Cat Illness, Toxemia – What is It?
Toxemia is widely called the condition in which the blood contains toxins that can cause the symptoms of the disease. It is mainly found in cats. In this case, if this symptom is found in cats, the cat owners must get veterinary care immediately.
Toxemia, which is also known as Feline toxemia, is also considered a symptom of other diseases. Some factors can cause this symptom of the disease. It can occur when the toxin enters the blood. In addition, it can also be caused when the toxin builds up in the blood.
Cats have a great possibility to suffer from this kind of symptom during or even after pregnancy. It is because they experience uterus infection during or even following birth. Some different bacterial infections can lead to this system. These bacteria will then affect the task of the kidney of the cat, the umbilical cord, and some other organs. Another cause of this symptom is the contact of the cat with toxic substances and also medications.
How to recognize the presence of toxemia? Low levels toxic in the blood will not show any sign of illness or disease, asymptomatic. One of the symptoms which you can recognize in your cat is that when diarrhea. Another symptom includes issues with the heart as well as kidney failure.
Furthermore, a low level of toxicity in the blood of the cat can also be noticed through clinical symptoms so you can only know it during the examination in the veterinarian. When the veterinarian has examined the sample of the blood, it will show the physical abnormalities of some blood cells such as bizarre and unusual shapes or cellular gigantism. If the toxicity of blood is noticed, it may be caused by the elevated levels of the basophilic precipitates which are known as Dohle bodies.
The diagnosis for this symptom may be varied. There are a lot of different tests available for determining whether it is only a symptom of the disease. If the cat is affected, it will need blood tests for checking the level of the toxin. One of the popular blood tests is a full blood panel. In addition, this test is also beneficial for identifying what kind of toxin which is available in the blood.
Instead of the above test, you could also use a urinalysis. It is beneficial for testing the kidney as well as organ function. On the other hand, if there is any specific type of bacterial suspected, the veterinarian will prefer to run the bacterial culture for confirmation.
The treatment for toxemia is varied. It depends on the underlying cause. If it is caused by medications, the cat will receive another different medication. In addition, if it is due to a bacterial infection, the cat will receive some different antibiotics depending on the bacteria. To fight against the gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, a medication of antibiotic and steroid combination is needed.
