Cats and Humans

[joshdrew]

In 2002 my son was gouged by a very sick stray cat. The cat was lethargic, had a fever, nasal and eye discharge. I asked my son to pick the cat up as we were taking it to the vet. It was literally dying in our yard. The cat was about 6-months old.

My son has been incredibly sick ever since. Are these symptoms too vague to suggest what this cat could have been suffering from and possibly transmitted to my son? We live in Southern Alberta...prairie-like area west of the Canadian Rockies.

Thanks very much for any suggestions you could make in what this cat may have been carrying.

Sherry

[Mrs_Savas]

Hi Sherry,

She's right, it's worth a look.  It's Hydatid disease, by the way, not Hydatis.  This site seems quite detailed, check it out and see what you think:

http://www.avma.org/reference/zoonosis/znechino.asp

Do you remember what the cats symptoms were, specifically?  Was it having trouble breathing, did it have patches of missing fur, open wounds or cuts, rashes, visible infections (like an eye infection or any swollen places on its face or body) - anything you can recall might be helpful to know.

How is it going?  Any progress?  

Anne

[joshdrew]

Thank you so much for this information. I will do a google on this and see if the symptoms fit. Does this illness make the cat sick? The cat was absolutely sick...so sick I took it to the vet to have it put down. It was dying in my yard.

[kitty51]

Unless it was a bite or scratch,the only other thing i know that can transfer from cat to human is hydatis(not sure about the spelling) Have you taken your son to the doc and mentiioned this?I didnt read all the posts,just a few SORRY

[Mrs_Savas]

Hi Sherry,

No problem, I am really glad if I was able to help!  Please don't hesitate to drop and ask anything and please do let me know what happens, ok?

Keeping a good thought...

Anne

[joshdrew]

Our doctor put my son on antibiotics to see if he responds favorably. He said that the testing for Lyme is very bad, from what he understands, and if he has Lyme or another bacterial infection then his symptoms will go away. If it is not Lyme or another infection the antibiotics will likely make him worse. So, my son started antibiotics last night.

Thank you again. You are a truly kind and compassionate person.

Sherry

[joshdrew]

This site ' http://www.messybeast.com/lyme.htm' is fantastic! Thank you again. I will let you know how this all turns out!

Sherry

[joshdrew]

Thank you soooo much for your reply. We are having our son tested for Lyme as I write. We are asking a doctor to fill in the blood requisition form to have him tested.

I need to turn every stone as we truly do need to find out what this illness is and make it go away.

Again...I thank you so much.

Sherry

[Mrs_Savas]

Hi Sherry,

For better or worse, there just aren't many illnesses that can be transferred from any cat to a person and not easily diagnosed.

I'm wondering about Lyme Disease.  The cat could have had a tick that carried it or your son could have picked up a tick unrelated to the cat incident.  I think that it is incredibly unlikely to have been the scratch but not impossible.  Lyme disease is difficult to diagnose and not as prevalent as it once was, so doctors don't think of it immediately.  I looked around and found this site.  See if you think any of it applies.

http://www.messybeast.com/lyme.htm

I just hate to have you distracted by the cat scratch issue if it isn't the cause, but have you considered contacting a local shelter or your equivalent of our SPCA?  They might know something helpful about feral cats in your area, something documented that the doctor doesn't know about.  It's their field, after all.

Have you checked any of the other MedHelp forums?   There are a number you could look at, ask knowledgeable users.  Particularly if this is, in fact, unrelated to the cat then you might find something useful there.

Keep me posted - my thoughts are with you and your son.  And if I come up with anything else, I'll let you know.

Anne

[joshdrew]

Thank you so much for your reply. The cat was extremely sick. Since it was a stray the vet just put the cat down and did not do any major examinations. She thought that maybe the cat had eaten poison and had been dying for a few days before we found it in our yard.

I will check out the thread you supplied me. My son has been investigated very thoroughly and they cannot find anything in his lab work to account for the illness...so I thought that maybe trying to find out what makes cats terribly sick might be a better angle to approach this nightmare from. In hindsight I would have had the cat checked completely, but given this was not our cat, the cat was suffering terribly, and I did not know the consequences of the gouging we basically dropped the cat off and paid for the euthanization.

My son's symptoms are extreme diarrhea and vomiting. Pain everywhere. Headaches, nausea and terrible fatigue. He has had blisters on all his internal organs and the peritoneum surrounding the organs and stomach cavity. This has led to adhesions and one massive hernia in an area not typical for herniation.

If I could find out more about cats that are not vaccinated (I am assuming this cat was not, as to think otherwise would not be prudent) then I might learn more about my son's illness. I have two cats of my own and they are of course well taken care of. I don't know the kinds of illnesses that cats would contract if they were on the street eating whatever they can catch, without being vaccinated or getting regular care. There are so many illnesses that I have seen...but like you said most of them won't affect humans.

Our vet has offered up Bartonella (CSD) and Tularemia. Bartonella has been eliminated. He did have evidence of a past infection for this, but past infections don't cause current problems. Tularemia is fatal in short order for most people...so it is unlikely this.

Anyway, thank you so much for your help. I will pump our vet again and see if she can pull anything out of her hat. We thought we had this beat, but it appears this is not the case. Whatever it is it is persistent.

Sherry

[Mrs_Savas]

Hi,

Well, it is very unusual for a person to catch a disease from contact with a cat, such as a scratch or bite, but it can happen in some rare instances.  There is a term "Zoonotic Disease" that covers a couple of different bacterial infections, including "cat-scratch disease" or bartonellosis.  You didn't tell me any of your son's symptoms, but I have provided a link at the bottom of this message that you can use to read about some possible effects of Zoonotic Diseases and see if they fit.

Did you mention the cat scratch to your son's doctor or to the vet that you took the cat to?  You should get an informed opinion from a doctor after he or she perform needed tests and observe his symptoms.  

I'm sorry to hear about this.  Please let me know if I can be of any help in the future, ok?

Good luck.

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/ZoonoticDisease.html