You can read about how Bartonella sometimes affects the eyes of cats here.
Most cats are not declawed. Most cat owners prefer it that way. Most cat owners never face Bartonella henselae health issues. But you can read what they are here
Cat scratch fever is a bacterial infection of cats and people that is caused by a small, fragile bacteria, Bartonella henselae . There are other related bartonella that occasionally cause this disease as well. Most people develop this disease after being scratched or bitten by an infected cat. Bartonella occasionally affects dogs as well.
Most cats that are infected with B. henselae do not show any signs of illness at all. But the bacteria can be cultivated from their blood for long periods after they are first infected.
Infection with Bartonella is quite common in domestic cats. Veterinarians estimate that forty percent of all cats contract bartonellosis sometime in their lives and many cats remain asymptomatic carriers for long periods of time.
For many years, veterinarians believed that bartonella did not cause signs of disease in cats. But several cat illnesses have now been linked to underlying bartonella infections. These include unexplained fevers, deep eye inflammation, enlargement of lymph nodes, generalized muscle pain, inflammations of the heart lining and poor reproductive success.
Some cats with this disease run a fever for two or three days after they first catch bartonella. But this and other signs are generally quite mild and are not likely to be noticed by the cat's owner.
If your cat is infected and it becomes stressed, it might then become apparent that it is ill. Stress often makes the signs of infections worse. Sometimes it is a trip to the vets, boarding, a minor surgical procedure or the introduction of another cat that makes the diseases apparent.
A few cats that contract bartonellosis show mild loss of sensation in their paws, lack of balance and disorientation that resolves within a few days. The cat’s lymph nodes may swell and they may become moderately anemic for a few weeks.
At the microscopic level, there is evidence that the organism attacks the liver, kidney, spleen and lining of the heart. But damage to these organs is usually temporary and without symptoms that you would be likely to notice.
Veterinarians occasionally see cats with bad breath and severe mouth infections. This condition is sometimes called plasma cell stomatitis or plasmacytic stomatitis. There are some hints that bartonella might be one of the underlying causes of this disease. When these cats with oral lesions test positive for bartonella, they usually test positive for the cat AIDS virus as well. These cats often show improvement when they are given azithromycin antibiotic. However, azithromycin kills many oral bacteria, so it is not really proof that bartonella was the underlying cause of the cat's mouth problem.
A high percentage of cats with inflammations of the eye are also positive for bartonella. These conditions include, uveitis, conjunctivitis, chorioretinitis, keratitis and corneal ulcers. These cats also often seem to get better when they are given azithromycin, doxycycline antibiotic, or rifampin. Azithromycin is probably the best choice because that medication also kills another organism that is sometimes involved in these eye conditions (mycoplasma). When giving these medications (particularly doxycycline) in a solid pill or capsule form to cats, be sure to follow it by giving the pet a liberal dose of oral water so that the medication does not lodge in the cat's throat where it can damage the esophagus.
Most people who contract this disease, caught it from a bite or a scratch from a kitten or cat under six month of age or a stray cat. But older cats can pass this infection on to humans too. The disease occurs throughout the World. The majority of cats that spread this disease to people do not look ill. Adult, indoor pet in a stable, long-term home environment are less likely to be carriers of bartonella.
Eighty to ninety percent of the people who catch this disease are young adults, 2 - 24 years of age, or veterinarians. More cases occur in the fall and winter months.
People who have been scratched or bitten by a bartonella-carrier cat often first develop one or more pustules (pimples) at the site of the wound. A few weeks later, their lymph nodes closest to the wound often become swollen and tender. By then the wound may have completely healed and the person may have completely forgotten about the bite or scratch. These are usually the lymph nodes at the armpit, since most bites and scratches occur on the arms or hands. Mysteriously, patients with no known exposure to cats will occasionally develop the disease.
Fever, headache and fatigue are common signs of this infection when humans contract it. Some people also develop tonsillitis and neck pain. It is rare for more serious signs to develop in healthy people. Most people overcome the infection and recover over the next three weeks without treatment and never realizing what they had.
However, when a person’s health is not good or the immune system that protects the person's body is compromised, a series of much more serious symptoms can occur. The symptoms of this atypical bartonellosis are highly variable but can even be fatal. Often these are people who have undergone organ transplants, chemotherapy or have AIDS. The second link at the top of this page discusses those symptoms in detail.
We are not sure that in every case an infected cat obtained its bartonella infection from a flea. But most authorities believe that fleas are a major spreader of this disease. In the laboratory, cat fleas will transmit the disease from one cat to another. A blood transfusion from an infected cat to a non-infected cat can also spread bartonellosis. When an infected cat has fleas and scratches itself, it gets infected flea dirt (excrement) under its claws. If it then scratches a person or another cat, it can pass on the disease as well. Cat bites can also transfer bartonella between cats and from a cat to a human.
Cats in the warmer and more humid portions of the United States have the highest incidence of Bartonellosis. Prevalence is said to range from 30-50% of all cats, sometime in their lives, in warm states and from 5-7% in cats in colder states. The high-prevalence areas - warm temperatures, high humidity and high rain fall - are the same areas where cat fleas prosper.
Bartonella is thought to be able to live in infected cats for at least two years. Some authorities think that fleas can spread the disease to people but others do not. We do know that dried “flea dirt” which is the remnant of digested blood, can contain living bartonella for over nine days. We think that this dirt becomes lodged under the cat’s claws from where it is passed to people through a scratch. There are some who also suspect that ticks can transfer the disease to humans as well.
Yes, that is possible. But most dogs that have been diagnosed with bartonellosis have a different species of bartonella than the one cats do.
Diagnosis in people is not straight forward or easy. Most physicians rely on a history of exposure to a cat, typical enlarged painful lymph nodes, fever and the lack of another likely cause. Other diseases such as tuberculosis, lymphoma and brucellosis need to be ruled out. A skin tests and blood tests for humans are available.
There are 5 tests that can detect if your cat has bartonella. They are the ELISA, PCR, IFA and Western Blot tests as well as an attempt to grow the organism from your pet's blood. However, these tests are not always accurate. Some cats just don't produce enough antibodies against bartonella for the first four tests to be positive. And we do not always grow the organism from the blood of cats that we know are infected. So repeated tests may be necessary. The most accurate test is probably the PCR test.
Although ninety percent of these cases get better without treatment with antibiotics, a cat may take several months to eliminate the disease organisms from its body. Currently, the most reliable medicine we know of is azithromycin antibiotic. It eliminates bartonella in about eighty percent of the cats after about 3 weeks of administration.
Doxycycline, erythromycin,ciprofloxacin, trimethoprim/sulfa, clarithromycin and rifampin antibiotics are also effective in some cases.
Keep your cat indoors. When you take your cat out - take it on a leash or keep it closely supervised. Indoor cats and supervised cats are much less likely to be exposed to fleas, cat bites and Bartonella. Neuter or spay your cat so it does not have the urge to roam, fight and stress out.
Use one of the newer flea-control products on your cat. Not all that are safe to use on dogs are safe to use on cats.
Do not let your children roughhouse with kittens – especially kittens that were recently obtained from an animal shelter, found as strays or sold in pet shops.
If you or your children are scratched or bitten, vigorously and immediately wash the wound out with warm running water and hydrogen peroxide, isopropyl alcohol or organic iodine (povidine).
If you have sores or scratches on your hands wear gloves when handling your cat or allowing it to lick you.
Keep your cat’s toenails clipped short and filed smooth.
Although it is not one hundred percent effective, high risk people such as those with transplants, implanted prosthetic joints, valves, etc. or immunosupressive disease and those in fragile health should, at the least, have claw guards placed on their cat's nails or the nails blunted and filed smooth by a professional.