Feral Cat

Felidae

Behaviour Unneutered male cats are particularly likely to become feral as they wander looking for females. Their fighting with owned cats and the offensive smell of their urine spraying to mark their territory makes them unpopular with people. Feral cats are cats which have no owner. They live wild in colonies and tend to react aggressively to people. Lifecycle Cats are capable of breeding when they are about six months old and will continue to breed all year round. A cat and a litter of kittens can easily grow to a colony of fifteen to twenty within a year and forty the next.

Neutered Cats

Feral cats are trapped and then neutered, thus preventing colonies from growing any larger. Once neutered, they will stop fighting with other cats and they will cease spraying to mark their territory. Neutered cat's are at a much lower risk of contracting and spreading disease.

Disease

The greatest risk to humans from a cat is from bites or scratches that can cause an extremely rapid and dangerous infection from a common bacterial organism called pasteurella multocida. The bacteria can enter the bloodstream (Bacteremia) which may result in sepsis (blood poisoning) and septic shock, which has a relatively high mortality rate. The blood can spread the bacteria to other parts of the body (hematogenous spread), causing infections away from the original site of infection such as in the bone marrow or the heart.

Gastrointestinal parasitism is a common problem in cats, with prevalence rates as high as 45 percent. The parasites can be wormlike (e.g., stomach worms, roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms) or one-celled (e.g., Isospora, Giardia, Toxoplasma, Coccidia) organisms.

Isosporiasis is an intestinal disease caused by the parasite Isospora belli that infects both humans and animals. Infection causes acute, non bloody diarrhea with crampy abdominal pain, which can last for weeks and result in malabsorption and weight loss. In immunodepressed patients, and in infants and children, the diarrhea can be severe. An infected cat may pass the oocyst of Isospora belli in faeces.

Giardia lamblia is a parasite that infects the small intestine of humans, cats, dogs and birds. Giardia infection can occur through ingestion of dormant cysts in contaminated water, or by poor hygiene practices. Symptoms include diarrhea, excessive gas, abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite.

Toxoplasmosis - (Toxoplasma dondi) is an infection that invades human tissue and can severely damage the central nervous system, especially in babies. Pregnant women are in extreme danger if infected. Toxoplasmosis occurs in humans usually as low-grade fever or muscle pain for a few days. A normal immune system will suppress the infection but the tissue cysts can persist in the host for many years. In immunocompromised individuals, those dormant cysts can be reactivated and cause many lesions in the brain, heart, lungs, eyes, etc. Without a competent immune system, the animal or human will most likely die from the infection. An infected cat may pass the oocyst of Toxoplasma in faeces.

Coccidiosis is a parasitic disease of the intestinal tract of animals and humans, caused by coccidian protozoa. The disease spreads by contact with infected feces, or ingestion of infected tissue. Diarrhea, which may become bloody in severe cases, is the primary symptom. Coccidian organisms are usually species-specific. One well-known exception is toxoplasmosis.

Chlamydiosis - Felines who have this upper respiratory infection can pass it along to humans in the form of Conjunctivitis, an abnormal eye discharge due to inflammation of the membrane lining the inside of the eyelid. The infection can also cause nasal discharge, sneezing, and pneumonia. Left untreated, the infection tends to become chronic, lasting weeks or months. The bacteria that causes chlamydiosis can spread from contact with contaminated objects, or an infected cat's mouth, nose, or eye discharge or from other people or cats coughing or sneezing.

Borreliosis - Lyme Disease - Caused by the bacteria Borrelia recurrentis and several other borrelia strains spread from wild rodents by deer ticks or lice. Lyme disease can attack the skin, heart and nervous system and cause swelling to the brain and spinal cord resulting in paralysis and blindness. The early symptoms can be similar to severe flu and often it's wrongly diagnosed. Incubation is from 1-15 days. Symptoms include the sudden onset of fever lasting for 3-5 days, ends with a crisis. Then a febrile period of 2-4 days is followed by one to ten or more recurrences of fever accompanied by severe headaches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, jaundice and sometimes a macular rash with bleeding due to thrombocytopenia. Many lesions occur, including enlarged, soft, infarcted spleen, hepatomegaly, hemorrhages in bone marrow and skin, myocarditis, bronchopneumonia, and meningitis. Cranial nerve involvement is possible. Also flu like symptoms, which resolve in about three weeks. 8-10% of people develop cardiac problems several weeks later.

Manifestations include atrioventricular block, cardiomyopathy, heart failure, myocarditis, and pancarditis. 15% develop neurologic disorders such as facial nerve palsies which usually resolve. Other manifestations include meningitis, cranial neuritis, radiculoneuritis, neuropathy, and encephalopathy. 60% develop arthritis which may remain latent with symptoms developing 4 years later. Most cases of Lyme disease can be treated successfully with a few weeks of antibiotics.

Salmonella and Campylobacter are intestinal parasites that are found in cat faeces. Transmission is thought to occur by the fecal-oral route, through contamination of food or water, or by skin contact with infected fecal material. Symptoms in humans are diarrhoea (always, with or without blood); fever, aches, chills, and vomiting.

Tularemia is caused by the bacteria Francisella tularensis. Transmission of the disease can be from handling infected animals (direct contact with UNBROKEN skin is sufficient). Infections may also be due to a cat bite or scratch or by biting insects, inhalation or ingestion of infected meat or water. 5-10% of infections result in death.

Other common ailments include Ear mites, mange mites, fleas and ringworm (a fungus, not a worm).