[Closed] My cats got Bovine TB!

Poor thing 🙁

Something to watch out for. Worrying as we raw feed our dog.

Is the food manufacturer based in Blackwater?

Good to see the butcher taking back control.

Is the food manufacturer based in Blackwater?

Camberley, they recently moved premises.

I think it is the wild venison that is the problem, anything farmed is OK.

I've had a couple of cats that have been pretty ill when older, switch them to raw and they improve massively.

your cat has expensive eating habits, ours eats bog standard dry food supplemented with self caught mice, birds and fish

your cat has expensive eating habits

I think it is cheaper than buying shop food, and not as much waste either.

They don't hunt anything, it would be a miricle if one of them managed to catch a bird, and only one of them eats biscuits.

Very sorry to hear that Turnerguy, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the most positive outcome.

Did your meat supplier look like this?

Healing vibes to your pussy. Hopefully you haven't got the bad cat aids either, or people will be calling for you to be culled.

Similar story to some friends of ours - several cats infected from raw venison and the whole family were expecting to be tested next. Not nice.

The badgers didn't do it. A fit-up by farmer Giles.

Cat has the TB very slightly on her lungs and starts 3 types of anti-biotics for maybe 6 months tomorrow - one of which is a vet approved anti-biotic and two of which are human anti-biotics, with possible side-effects on her liver.

The other anti-biotic might cause her tears to go a bit red, so it might look like she is crying blood ! One other person whose cat was being treated thought she was experiencing something religious 🙂

Other cat and the dog are in for blood tests tomorrow - at £280 each! I had the equivalent blood test last week, privately, for only £63!!!

I hope the supplier is paying for all this!

I hope the supplier is paying for all this!

no, I think that is unlikely, although an affected person has still got a tub of the infected food which she has sent off to this expert in Edinburgh for analysis.

Well, that's it - full house - both cats have TB. But the dog hasn't.

Testing tomorrow to see if the older one is active.

Feeding the meds is a pain, 3 different anti biotics for 3 to 6 months.

Thank goodness for a lovely lady called Professor Danielle Gunn-Moore at Edinburgh Uni...

Feeding the meds is a pain, 3 different anti biotics for 3 to 6 months.

Can you not get injections? I find that much easier than trying to get them to swallow / eat any pills as they can smell them a mile off and flatly refuse...

At least one of them might have to have a tube fitted as he is a real picky eater.

The other I think I am approaching a sequence of portion sizes and different foods that interest her enough to eat - but it is still a hassle so she might end up with a tube fitted as well.

There's a WhatsApp group for those affected and one woman described feeding time as like an episode of the exorcist as they tried to get tablets down their cats throat !

I've given up with pills and just get a load of pre-filled syringes from the vet as it's easier to jab them than try and get them to swallow a pill. One can hold it in his mouth for ages and when you finally give up he just spits it out...

That's horrible news... for everyone concerned (feline and human). A risk that would never occur to me, so thanks for flagging it up here. Fingers crossed for a good outcome for all your moggies.

BTW, having spent years putting pills down (initially) uncooperative cats, a "pill-buster" might be worth a try. We found ours became quite accepting of / accustomed to the routine of having multiple pills forcibly rammed down their throats using this marvel of plastic technology!

Good luck and healing vibes all round.

I've had a lot of success by placing pills inside small balls of raw minced beef.

IME cats, unless they are very ill, can't resist raw minced beef.

It's very easy to do as raw mince is naturally sticky. The balls don't have to be much bigger than the pills, which means that they are very quickly swallowed.

One our cats has to take a pill and a small dose of metcam via a syringe.. I find if I gently put the pill to the back of his mouth then squirt the metacm in, the whole lot gets swallowed.

It's tricky though as I have to gently open his gob with one hand, put the pill in with the other, whilst holding the syringe in my teeth, then quickly whip it out and squirt it in.

then quickly whip it out and squirt it in

fnar

Treating TB in cats is problematic. Usually need to use 2-3 different antibiotics as often have resistance with the Mycobacteria. Often have to use reformulated human products and these are not always available in injectable forms So have to be in tablets or capsules.

You are also dosing for an extended period of time and whilst some cats will start to acquiesce as you go on others become even more resistant! 5 of their six ends are pointy!

Good luck to the op. I hope it does clear and you’re right re Danielle Gunn-Moore. Fantastic vet and just the person to get advice from in a case like this.

Thanks for the advice - I will investigate the suggestions.

currently doing mostly OK with encore salmon to mask the smell but the clarithromycin seems to mess up the plan as she smeels/tastes it 🙁

Good luck with the tablets. Our old cat had to have a week of anti-biotics for a chest infection - that was hard work. She was bitten by a fox recently, so decided on the long acting injection at twice the cost, but less injury to us. The metacam on a syringe is OK - she's not keen, but it's over quick. Can't put it on food as she won't eat it, and we have 3 other cats.

Our cat loves olive oil so we coat his pill with it. Once we get it into the back of his mouth the love of olive oil trumps the dislike of pills and he swallows it.

The other trick we used for different medicine is to squirt it into the back of his mouth with a syringe.

We also had an old cat inherited from Mrs ODs mum which had diabetes from years of being overfed. We gan to give daily insulin injections in the scruff of its neck. Mrs OD was fine with it - I couldn't get the knack so basically shirked the job.

Just bought a pill buster syringe from Amzon, and some pill pockets and pill putty.

One of the products was bacon flavour - sounds good but the cat has never tried bacon so I'll save that one until later.

Also some catnip and catnip spray, thought I'd give it a go. Haven't tried the raw mince yet.

Would you not just put them down?

Would you not just put them down?

that's not really an option...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rOO7JVa5gQACJUq90H2BYMik0O1xiK8T/view?usp=sharing

They are just cats, 3 months of being treated against their will, all the shit associated side effects they cannot tell you about and probably costing more than they are worth.

Let's hope it doesn't spread to you, your partner or whatever comes into contact with them.

just cats

!

I can think of many more humans that deserve putting down before these cats do...

we've tested clear, the young one has active TB but very early stage and deep in her lungs - the vet thought she was clear but Danielle spotted it. Won't be infecteous after a couple of weeks of treatment apparently.

The older one is probably latent but will be xrayed next week.

Putting the younger one down seems immoral as she doesn't look at all ill and has shrugged off a 2kg+ weight loss and a few absesses, but she is a schemer and often annoying so putting her down would only be sad.

Putting the older one down would be a very big wrench. Anybody that knew him would agree.

The raw beef mince worked a treat !

Many thanks for the tip 🙂

Great! Glad to hear it. And it's so easy to do.

Will note that raw mince tip.

Our old tabby has just smacked up her face this weekend. Our teens phoned in a panic - she had climbed into the cat run (the run is accessed via the conservatory window) but due to her poor sight, she's fallen and cut her mouth. Blood everywhere. Fortunately she's cleaned up OK and not needed a vet visit. She's on her metacam at the minute.

We won't be putting her down - just recovered from a bad chest infection, then a fox bite, now this accident. She's happy enough, although can't see very well.

We have a rescue with calcivirus (cat flu) which means the other 3 have to be upto date with vaccines. We found out as the two pedigrees were 'on the way'.

We have to 'treat the symptoms' with the rescue, but so far, he's been the picture of health since all his teeth had to come out !!

when I was 5 we had a stray cat visit and it slept on my bed.

It has something like a cold or maybe flu, anyway it ended up with me being rushed to hospital with meningitus - had a couple of holes drilled in my head, lumbar puncture, shed loads of penicillin despite me being allergic to it, and the prognosis was death or a vegetable...

hasn't put me off cats though 🙂

prognosis was death or a vegetable…

Death or Mau Mau?

University of Edinburgh have just released this :

https://www.ed.ac.uk/vet/services/small-animals/information-about-cat-tb?fbclid=IwAR2UtV0qLiqkr8OzK9zc3spSadYgJwgaDUisL9hs9lvKjPXqNSDifZOM7MU

seems a bit tame since there ave been 90+ cats and 30+ outbreaks affected now and it's all from the same source of that food.

My other cat has had some scans and is luckily confirmed as latent but has an enlaerged spleen and scruffy lungs 🙁

The Independent: Luxury cat food recalled after pets and owners develop bovine tuberculosis.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cat-food-recall-tuberculosis-wild-venison-natural-instinct-university-of-edinburgh-a8920606.html

Another technique is to use the nurse method of getting a pill in the cats mouth then a syringe with water just squirt a drop in a corner of the cats mouth and they swallow as a natural reaction.

I love all this chat about holding the cat it one hand while placing the pill in the moutg then picking up the syringe to squirt some water in its mouth.

The process is thus...

Find the cat, it knows.
Cost - free.
Remove cat from behind washing machine/other heavy aekward item with enough space for a cat but too deep for an arm at full stretch. Isolate from all other cats.
Cost - blood loss possible finger deglove.
Wrap cat tightly in towel. Attempt again with all legs within the wrap.
Cost - limitless.
With you third fourth and fifth hand press the cat to the floor. No messing though. Full body weight.
Cost - incalculable.
Remove towel from light fitting and wrap around bloody stump.
Cost - free, love the NHS
Google welding gauntlets.
Cost - about a tenner
Repeat all previous steps with gloves.
Cost - way past that
Give up and try again the next day as long as you don't have to get it in a cat box you'll probably live.
Over the next few days repeat process knowing every attemp decreases the likelihood of success.
Give up and wrap it in salmon... No waith this is the cat that won't eat salmon, cut a hole in a beef catfood chunk not whiskas though only Tesco s own brand or was that last week?
Watch in astoundment as the cat gobbles it up fully, glory in a cats ability to eat a whole tin of catfood whilst being able to reproduce the pill on its tongue at the end and drop it on the floor. Watch the other cat sidle up and eat the tablet.

Luxury cat food recalled after pets and owners develop bovine tuberculosis.

In actual fact though it works out as a cost effective alternative to other cats and cheapeer than a lot of the decent cat foods by quite a way.

2 x 500g pots for about £5 and a 500g pot feeds a cat for maybe 4-5 days, so 8-10 days food for £5 versus, say Lilly's Kitchen trays at 87p each and a cat will have 2-3 trays a day. (Waitrose 87p, Pets at Home £1.19 for the same ! Waitrose is the value buy 🙂 )

You could then compare to Whiskas but that is only 4% meat and then lots of other cr8p I'd rather not feed the cat. Plus anything grain based is likely to bring on other health issues, like kidney and liver problems.

You could then compare to Whiskas but that is only 4% meat and then lots of other cr8p I’d rather not feed the cat.

I think there's a slight confusion here. The "4%" in Whiskas refers to the quantity in relation to the particular flavour.

For example, Whiskas with duck contains 4% duck, Whiskas with turkey contains 4% turkey, and so on.

I suspect that 4% represents the minimum they are legally allowed to have when claiming that it's "with" whatever particular meat/fish.

Personally I would prefer if Whiskas cat food didn't contain duck or turkey. It isn't necessary for cats and is designed purely to appeal to human taste. Farming methods for poultry can be highly questionable. Besides, "with mice" or similar would make more sense.

The total meat and animal derivatives content in wet Whiskas is 38%. But I don't think the remaining 62% is cereal or other such crap, it's water/moisture. I think when you total the meat/animal derivatives and water/moisture it comes to 94%, the remaining 6% is vegetable/oil.

I'm happy to be corrected if wrong but I think that is right.

I wouldn't be concerned with the high levels of water, gelatin, etc in wet cat food. In fact I would welcome it as it provides constant flushing of kidneys. Cats having evolved in arid regions with little water don't have the predisposition to drink water like dogs, they have evolved to receive all the moisture they need from their natural prey. Drinking doesn't seem to be so natural for them.

And I wouldn't expect a wild cat's diet to be 100% meat, I'm sure it would include the contents of guts of their prey, for example. Plus of course cats enjoy chewing grass.

One thing that is bugging me is the amount of small aluminium trays and cans I am putting in the recycling now, as opposed to the plastic trays that I went through at a much slower pace.

I am tempted to go trying another raw brand as the older cat condition is looking much more ragged since coming off the raw, plus their number 2s are smellier and less 'good'!

I use paleoridge for my dog. Comes in compostable cartons. I know what you mean about the poos. So much less on raw!

interesting, don't do dog food but might email them, Honeys also mostly do dog food but have suggestions for feeding cats. thanks.

One thing that is bugging me is the amount of small aluminium trays and cans I am putting in the recycling now, as opposed to the plastic trays that I went through at a much slower pace.

Aluminium is one of the most recycled material about, as it is actually cost effective to do so. Most plastic just ends up in the Pacific after going through the highly corrupt recycling process (which is just designed to tick boxes and ends up exporting it all to Asia where they just dump it in the sea). Fundamentally it's cheaper to make plastic from oil than try and recycle it, so it just gets dumped somewhere in the recycling chain..

mew to moo

I am about to start my older cat, the one with latent TB, on the same 3 antibiotics for probably 3 months.

He's bigger and seemed to like those pill pockets that were recommended earlie, so thanks !

I am in a whatsapp group for those affected and there is one lady on there that is pregnant, has had three of her cats put down after suffering badly, has had to have her 2 year old son tested for TB, and managed to catch TB herself from one of the cats when he coughed near her whilst trying to feed.

This whole experience has caused her some mental health issues.

I've got off very lightly.

(and I shall stop stressing so much about the aluminium...)