Topic: Illnesses we can catch from cats?? (Read 3702 times)

Dawn F · « **Reply #20 on:** August 06, 2008, 11:07:01 AM »

is that what they are for!!!!!!!!!!!!! there is a car dealer near me that has one, I thought it was for decoration lol! obviously it is to protect the paint work!

swampmaxmum · « **Reply #19 on:** August 06, 2008, 11:05:26 AM »

maybe she could get a realistic looking plastic owl and put it on her patio garden wall to try to scare away the pigeons. Someone does that around here but not sure if it works. My neighbour in the building next door feeds pigeons out of her flat window so do let me know if there's anything she may catch as she's driving us all nuts - they poop on everything

!
Hope Puss Puss continues to live out a long and happy life...forza Puss Puss

Dawn F · « **Reply #18 on:** August 06, 2008, 11:00:17 AM »

no she doesn't grow anything, its only a courtyard garden with plants in pots and he has a litter tray out there, she is extremely hygienic so I really do doubt it and apparently the blood tests taken from him are all clear in fact the vet said he was in pretty good shape apart from his teeth but because of his estimated age of 19 he doesn't want to do anything about it, her Persian Pepo lived until 21 so she has a good track record on longevity!

I think the doctor doesn't really know what is wrong, it started out with him saying she was allergic to pine trees and has gone from there they are now saying she must of breathed in microscopic bits of pigeon droppings!

swampmaxmum · « **Reply #17 on:** August 06, 2008, 10:54:43 AM »

so glad Puss Puss got a reprieve, what a relief. Much more likely that a respiratory illness is caused by birds anyhow as has been said.
Talking of pigeons, an urban fox swallowed a pigeon whole in one gulp the other day in our nearby park.

blackcat · « **Reply #16 on:** August 05, 2008, 17:43:24 PM »

If the cat is pooping in the garden and she is growing veges in the garden then Toxo is still a possibility. But I would be reluctant to act until she has a proper diagnosis from the doctor as he may have just been running through a range of problems that might be zoonotic.

I would encourage her to get her doctor to write down the long words so she can read them out to you...

Gail Bengal Slave · « **Reply #15 on:** August 05, 2008, 17:24:15 PM »

Quote from: Dawn F on August 05, 2008, 16:47:26 PM

good news on this - Puss Puss (yes really!!) has been given the all clear, they are now blaming pigeons!

knew it would be the pigeons all along -
Puss Puss what a cute name

clarenmax · « **Reply #14 on:** August 05, 2008, 17:19:13 PM »

Yay excellent news (maybe not for the pigeons though

)

Dawn F · « **Reply #13 on:** August 05, 2008, 16:47:26 PM »

good news on this - Puss Puss (yes really!!) has been given the all clear, they are now blaming pigeons!

swampmaxmum · « **Reply #12 on:** July 17, 2008, 09:18:36 AM »

guess it depends where you are. I know someone in Turin who is a cat maniac. This sounds really bad - like I remember in Rome when the media ran a feline AIDS story, the rescues were overwhelmed as people got rid of their cats in case they "gave them AIDS"

A doctor in London told me I could get toxo from just cleaning my (indoor cats') litter tray so there's an awful lot of ignorance around. I really hope that the poor wee boy doesn't get blamed for it all and pts. Please not that, it's just so terrible and unfair. Poor old boy just lies in the sun. I'm sure it's not that made her ill. Let us know what happens, hope you can convince her.

Dawn F · « **Reply #11 on:** July 17, 2008, 08:32:33 AM »

she's got the vet coming up today - in theory to test him for nasties but oh and I have a feeling pts might be on the agenda, I think the doctor has just jumped at the fact she has a cat, they are funny about animals over there (not trying to offend anyone but in my experience its true) I know that all his family think its disgusting that we have four cats in the house

Dawn (DiddyDawn) · « **Reply #10 on:** July 17, 2008, 02:27:29 AM »

Quote from: Gillian (Ambercat) on July 16, 2008, 22:40:14 PM

Quote from: Sam (Fussy_Furball) on July 16, 2008, 22:13:37 PM
I know you can get psitticosis from parrots ... not sure if pigeons carry it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psittacosis

Yes they do according to the patient.co.uk link I posted - quote:

'A large number (>100) of avian species such as canaries, budgies, pigeons and other birds that are commonly kept as pets are also susceptible to the disease'

Pigeons are the worst carriers of Psitticosis, I used to get a lot brought to me if they were injured etc but I'm always wary and I daren't have them in the house. I was tested for this a couple of years ago as I constantly have a bad chest, luckily I was found to be clear but am allergic to my parrots

Gillian Harvey · « **Reply #9 on:** July 16, 2008, 22:40:14 PM »

Quote from: Sam (Fussy_Furball) on July 16, 2008, 22:13:37 PM

I know you can get psitticosis from parrots ... not sure if pigeons carry it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psittacosis

Yes they do according to the patient.co.uk link I posted - quote:

'A large number (>100) of avian species such as canaries, budgies, pigeons and other birds that are commonly kept as pets are also susceptible to the disease'

Sam (Fussy_Furball) · « **Reply #8 on:** July 16, 2008, 22:13:37 PM »

I know you can get psitticosis from parrots ... not sure if pigeons carry it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psittacosis

Millys Mum · « **Reply #7 on:** July 16, 2008, 22:07:22 PM »

Its only old cat poop that is infectious, over 24hrs i think. I remove instantly so not a problem

Gillian Harvey · « **Reply #6 on:** July 16, 2008, 12:28:28 PM »

Quote from: Dawn F on July 16, 2008, 10:29:17 AM

she does feed him raw meat for breakfast though and I know so that might be a problem, he has a place to go to the loo in a flowerbed but I know you she keeps it clean and is a hygiene freak so I can't imagine her not washing hands afterwards - are there different forms of toxoplasmosis? I will check out the link thanks

If it is toxo she's more likely to get it from handling the raw meat - not from handling the cat.

I would be more inclined to think it was the pigeons as Sheryl said about similar symptoms, and there is an illness can be caught from birds called pssiticosis (sp?) which I believe can cause lung problems. http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/40025185/

Dawn F · « **Reply #5 on:** July 16, 2008, 10:29:17 AM »

he doesn't hunt, he spends most of his time asleep in the courtyard! she does feed him raw meat for breakfast though and I know so that might be a problem, he has a place to go to the loo in a flowerbed but I know you she keeps it clean and is a hygiene freak so I can't imagine her not washing hands afterwards - are there different forms of toxoplasmosis? I will check out the link thanks

swampmaxmum · « **Reply #4 on:** July 16, 2008, 10:23:38 AM »

Do they think it is toxoplasmosis? http://www.cdc.gov/toxoplasmosis/epi.html
She can only catch it from a cat if the cat's a hunter and kills and eats rodents that have got it already - and she comes into contact with contaminated cat faeces. People including unfortunately doctors sometimes are wrong and say that any contact with cat poo can give you it, if you get some on your hands when cleaning a litter tray. One GP once told me I may catch it from cleaning out cat pee

Anyhow there is a blood test for it - has she had that? AFAIK it's more like a virus with aches and pains and weakness, fevers etc, what you are describing does sound like an allergy or asthma type illness? (I've also heard about respiratory illness caught from birds).
If he's 19, surely he's not hunting any more? You can also catch toxo from undercooked meat. In fact most people catch it from that apparently.
Hope she feels better soon and her cat doesn't get the blame for something that's not his fault!

Dawn F · « **Reply #3 on:** July 16, 2008, 09:38:53 AM »

she is in Umbria - the region next to Tuscany, she is the next hill town down from Assisi!

I spoke to her about it yesterday, she is convinced it is the cat, in fairness she doesn't really have much to do with pigeons! It just seems a shame as she picked him up as a stray 17 years ago - he is a birman/ragdoll type and very sweet

sheryl · « **Reply #2 on:** July 16, 2008, 09:33:52 AM »

Hi Dawn, I had the same symptoms as your MIL a few years ago and was ill for ages - I had loads of tests etc and after about 4 months a specialist asked me if we had birds - OH had bought me an African Grey parrot and when we thought about it the illness had started not long after we got him. After more tests it was discoverd that it was the feather dust that was making me ill (I am allergic to it) unfortunately we had to rehome Merlin (parrot) and after a couple of weeks I was better. I would say it is more likely to be the pigeons causing her problems and not the cat.

Where abouts in Italy does your MIL live? My Dad is Italian and I have got a lot of family there.

Dawn F · « **Reply #1 on:** July 16, 2008, 09:22:32 AM »

my mil lives in Italy and has been under the weather since Christmas with chest problems, she has been given various inhalers etc and last week had some blood tests done - the doctor has come back that she has caught something from either her cat or pigeons, she can't remember exactly what he said but thinks it began with t - she is ringing her vet today to see what they say but I am worried they will say the cat has to go, we could take him but he is around 19 years old and I don't know if he would travel that well - anyone got any idea what it could be???

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