.
2. 2. In case of poisoning with chemical or toxic substances and mushrooms, intoxication begins, which is very dangerous.
3. 3. Feeding your pet with tubular bones - the intestinal walls can be damaged by their sharp edges.
4. 4. Dysbacteriosis causes a catarrhal form of pathology.
5. 5. An abrupt change from one type of food to another has an unfavorable effect on the animal’s body.
6. 6. Violation of the diet, incorrectly selected food or vitamin supplements and an incorrectly balanced diet.
7. 7. Worms produce dangerous toxins and injure the mucous membrane of the digestive tract.
8. 8. Cheap, low-quality cat food can become a source of fungal infection or have other defects.

Gastroenteritis can begin due to pathologies in the gastrointestinal tract - atherosclerosis, ischemia, valve insufficiency. Stress is a common cause for the development of the disease.

Etiology

The etiology of primary gastroenteritis has much in common with acute gastritis. Most often, the disease occurs as a result of poor nutrition. Overeating and poor-quality food activate fermentation and putrefactive processes. Foods low in vitamins and minerals can distort a cat's appetite. This phenomenon is especially noticeable during pregnancy. An animal in this state begins to eat inedible foods, poisoning and injuring its body.

Secondary gastroenteritis occurs with infectious diseases, intussusception and torsion of intestinal loops, coprostasis and hemostasis.

A sick cat's secretory, digestive and motor functions are impaired. There is an active development of fermentation-putrefactive microflora due to protein exudate, which enters the lumens in the stomach and intestines. Toxicosis develops and kidney and liver function is impaired. The animal's cardiovascular system begins to malfunction. Over time, fever may appear as the lymphatic system begins to actively fight microorganisms and protein products.

Coronavirus gastroenteritis in cats: clinical signs

Intestinal coronavirus infection, as a rule, does not cause much concern to cats and is manifested by periodic bouts of diarrhea of ​​varying severity or impurities in the stool of mucus and/or blood (a sign of destruction of the intestinal mucosa and inflammation of the intestines). After a single infection, animals become lifelong carriers of the infection.

Animals infected with feline viral peritonitis have a very diverse clinical picture, which depends both on the form of the clinical course and on which organ system was most affected by the viral invasion. Most often, if a cat is sick with viral peritonitis, we can observe a fever or, on the contrary, a pronounced decrease in body temperature, general exhaustion, refusal to feed, and lethargy.

The dry form of feline infectious peritonitis is characterized by the detection of granulomatous formations in the abdominal cavity during ultrasound examination, enlarged lymph nodes, and symptoms of damage to the central nervous system are often present. The dry form of feline infectious peritonitis can last up to several months. Mortality 100%.

Symptoms of the dry form of peritonitis:

• elevated temperature;
• loss of appetite;
• weight loss;
• dehydration due to frequent vomiting;
• diarrhea;
• low apet activity.

In the effusion form of viral peritonitis, sick cats experience exudative inflammation in the chest and abdominal cavities, and as a result, accumulation of fluid in the chest and/or abdominal cavities, which provokes the development of symptoms of respiratory failure.

Symptoms of the wet form of peritonitis:

fever;

loss of appetite;

diarrhea;

low activity of the pet.

increase in abdominal volume (with ascites)

cardiac and respiratory failure (with hydrothorax);
animalcannot lie down due to fluid accumulation in the abdominal or chest cavity.

The danger of the disease is that it does not cause severe discomfort to pets, especially at the beginning. Attacks of diarrhea or vomiting mixed with mucus or blood are often reduced to simple poisoning or indigestion, because throughout the next week, for example, the disease does not recur, and the pet does not give any signals that something is hurting. Blood and mucus in the stool is formed because the infection destroys the epithelial tissue in the intestines and inflames it.

Also, the danger of the disease lies in its long incubation period. After all, when infected, a cat can carry the disease within itself for almost its entire life, and the infection waits for the moment of weakness of the immune system and the body, striking at the most unexpected moment, even in old age. Therefore, the cat most often feels well, unless it is weakened and the intestinal form of the infection mutates into the feline peritonitis virus.

The disease affects completely different organs of the animal, therefore the overall picture of the disease is completely different and individual. This is also a feature of the fact that you cannot treat your pet on your own, because without diagnosis and research it is impossible to say what exactly hurts and what should be focused on. However, in any case, if a pet is sick with viral peritonitis, then she will have a fever, low temperature, apathy, lack of appetite, lethargy and just general weakness. Kittens suffer from problems with growth and coat condition. Due to diarrhea and vomiting, which sometimes occurs frequently, the cat may be dehydrated.

Dry form of peritonitis - coronavirus gastroenteritis in cats

There is a dry form of peritonitis, which only a doctor can detect using an ultrasound of the pet’s abdomen. Symptoms include increased lymph and damage to the nervous system. The dry form can last in a cat for about several months, and the mortality rate here, unfortunately, reaches almost one hundred percent.

Worth mentioning main signs of the dry form of infection:
• High body temperature.
• Severe dehydration due to vomiting and diarrhea, which also causes severe loss of body weight.
• The pet refuses to eat.
• Apathy, reluctance to play.

Wet form of peritonitis - coronavirus gastroenteritis in cats

There is also a wet form of the disease, in which the chest and abdomen of the animal become inflamed, fluid accumulates in these areas, and they, in turn, develop respiratory failure.

It also has certain symptoms that differ from the dry form:
• Fever and chills.
• Decreased appetite.
• Diarrhea and severe diarrhea.
• Reluctance to play and communicate, sometimes aggression.
• The abdominal cavity increases.
• Respiratory failure.
• Heart failure.
• Difficulty lying down, as fluid has accumulated in the abdomen and sternum, requiring removal.

Symptoms of the disease

In order to contact a veterinarian in a timely manner, you need to monitor the condition of your pet. Signs of gastroenteritis of viral origin are most often pronounced and difficult to miss:

• little or no appetite;
• vomiting and/or diarrhea occurs;
• feces have a liquid consistency, vomit often consists of yellowish foamy bile;
• the animal is in a state of apathy, the look is dull, the temperature is elevated;
• after trying to take food or water, “dry spasms” occur - the urge without vomiting.

If one or more signs are present, you should contact a veterinary clinic. Signs may also indicate the onset of other serious illnesses. After examination and tests, a specialist will be able to diagnose coronavirus gastroenteritis in a cat and prescribe treatment.

Symptoms and treatment of coronavirus infection depend largely on the type of stamp, since FIPV and FECV cause different diseases.

But coronavirus of any subtype focuses on the abdominal cavity. If treatment is not started in a timely manner, coronavirus gastroenteritis and peritonitis can even lead to death.

Infectious peritonitis is considered an incurable disease, which is especially dangerous for a pet.

These symptoms may last for several days. After such a manifestation of the disease, the cat either recovers or dies.

Even if the cat survives, it still remains a carrier of infection for a long time, which is dangerous for the surrounding animals. But it is not dangerous for people, since coronavirus is not transmitted to humans.

Depending on the age and strength of the immune system, cats tolerate the disease differently, but veterinarians still identify several types of symptoms.

• Severe diarrhea exhausts the cat for several days. Signs of illness such as diarrhea should always alert the animal owner. After all, a complication of this is also dehydration. A cat can survive after this, but will serve as a source of coronavirus for a long time, sometimes the process lasts up to ten months.
• Attentive owners can observe and frequent changes in body temperature pet.
• From external signs it appears gum hyperemia, keratitis. An increase in the volume of the cat's tummy is also visible.
• The virus can spread beyond the abdominal cavity, this brings the disease into its most dangerous phase. The pathological process leads to death. To prevent this from happening, you need to vaccinate your cat on time.
• A chronic course of the disease, which is caused by coronavirus infection, is also possible. Sluggish, severe illnesses also greatly exhaust the body. In addition, in this case, cats carry the virus for many years. The pet owner will treat the cat's diarrhea for a long time, the pet copes with the remaining symptoms on its own. This course of the disease is associated with insufficient immunity of the cat.

It is necessary to monitor not only the physical, but also the emotional state of the animal; a depressive, depressed state can be a sign of infection. The pet is losing weight and showing signs of anemia. Possible disturbances in coordination and functioning of the central nervous system.

The incubation period of the viral disease lasts about three weeks. Symptoms can appear all at once. But it is also possible that signs appear gradually, one or two. But you should always be attentive to your pet, this will allow you to quickly identify one or another ailment.

The intestinal form of the virus has clear signs of damage to the gastrointestinal tract. Typically, cats easily recover from this type of infection and almost never die from the viral disease. Common symptoms of gastroenteritis in cats:

• Your pet's stool becomes too soft or runny. The feces contain traces of blood or mucus, and particles of undigested food.
• Your pet suffers from frequent diarrhea.
• The cat is vomiting.

The symptoms of infectious peritonitis depend entirely on the form of the disease and the degree of damage to certain organs. Sick cats develop a fever or, conversely, body temperature becomes abnormally low. Pets refuse food, the cat’s body is severely exhausted and weakened. Useful article: what to do if your cat has vomiting and diarrhea.

The dry form of peritonitis is characterized by the presence of granulomatous formations in the peritoneum, damage to the central nervous system, and inflammation of the lymph nodes. The mortality rate from the dry form of peritonitis is almost 100%. Symptoms of this form are considered to be:

• decreased animal activity;
• weight loss;
• dehydration due to severe vomiting;
• diarrhea;
• refusal of food.

The effusion form is accompanied by the formation of exudate in the peritoneum or chest cavity, which leads to respiratory failure. Symptoms of the effusion form are similar to dry peritonitis, in addition, the cat has an increase in abdominal volume.

Gastroenteritis occurs quite rapidly. The animal experiences general depression and fever. The cat may completely refuse to eat or drink. There is vomiting and diarrhea, sometimes with blood. A sick cat has decreased muscle tone. There is rapid weight loss. All mucous membranes are hyperemic.

Intestinal strains or intestinal coronavirus of cats, in the English literature this strain is designated FelineEntericCoronavirus or FECV. This strain is highly contagious to all felines (highly contagious), but has a very low likelihood of causing feline viral peritonitis (lowly pathogenic).

After entering the body one way or another, the virus can begin to reproduce or be completely removed from the body. This depends entirely on the immunological status of the animal. If the outcome is favorable, all viral particles are recognized and removed by cells of the immune system; if the outcome is not favorable, the animal is a carrier of feline coronavirus gastroenteritis.

Symptoms:

inflammation of the digestive tract;

diarrhea;

blood and mucus in the stool;

vomiting A.

Strains that cause feline infectious peritonitis or feline infectious peritonitis virus, in the English literature - Feline Infectious Peritonitis Virus (FIPV). FIPV, unlike FECV, has a high degree of pathogenicity (an infected animal has almost 100% mortality), but at the same time extremely low contagiousness.

This means that an animal infected with the feline peritonitis virus will most likely die, but other members of the feline family are unlikely to become infected through contact with it. Enteric coronavirus and feline infectious peritonitis virus are two strains of the same virus, closely related to each other.

FIPV is a product of a mutation of a strain of intestinal coronavirus, but if the intestinal coronavirus is tropic to the intestinal epithelium (multiplies and feeds only in the cells of the intestinal epithelium), then after the mutation the feline peritonitis virus affects macrophages (cells of the immune system, the function of which is the absorption of foreign cells and particles) and spreads throughout the body, thus infectious peritonitis affects all organs and systems to one degree or another.

Depending on the intensity of cellular immunity in a sick animal, feline viral peritonitis has two clinical forms: dry and effusion. The dry form develops quite slowly, while the effusion form is more transient. The symptoms of infectious peritonitis are not very specific and in the initial stages can have very diverse manifestations, depending on the degree of damage to a particular organ system and tissue.

Coronavirus occurs without complaints or symptoms appear moderately:

• temperature;
• poor appetite and weight gain;
• soft or liquid stools, with or without mucus or blood.

These symptoms do not worsen the general condition and do not require treatment unless there are concomitant diseases or secondary infection.

The veterinarian will be able to make an accurate diagnosis by finding out when the disease began, what vaccinations are available, and how often bowel movements occur:

1. 1. The veterinarian must know what is included in the animal’s menu, how often feeding occurs and what its volume is.
2. 2. Then he examines the pet, takes samples and conducts laboratory tests.
3. 3. X-ray or ultrasound examination is carried out to exclude the presence of foreign objects in the intestines.
4. 4. Diarrhea in a pet is the first sign of illness; it may contain undigested food debris, mucus or blood. The stool may vary in consistency and color.
5. 5. The cat will have symptoms: lethargy, sunken eyes, dull eyes.
6. 6. The coat will change: the coat will become shaggy, lose its shine and become dull.
7. 7. The pet’s abdominal cavity will feel painful upon palpation. The animal will begin to make plaintive sounds, get nervous and not give in to your hands.
8. 8. Body temperature will rise and the abdomen will bloat, because of this, painful spasms will intensify from sour catarrh, the intestines will begin to rumble and feces will foam.
9. 9. Apathy, depression, lack of appetite, lethargy are observed with alkaline catarrh.
10. 10. The pet’s belly is swollen and painful, there is an unpleasant odor coming from the mouth, and there is a white coating on the tongue.
11. 11. At some stage, vomiting begins.

Coronavirus infection in cats often changes the heart rhythm, an ECG is necessary.

Diagnosis of coronavirus infection

Although the disease is widespread, specific treatment for it is under development. Immunomodulators and stimulants rarely produce significant results; attempts at antibacterial therapy lead to temporary improvement.

If coronavirus prolonged gastroenteritis is diagnosed through laboratory tests in one or more cats in the population, treatment is prescribed mainly to relieve symptoms.

Antiemetics, anti-diarrhea medications, and saline drips will help provide relief as the body fights the virus. After improvement, the animal is prescribed a light diet - specially selected food for sensitive intestines in small portions 5-7 times a day.

Owners of cats of any breed are interested in the question of whether such a complex disease and its manifestation in the form of coronavirus gastroenteritis can be treated?

When the first symptoms of the disease appear (diarrhea, vomiting), you need to contact a veterinarian. The specialist will order tests to check for infection.

To do this, you need to bring the feces of a sick cat. The tests will allow you to establish an accurate diagnosis and choose the right treatment regimen. The decision on how to treat your pet largely depends on the type of stamp.

Rhinovirus and coronovirus infections are difficult to determine; enzyme immunoassay and immunochromatographic analysis of blood and serum are often needed. It helps detect antibodies. If there is large damage to the abdominal organs, a biopsy of the affected areas may be performed.

Diagnosis of infection is carried out comprehensively; it is necessary not only to visually assess the pet’s condition, but also to prescribe laboratory and instrumental diagnostic methods. To identify the causative agent of infection, you need:

1. Analysis of blood and free fluid (effusion). The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can detect infectious peritonitis virus. An ELISA test allows you to detect antibodies to the causative agent of the disease.
2. X-ray and ultrasound examination. Helps detect inflammatory processes in the intestines, changes in the structure of internal organs, the presence of exudate in the peritoneum, and enlarged lymph nodes.
3. Pathological autopsy of a dead animal. Allows you to see the degree of damage to internal organs (gastroenterocolitis in cats, changes in the shape and structure of the liver, spleen).

Treatment of coronavirus gastroenteritis in a cat depends on what strain of the virus affects the furry pet’s body. The intestinal form does not bring any serious suffering to the animal; an infected pet can live well with this infection for the rest of its life. Infected cats require administration of anti-inflammatory and immune-correcting medications. Vitamin and mineral supplements are also used, and a special diet is prescribed.

Diagnosis of coronavirus infection is carried out comprehensively, based on laboratory tests, ultrasound, x-rays and a pathological autopsy (in case of death of the animal).

For laboratory testing, blood, feces, rectal swabs, and free fluid from the abdominal or thoracic cavity (if available) are taken from animals. By examining rectal swabs and feces using the PCR method, we determine the presence of the intestinal form of coronavirus. Blood and free fluid (effusion) from the serous cavities of the body are examined for the detection of feline peritonitis virus using the PCR method or antibodies to it using an ELISA test. It must be remembered that both the intestinal form of infection and the peritonitis virus can be detected in one animal at the same time.

Characteristic ultrasound signs of the disease are inflammation of the intestines, detection of free fluid, altered structure of the kidneys, liver and spleen, in the dry form, fibrinous deposits on the serous membranes of the chest and abdominal cavity, enlargement of all mesenteric lymph nodes.

Of course, in order to correctly diagnose a disease with such complex symptoms, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive and detailed examination of the body, studying abnormalities in each organ. Ultrasound and x-rays of individual parts and organs are performed. If the animal died, a pathological autopsy is performed.

A laboratory test is also carried out, which requires examining blood, feces, smears and rectal rinses. Flushes are also taken from the abdominal cavity and chest cavity. After examining the washings and feces using PCR, the presence of intestinal coronavirus is determined. Blood and effusion are also tested for the presence of pet peritonitis using PCR or ELISA testing.

When determining the disease using ultrasound, it is the intestines and its inflammation that are often noted, as well as the presence of fluids; some organs change their structure, most often the liver, kidneys, spleen, and deposits also occur in the sternum and abdomen. Lymphs increase.

Treatment of coronavirus gastroenteritis in cats, as well as its prevention

If the pet has a strong immune system and is also healthy and in good physical shape, veterinarians can identify the disease using the means described above. If an infection is identified during the incubation period, this does not mean that it does not need to be treated. After all, at any moment the body can give way, which means the infection will begin its work immediately, which often leads to death. In this case, experienced veterinarians prescribe an operation to naturally remove the virus, which is called elimination.

In total, the operation lasts about two to three weeks, in some cases longer and up to several months. The coronavirus itself is no longer dangerous for the pet after the procedures, however, it will still persist in the feces, which means there is a risk of infecting other cats, so you should be careful and if there are several pets living in the house, you need to clean the litter box more often and monitor its sterility. It is also worth observing general hygiene and disinfecting places with which the virus carrier interacts.

There are no drugs that can cure the disease completely, one hundred percent. Doctors can only guarantee the cat’s overall quality of life, as well as prevent the disease from developing to stages from which there is no way out. If a pet is affected by the intestinal coronavirus of gastroenteritis, then they are able to live until old age without any complications; moreover, an examination by a veterinarian over all these years is not even necessary, because the disease is asymptomatic.

If it is infectious peritonitis, then life after damage to the body may end after just a few months. It all depends on the experience of the veterinarian and the stage at which the disease was detected. However, more often than not, veterinarians only promise to alleviate the condition for a while and the overall life expectancy is reduced several times.

How the disease is transmitted

Coronavirus gastroenteritis in cats is a disease with a high degree of virulence (infectiousness). Animals are at particular risk when kept in large groups - in nurseries, shelters, and animal hotels. Under these conditions, the pathogen is most easily transmitted between individuals.

The coronavirus enters the body through the oral-fecal or nasal-fecal route - by eating feces or inhaling particles from the litter tray of an infected animal. The smallest particle of filler is enough to transmit the virus. The situation is complicated by the fact that feline coronavirus is stable in the external environment for quite a long period – up to 7 days.

Coronavirus infection in kittens

Transmission of the virus through the placenta during pregnancy does not occur. Moreover, as long as the antibodies in mother’s milk affect the kitten’s immunity, it is safe.

But later, when the influence of antibodies fades and the young animals develop their own immune system, the pathogen enters the body. At the age of 5-7 weeks, the kitten is in danger; to avoid illness, it is worth isolating it earlier. 15-25 days is a sufficient period for the development of reflexes, but at this time the kitten’s immunity is still developing and is under the influence of the mother’s antibodies.

Transmission by other means

The owner's risk of infecting the animal after contact with other cats is low. This is only possible if clothing or hands are directly contaminated with feces from coronavirus-infected individuals. The same applies to infection through contact with owners of other animals.

Domestic apartment cats that do not have contact with the outside world are almost not susceptible to the disease - infection occurs in only 5-7% of cases. In order to reduce this already small percentage, it is enough to prevent your pet from coming into contact with outdoor shoes and wash your hands if you have had contact with strangers or stray animals. If there are several individuals in the house, place the trays as far as possible from the feeding area.

To prevent diseases in places where cats are kept in large numbers, you must follow the rules listed below.

• Each incoming animal should first be quarantined; contacts should only be made after testing and the spread of the virus has been ruled out.
• If a nursing cat is a carrier of the disease, the kittens are weaned in the first weeks of life, before infection occurs.
• Food and water should be kept as far away from trays as possible.
• As a filler, it is worth using clumping mixtures (based on clays and minerals).
• The group of carriers of the infection and those who have not had contact with the coronavirus should be separated.

If contact with an infected cat is not dangerous for a person, then for other felines such contact is dangerous.

The virus is transmitted through the feces of a sick individual, and you can become infected not only on the tray.

This infection remains viable on brooms, toys, and various care items. The carrier will be a bowl from which both the sick and healthy kitten will eat.

A cat infected with the virus can give birth to healthy kittens because the infection does not cross the placenta. But, after the babies are one and a half months old, the level of antibodies in their body decreases. It is imperative to get vaccinated to create the necessary protection.

If the animal has good immunity, is completely healthy and is in excellent physical shape, natural removal of the virus from the body (elimination) is possible.

The process takes from 2-3 weeks to several months. But the coronavirus can remain in the body without external manifestations, and the pathogen will be regularly excreted in the feces. This does not harm the pet, but serves as an opportunity for infection of other animals.

• The treatment regimen includes the use of immunostimulants, as well as symptomatic therapy drugs. The pet will also need antibiotics. There are no specific cures for this disease; treatment is carried out comprehensively. The most important thing is to make every effort to prevent the further spread of coronavirus infection. It is necessary to give the cat sorbents, they effectively remove toxins and other harmful elements from his body.
• If your pet is suffering from severe pain, you need to help him with good antispasmodics and analgesics.
• Another important factor is adherence to dietary nutrition, which is selected individually, taking into account the cat’s age, breed, and condition.
• Treatment is difficult in severe stages of the disease. The animal develops ascites, and the resulting fluid must be removed. This procedure is performed in a veterinary clinic. But this stage most often ends in death, and it is no longer possible to cure the disease.

There are a number of folk recipes that also help overcome viral illnesses and their symptoms. They should not be basic, but only additional in the scheme. Such folk remedies include infusions of stinging nettle, hawthorn fruit, and rose hips. If a cat suffers from diarrhea, it can be given a decoction of St. John's wort and yarrow.

The animal must be provided with rest and prescribed a diet. The diet should contain mucous decoctions of rice or oatmeal, with the addition of benzophthalate. Eating raw eggs has a beneficial effect on the intestines. It is recommended to drink plenty of fluids with the addition of baking soda. The cat should be given emetics and laxatives to clear the gastrointestinal tract as quickly as possible. If an animal has secondary gastroenteritis, it is necessary to accurately determine the etiology of the disease.

Among the medications, the veterinarian can prescribe: antibiotics (phthalazole, biovetin, biseptol, enteroseptol) and sulfonamides. Adsorbents and a 10% calcium hydrochloride solution should be administered intravenously. The veterinarian must prescribe a course of vitamins to maintain health.

Painful symptoms should be relieved with heating pads or analgin injection.

If coronavirus gastroenteritis is diagnosed in cats, treatment can maintain quality of life, but will not bring a complete cure. The life expectancy of an animal depends on what kind of infection has struck the body; those with the intestinal form of coronavirus gastroenteritis can live well all their lives, even without assistance from a veterinary specialist.

But if an animal is infected with the infectious peritonitis virus, then life expectancy (from the moment the infection manifests) usually does not exceed several months. Veterinary care for sick animals is aimed at alleviating the general condition and is symptomatic. The course of treatment is prescribed strictly individually and depends on which organ systems are most affected.

How to protect an animal from illness?

This disease cannot be treated, and there is no 100% vaccine to protect an animal from the disease. There are effective drugs - Pfizer and Primucell.

With this disease, your pet can be given infusions of: hawthorn, tallwort, rose hips, stinging nettle, Rhodiola rosea. If you have diarrhea, brew yarrow and St. John's wort herbs.

Coronavirus infection is a cat disease, it is not transmitted to dogs, and this disease is not dangerous for people.

During this period, it is necessary to support the pet’s body with the help of vitamin and mineral complexes, to show care and attention. All this will help the animal recover. If signs of this disease are noticed, you should immediately contact a veterinarian. Timely vaccination and proper feeding reduce the risk of illness in the animal.

Diagnosis and therapy of feline coronavirus gastroenteritis

You can use immunocorrectors and anti-inflammatory medications in treatment:

1. 1. Glycopene. The active substance, available in tablet form, is obtained from bacterial cells. Used to inhibit pathogenic bacteria and viruses.
2. 2. Canine Globcan-5 - alleviates the course of the disease, contains antibodies against the causative agent of coronovirus infection.
3. 3. Likopid - tablets with a bactericidal effect.
4. 4. Roncoleukin - a drug produced from baker's yeast. Designed for hypodermal and intravenous infections. The medicine is immunostimulating, protects against viruses, pathogenic bacteria and fungi, relieves stress.
5. 5. Polyferrin-A is an iron-containing glycoprotein that is isolated from colostrum. Increases immunity, has anti-inflammatory properties, prevents the development of pathogenic viruses and bacteria, fungi. Available in the form of injections.

At an early stage, cats are prescribed antibiotics and immunomodulatory agents. If the disease progresses to a severe stage and ascites appears, the resulting fluid is removed, then the disease will turn into a dry form. But in most cases, coronavirus remains incurable.

The veterinarian will determine the duration of treatment based on the stage of the disease. During this period, the cat can be given only dietary food, leaving out scraps and offal.

Prevention and treatment of coronavirus gastroenteritis

Despite the complexity of the disease, there are effective measures that can protect against it in most cases.

First of all, this is a vaccine against coronavirus. But it is also necessary to provide the animal with complete and fortified nutrition and proper care so that its immunity is able to fight the most complex diseases.

If coronavirus appears in the house, the infected cat must be isolated from healthy pets. This should be done as quickly as possible. It is dangerous to allow your pet to come into contact with yard cats; many of them can be carriers of a dangerous infection.

To prevent gastroenteritis in a cat, you must follow certain rules for keeping pets:

• Before mating, both animals must be tested for coronavirus;
• prevent contact of your pet with large groups of cats (kennels, exhibitions, street walking);
• provide the pet with good care (proper and balanced feeding, thoroughly cleaning the animal’s habitat);
• try to avoid overheating or hypothermia of the cat.

The feline coronavirus vaccine (Pfizer or Primucell intranasal drug) can protect your pet from infection, but as a rule, there is no complete guarantee that the cat will not get coronavirus infection. Thanks to the vaccine, you can only weaken the intensity of the disease, make the course of the infectious process weaker, everything else will depend on the animal’s immunity.

It is not for nothing that coronavirus gastroenteritis is considered a deadly disease for cats, because it is difficult to guess which strain of the pathogen will be present in the body of a four-legged friend. Therefore, if there are any deviations in the pet’s health, it is necessary to urgently seek veterinary help and be tested for coronavirus in cats.

Coronavirus gastroenteritis of cats, coronavirus infection, viral peritonitis, FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis)- all these are names of the same viral disease caused by feline coronavirus.

Coronavirus infection is widespread in domestic cat populations around the world. This disease also causes a lot of trouble for owners of large pedigree catteries. The disease has a wide range of clinical manifestations - from diarrhea to classic effusion peritonitis. However, the disease can be completely asymptomatic for a long time.

Feline coronaviruses are usually divided into two groups according to the degree of pathogenicity of the strains.

Primary, after the virus enters the cat’s body (orally or nasally), its development (replication) occurs in the nasopharynx and in the intestinal epithelium. Under unfavorable circumstances, the infection can become systemic and develop into feline viral peritonitis. It is caused by one of the strains of coronaviruses and manifests itself as chronic or acute gastroenteritis.

Feline enteric coronavirus (FECV) is a low-pathogenic (potential to cause an infectious process is low) RNA virus, with a characteristic high contagiousness (possibility of infection through contact is high). Animals become infected through contact with each other or with the feces of sick animals. Moreover, the further scenario for the development of the disease largely depends on the state of the animal’s immune system, in particular on the intensity of cellular immunity. If the cat is healthy and the cellular immune response to the invasion of the virus is sufficiently active, then the virus can be completely eliminated (removed) from the body, and the animal does not get sick at all. Or its population can be maintained at an extremely low level, with the sick cat becoming an asymptomatic carrier of the virus. If the animal is weakened or under stress, then clinical manifestations can be in the form of diarrhea of ​​varying intensity, sometimes lethargy and vomiting. If circumstances are favorable, the symptoms may go away on their own after some time. Intestinal coronavirus in cats with reduced immunity is often accompanied by chronic diarrhea with blood and mucus.

Clinically, feline infectious peritonitis is divided into two forms: dry and effusion (wet). The form of viral peritonitis in a particular cat depends on the strength of the immune response, in particular cellular immunity. The dry form develops in animals with a satisfactory cellular response; the disease progresses slowly. In this case, granulomatous formations appear in the abdominal cavity, lymph nodes enlarge, anterior uveitis with keratic precipitates often occurs, and damage to the central nervous system is possible.

The wet or effusion form of viral peritonitis develops in animals with pronounced defects in cellular immunity; development occurs rapidly with a pronounced accumulation of effusion both in the abdominal cavity and in the pleural cavity.

Clinical signs of the disease

If we are talking about the non-pathogenic intestinal form of coronovirus infection, then it often occurs without any pronounced symptoms at all, rarely causing a quickly passing digestive disorder, which can manifest itself as diarrhea. The main symptom of the disease is inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. After infection, a lifelong carrier of the virus is possible.

Infectious peritonitis can have different clinical signs, depending on the form of the course. General signs of coronavirus peritonitis may include intermittent fever (there is no positive response when antibiotics are prescribed), even against the background of severe leukocytosis, the temperature can sometimes be lowered, loss of appetite, anorexia, weight loss, if it is a kitten, then it lags very far behind its peers in growth, there may be severe dehydration if the predominant clinical signs are vomiting and/or diarrhea. Often there is a general decrease in the activity of the animal.

Actually, the effusion “wet” form is characterized by the accumulation of fluid in the chest (hydrothorax) and abdominal (ascites or dropsy) cavities, peritonitis (inflammation of the serous membrane of the abdominal cavity), pleurisy (inflammation of the serous membrane of the chest cavity). In the presence of a large volume of effusion fluid, a sick animal often has severe respiratory failure, less often heart failure, shortness of breath, cyanotic (bluish) mucous membranes of the mouth, tongue, vagina, forced body position (sitting with elbows apart, neck outstretched and head down), inability to long periods of lying down. The wet form occurs very quickly, the animal dies within a few days or weeks.

The most characteristic signs of the “dry” form of infectious peritonitis are the formation of granulomas (foci of productive inflammation) in the peritoneal cavity, severe enlargement of the mesenteric lymph nodes, damage to the nervous system, anterior uveitis with keratic precipitates. The dry form of infectious peritonitis in cats can last much longer than the wet form, sometimes up to several months.

Regardless of the form of the course, very diverse clinical symptoms can be added to the clinical picture, depending on the involvement of a particular organ in the process and the degree of its damage.

Diagnosis of the disease

In the laboratory diagnosis of coronavirus infection, a comprehensive examination of blood, feces and effusion from the abdominal or chest cavity is used, the final diagnosis is made pathologically (posthumously).

Blood is examined biochemically, clinically and serologically. Biochemical and general clinical blood tests show the general condition of the animal’s body; there are no changes in specific indicators in the blood for coronovirus. The most common changes are a slight increase in leukocytes and neutrophils, a slight decrease in lymphocytes. Anemia can occur in the chronic course of the disease, an increase in the level of immunoglobulins and total protein, an increase in liver enzymes at the terminal stage of the disease.

Detection of antibodies to coronavirus infection is also not very informative, because Using serodiagnosis, it is not possible to differentiate pathogenic strains of viral peritonitis from non-pathogenic intestinal coronoviruses.

The main method for diagnosing the disease is the detection of antigen in the feces of a sick animal using polymerase chain reaction. Express diagnostics for the presence of virus in callus masses using the ICA method is also possible. The detection of intestinal coronavirus is not a sign of the presence of infectious peritonitis virus, while the detection of infectious peritonitis often accompanies the presence of intestinal strains of the virus.

When examining effusions from the abdominal and chest cavity with FIP, the fluid (exudate) is straw-yellow in color, rich in protein, may contain blood, and there are signs of pyogranulomatous inflammation.

Ultrasound diagnostics in animals with suspected FIP reveal swollen intestines, free fluid in the abdominal cavity, enlarged lymph nodes, changes in the kidneys, liver and spleen. X-rays may reveal fluid in the chest and abdomen.

Treatment of coronavirus gastroenteritis in cats

If coronavirus gastroenteritis is detected in cats, treatment will not lead to complete recovery from the disease. Viral gastroenteritis in cats (in any form) is an incurable disease, regardless of the strain and pathogenicity. Only the life expectancy of animals varies; if a cat with the intestinal form of coronovirus can live its entire life without showing serious clinical signs, then viral peritonitis leads to the death of the animal in a fairly short time (weeks - months).

Treatment must be carried out under the supervision of a veterinarian; in any case, it comes down to symptomatic therapy aimed at improving the animal’s quality of life. The course of treatment is selected strictly individually, it all depends on the form of infection and the individual characteristics of the cat’s body’s reaction to it.

Prevention

Factors that increase the risk of FIP include:

• Crowded keeping of animals (kennels with a large number of animals, shelters)
• Young age (up to 4 months) or old age after 7 years
• Violation of sanitary and hygienic standards for keeping animals, unsanitary conditions
• Increased level of stress in animals (psychological overload, food stress, hypothermia, overheating, transportation, etc.)
• Exchange between nurseries of animals not tested for coronavirus
• Matings with dubious producers
• Contacts at exhibitions
• Genetic predisposition (presence of defects in cellular immunity in an animal)

Based on all of the above, the following measures are taken to prevent cats from contracting coronavirus infection:

Strict adherence to animal hygiene rules, regular change of trays

• Try to avoid mass housing of animals in a limited area
• All newly arrived animals must be tested for latent carriage of coronavirus
• Matings should only be carried out with trusted producers.
• Avoid any contact with unsafe nurseries
• Isolation of kittens with their mother from adult cats up to 3 months

If several animals are kept together, then periodically they need to be examined and seen by a veterinarian. You should also carry out routine disinfection and monitor the cleanliness of the premises where cats are kept.