Cats have diarrhea but can’t find the cause

Cats have diarrhea but can’t find the cause? You may be ignoring the virus infection！

ByGZMEDTECH

With the development of society, pets are regarded as members of the family, and their health is increasingly valued by parents. We have made detailed introductions on the digestive tract pathogens of cats in previous articles (see the article link at the end of the article for details). Gangzhu Medical has also launched a cat digestive tract eight-item PCR detection kit to help pet doctors and parents screen pathogens and conduct targeted treatments. In addition to our conventional eight digestive tract pathogens, current domestic and foreign literature believes that several viruses such as feline Kubu virus, feline astrovirus, feline bocavirus, and feline Chapahama virus can also cause digestive tract symptoms in cats. In this article, we will combine the use data of the eight-item digestive tract pathogen test in the country to explore in more depth the several viruses that cause cat digestive tract diseases.

Overview of digestive tract viruses

Feline Panleukopenia Syndrome Virus (FPV/Feline Panleukopenia/Feline Parvovirus)

For more information, please refer to the article “Overview of pet digestive tract pathogens – Parvovirus”

Feline coronavirus (FCoV)

For details, please see the article “Overview of pet digestive tract pathogens – Coronavirus”

Feline Kobuvirus (FKoV)

Feline Kobuvirus (FKoV) is a virus belonging to the genus Kobuvirus, which belongs to the family Picornaviridae. Feline Kobuvirus was first discovered in fecal samples from cattle and has since been found in cats and other animals. The virus is usually associated with intestinal infections and can cause digestive symptoms such as diarrhea.

Feline Astrovirus (FeAstV)

Feline astrovirus (FeAstV) belongs to the genus Mamastrovirus and was first discovered in diarrhea samples from domestic cats in the United States in 1981. Domestic cats naturally infected with astrovirus will experience symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea. If timely intervention is given after the onset of symptoms, the animals can fully recover within 7 to 10 days.

In addition, the current study found that if a cat is diagnosed with both FAstV and FPV, it usually presents with more severe gastroenteritis, and possible interactions and synergistic mechanisms that enhance viral pathogenicity cannot be ruled out.

Feline bocavirus (FBoV)

Feline bocavirus (FBoV) belongs to the Parvoviridae family. In 2012, Lau et al. first confirmed the prevalence of FBoVs in cats. In 2015, bocavirus was confirmed to be prevalent in China. Bocavirus is usually detected in digestive tract samples of cats with diarrhea symptoms, so it is suspected to be related to severe enteritis and hemorrhagic enteritis; at the same time, some studies have also shown that FBoV causes disease in kittens.

Feline Chapahama virus (FeChPV)

Feline Chapahama virus (FeChPV) is a new parvovirus that was first discovered in an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in a cat shelter in Canada in 2019. Studies have shown that FeChPV may be associated with acute intestinal disease. Subsequent statistical results from clinical sample testing at Gangzhu Medical also support this view.

Clinical Data Summary and Analysis

F From August 1, 2024 to September 30, 2024, hundreds of hospitals across the country assisted Gangzhu Medical in collecting clinical data. During the data collection process, doctors conducted eight gastrointestinal tests on cats visiting the hospital (eight-item digestive tract pathogen test kit: feline panleukopenia, feline coronavirus, Tritrichomonas fetus, human Trichomonas, Toxoplasma, Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Helicobacter pylori). If the eight-item digestive tract test was negative, six-item digestive tract virus test was further used (six-item digestive tract virus test kit: feline panleukopenia virus, feline coronavirus, feline Kupchak virus, feline astrovirus, feline bocavirus, feline chapahama virus).

Note: Cats visiting the hospital include health examinations and clinical visits, and healthy cats are not excluded

Gangzhu Medical collected clinical data on the digestive tract of 3,559 cats from August 1, 2024 to September 30, 2024;

digestive tract of 3,559 cats
Figure 1: 3559 cats, of which 1663 asymptomatic individuals, 662 were positive in the eight tests and 971 were negative; of 1926 symptomatic individuals, 1399 were positive in the eight tests and 527 were negative.

Eight positive samples were repeated using the feline gastrointestinal virus six panel;

Six-item
 FKoVFeAstVFBoVFeChPV
Asymptomatic 8-item negative sample retest12445936
Symptomatic 8-item negative sample retest168920156

The feline panleukopenia and coronavirus items in the six-item kit for cat digestive tract viruses overlap with the items in the eight-item kit for digestive tract viruses, and the number of test results presented is 0, so feline panleukopenia and coronavirus are not reflected in the table. After retesting the asymptomatic eight-item negative samples, 151 virus-positive samples were detected, and after retesting the symptomatic eight-item negative samples, 461 virus-positive samples were detected.

During the data statistics process, we found that asymptomatic individuals may also show positive results in some items because they carry the virus but do not develop the disease. For such problems, please refer to our previous article “Why are nucleic acid results inconsistent with clinical symptoms? How to deal with it?”

The above clinical data have some limitations. For example, we did not retest the samples with eight positive items. However, according to the latest background data (no systematic statistics), if the sample is eight positive, the positive rate of repeated testing using six gastrointestinal viruses (excluding feline panleukopenia and coronavirus) will be higher than the positive rate of retesting after eight negative items.

In summary, for cats with acute and chronic diarrhea in clinical practice, in addition to causes such as food, bacterial infection, allergies and parasites, viruses also need to be paid attention to and should be included in the diagnosis of acute and chronic diarrhea.

Testing and treatment recommendations

This article mainly focuses on the four viruses of Feline Kubu virus, Astrovirus, Boca virus, and Chapahama virus. Unlike the eight-item test for digestive tract pathogens previously launched by Gangzhu Medical, the public is relatively unfamiliar with these four viruses. However, more and more research and clinical data show that the above four viruses are closely related to the digestive tract health of cats. PCR testing is still the first choice for multiple pathogen screening.

Treatment recommendations

Rehydration therapy: For dehydration caused by diarrhea, fluids and electrolytes can be given intravenously.

Antibiotic treatment: If bacterial infection is suspected, broad-spectrum antibiotics should be used to control secondary infection.

Nutritional support: Provide easily digestible and palatable food to help cats recover their strength. Appropriate vitamin supplements can be given to support the cat’s immune system.

Precautions

Environmental hygiene: Keep the cattery or living environment clean and hygienic to reduce the spread of the virus.

Isolate sick cats: Isolate cats that show symptoms to reduce the spread of the virus among the cat population.

Health monitoring: Regularly monitor the health of cat populations to detect and handle epidemics in a timely manner.

Reduce stress: Reduce your cat’s stress, as stress may increase your cat’s susceptibility to the virus.

Nutritional support: Provide balanced nutrition to enhance the cat’s immunity.

Conclusion: Although the treatment of the four viruses in this article is mainly through symptomatic treatment, fluid replacement, antibiotics to prevent secondary infection, nutritional support and immune enhancement. However, since these viruses may be mixed with other pathogens, comprehensive consideration and corresponding testing and treatment are required during treatment.