Question about Feline Mycoplasma

[Kinnee]

Hello,

I had a little of Savannah kittens and when they were a few days old I noticed pus coming out of their eyes. I took them to the vet and got Pentamycetin eye drops to help whatever it is. I noticed the father (in a separate room) also starting to have teary eyes. I then took him to the vet and got blood work done. Nothing showed up. Then I had another vet recommend an eye swab for the kittens. It came back positive for D355 Mycoplasma. I then checked my other cats and they have it too. The adult cats are now all on Doxycycline but I was told there's nothing else I can treat the kittens with since they are so young.

Now here is my problem... One vet told me that the Doxycycline will cure the Mycoplasma and everyone will be fine. The other vet said that the cats will all become permanent carriers and I should spay/neuter all of my breeders and rehome them if I want to keep breeding. I definitely do not want to be breeding sick cats, however, if it is cureable I do not want to have to give up all of the cats I have right now.

If someone can give me more information and an opinion that would be great. Can anyone also tell me what this mycoplasma is called specifically? When I try to research I am given 2-3 different types of mycoplasma and I am not sure which one this is other than it's related to the respiratory system.

Thanks!

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

It is mycoplasma felis, which is a disease renamed from haemobartonella felis recently, thus the difficulty in finding information.

The disease does lead to a carrier state in which the cat is permanently infected by the disease.  Treating a cat during the acute phase of infection will kill most of the disease but there is always some left over that the antibiotic cannot reach.

Although treatment with doxycycline or enrofloxacin may control acute infections in the cat, none of the antibiotics tested to date consistently clear the parasites permanently from the animal, resulting in a chronic carrier state.

[Kinnee]

Hello and thanks for answering my question.

As a carrier, would my stud be able to pass the infection along to the females, or the females to their kittens? How is the infection spread? Should I be altering and rehoming anyone tested positive for it?

Thanks again for the help!