Cattery management issues

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Cattery Management Issues

"Failure To Thrive" in Kittens

Cats have two blood types: Type A and type B. Most cats are type A, but 10-20% of Persians have type B blood. This can cause a disease in newborn kittens called neonatal erythrolysis (destruction of the red blood cells by the action of maternal antibodies) which gain access to the kitten's bloodstream through the mother's colostrum (milk) during nursing. This occurs when a type B queen has kittens that are born with type A blood. It can occur in the queen's very first litter, as well as subsequent litters and affect one or all of her kittens in a litter. There are a few kittens with type A blood that are born to a queen with type B blood that are not affected.
Kittens appear healthy at birth and nurse normally but symptoms can occur within hours to days of their first nursing. Antibodies from the mother are transferred into the kitten and blood lysis occurs. The kitten stops nursing, fails to thrive, and suddenly dies. Once symptoms occur, it's usually too late to save the kitten's life.

Queens who have a history of kittens with this pattern of "failure to thrive" should be blood-typed. If the queen has type B blood, this could be the reason that her kittens die. A queen with known type B blood can have her kittens removed and nursed by another queen or bottle or tube fed for the first 24 hours, after which time mother's anti-A antibodies have declined and the risk to her kittens is minimal. These kittens will not get ANY colostrum which will result in a weakened immune system and some of them may eventually die from succumbing to other diseases such as upper respiratory infections or panleukopenia. It may make more sense to spay that queen and avoid neonatal erythrolysis in your cattery as it is very difficult to hand-raise kittens, especially those with poor immune systems.

If the type B queen is of top show quality, then matting her with a type B stud would be the ideal solution. This, however, will ultimately result in more B type queens in your cattery which will grow up into type B queens that when mated with a type A stud could produce kittens with neonatal erythrolysis!

Reference: Blood Type Incompatibility & Kitten Mortality; Urs Giger, Dr. Med. Vet Habil, DipACV1M, Assoc. Prof. Of Medicine and Medical Genetics - School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Controlling Fleas in Your Cattery

Few things are more upsetting to our clients then to take their new kitten or cat home and discover that it has fleas. Now they've introduced fleas into their home and have to go through many steps to get rid of them. Cat fleas are responsible for many physical and emotional discomforts to both cats and their owners. They transmit parasites such as tapeworm, cause flea-allergy dermatitis in some animals, and can even kill our kittens by causing flea anemia. A cat owner whose house has become infested with fleas can feel frustrated and helpless. If they have children they are often even more concerned with the dangers of using pesticides in their home. Flea control requires a monthly routine, especially in warmer climates like here in Southern California.
To combat fleas, it's important to review the five life cycles of a flea:

Egg or ovum stage
Larval stage
Pupal or resting stage
Parasitic adult stage

Different flea products control fleas by interrupting the flea life cycle in one of these stages. This means that a product that can kill adult fleas probably does not kill the eggs. A product that kills the eggs may not be able to kill the adult fleas. This knowledge can be used to our advantage in controlling fleas in our catteries.

These are the steps that I recommend to rid your house and cattery of fleas.

1. Bath all your cats with Dawn dish detergent, then rinse and dry them very thoroughly. The cat must be completely dry before applying Advantage.

2. Treat all your non-pregnant cats with Advantage.

3. Do not bathe any cat after you have applied the Advantage. Do allow your studs access to any of your females for a couple of days after applying Advantage, because if he mounts them, he will get it in his mouth. Advantage is not meant to be ingested!

4. Medicate all your non-pregnant cats and kittens that are at least six weeks old with oral Program (dose as directed) including the Advantage treated cats.

5. Remove any cats from carpeted areas of your home and sprinkle the carpet with Seven Dust, boric acid powder, or "Flea Buster's" (orthoboric acid powder). Wear a mask during this procedure. Pay special attention to filling up cracks where the carpet meets the wall. Use a broom or rake to work the powder down into the carpet fibers. Then vacuum the excess up and throw away the bag. Don't forget to apply it to any upholstered furniture.

6. Remove any bedding from the cattery and wash and dry it. Then spray it with Kenic Flea-Rid Spray for Puppies and Kittens and let it sit in the sun to dry before returning it to your cattery.

7. Wash your cattery floor and counter tops with your usual disinfectant (I use diluted bleach), let the surfaces dry, and then also spray them with Kenic Flea-Rid Spray for Puppies and Kittens and make sure it is thoroughly dry before allowing the cats access to these surfaces.

8. Sprinkle Seven dust around the shrubs outside your home, paying special attention to the areas surrounding any cattery outside cat run that you may have.

9. Make sure all your dogs are treated with Advantage and Program. It's only once a month and it's worth it to use both.

10. Continue to check on any pregnant cats and kittens that you were unable to treat with Advantage and Program, and re-bathe them with Dawn as needed. After the Advantage kills the fleas on your main colony of cats (it works within 24 hours) and you have treated the environment, you will notice just how effective your efforts really were.

11. Worm every non-pregnant and older kitten in your cattery that you can with Drontel or Droncit to kill the tapeworms that usually go along with flea infestations. See your veterinarian to obtain these worming products. NEVER use any over-the-counter worm preparation.

In months to come you will probably not even see a flea! This method of using both Program (which makes the fleas sterile so they cannot lay eggs), and Advantage (which kills adult fleas) on a monthly basis (RELIGIOUSLY) should make flea control a non-issue for you and your customers. Never use any flea dip on a Persian cat or kitten. They do not tolerate dips!

Prevention is really, really worth it!

The Cats