Feline Leprosy
This article was written for "Fiver", a member of cat chat, whose cat recently suffered from this disease. It should be accepted this disease is rare in the UK
Feline Leprosy is caused by M. lerpaemurium. This is the same organism that causes leprosy in humans. Prevelance tends to mirror that of humans. It is more likely to be found in densely populated or economically depresssed areas, particularly on the atlantic coast and South East regions of North America.
Animal infections are generally rare. It is typically seen in young to middle-aged cats that are allowed to roam and live in a moist cool coastal climates. It is classically triggered by a rat-bite. Other causes are: exposure to other carrier animals open wounds; FIV positive status; drinking unpasteurized milk or raw offal.
When infected cats develop intestonal lesions, weight loss, aneamia, vomiting and diarhea, breathlessness and coughing. When the disease develops it may lead to fever, sudden death, lameness and non-healing ulcers.
Treatment usually will take these forms:
- Due to health risk involved in treating pets, treatment is sometimes not advised and humane euthanasia is considered.
- In some animals lesions are small and so may not require further treatment.
- If the Vetinamry Surgeon recommends treatment a variety of medications maybe used.
The overall prognosis of the disease in the animal is determined by the spread of the lesions. while many cases have responded well and have achieved apparent long-term remission, the prognosis should always be guarded. the overall prognosis is good and spontaneous resolution may occur.