Feline Fever: Understanding Causes and Symptoms

The clinical symptoms of a cat with a fever often include lethargy, loss of appetite, and atypical behavioral changes, such as hiding or increased excitement. Additionally, other symptoms may arise from underlying diseases that can cause fever, such as infections, inflammation, tumors, and immunemediated diseases. Common medications that can cause a cat to develop a fever include cephalosporins, griseofulvin, methimazole, penicillin, propylthiouracil, sulfonamides, tetracyclines, and arsphenamine. Among these, fever caused by tetracyclines is most frequently reported.

The most common cause of unexplained fever in cats is systemic viral infections, such as feline infectious peritonitis and leukemia. During clinical examinations, a thorough funduscopic examination is crucial, as these viral infections often lead to retinitis. If the funduscopic examination is normal, further tests such as blood bacterial cultures, antinuclear antibody tests, and toxoplasmosis tests should be conducted.

Feline leukemia often presents with recurrent or chronic infections, leading to symptoms like abortion, anemia, vomiting, diarrhea, difficulty breathing, decreased appetite, and weight loss. Diagnosis can be confirmed through feline leukemia virus testing, bone marrow examination, and organ tissue biopsies.

Feline infectious peritonitis is characterized by large amounts of fluid in the peritoneal and pleural cavities, nonregenerative anemia, and hyperglobulinemia. Nonspecific neurological symptoms may occur, as well as mild liver and kidney failure.

Toxoplasmosis symptoms include difficulty breathing, jaundice, enlarged abdominal lymph nodes, neurological symptoms, uveitis, retinitis, abortion, biliverdinemia, diffuse pneumonia, leukopenia, and anemia.

Polyarthritis is often marked by progressive lameness, swelling and pain in the wrist and ankle joints, soft tissue swelling, and degenerative joint disease, with erosion of the wrist and ankle joints.

Treatment:

Addressing Underlying Diseases: Identifying and treating the underlying disease is crucial in managing fever. Cats with fever often exhibit loss of appetite and dehydration, necessitating fluid support therapy.

Antibiotic Therapy: Since bacterial infections are the most common cause of fever, cats with unexplained fever may be treated with broadspectrum antibiotics for a short period. If longterm anorexia is present or is anticipated, nutritional support should be provided.

Antipyretics: These are only used when the fever exceeds 41°C. Commonly used medications include aspirin (10mg/kg every 48 hours by mouth), ketoprofen (1mg/kg every 24 hours for 5 days), and meloxicam (0.2mg/kg every 24 hours by mouth, followed by 0.1mg/kg every 24 hours for 4 days).