Bartonella

[vfrohloff]

Has anyone ever heard of this? I am on my way to the vet to pick up antibiotics to treat Ted for it. I'd never heard of it, and most of the research I've done on the internet says that cats who have it can transmit cat scratch fever to humans. I don't care much about what I can get from it, I want to know how it affects the cat! My vet thinks it's part of the reason why Ted's chronic conjunctivitis has been so unresponsive to treatment. So he'll be on azithromycin for a few weeks. Does anyone have any experience with Bartonella in cats?

[Winston]

Are you sure it is not called Bortadella? (kennell cough)???

Cindy

[jenn42099]

Winston, you mean Bordatella?

[Hunter's_owner]

Well, what vfrohloff is talking about it Bartonella and is completely different from Bordatella.

The Bartonella is what causes cat-scratch disease in humans, and is often spread by ticks,
but other than that I know next to nothing about it...sorry

[jenn42099]

I have never heard of this either, but I found these sites that seems to be informative.

http://www.drgreene.com/21_821.html

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_bartonella.html

http://www.jaaha.org/cgi/content/full/40/1/6

http://www.2ndchance.info/eyeinflamcats.htm

Good luck with your kitty!

[Prin]

The maristavet link is usually a really reliable source.

[vfrohloff]

Originally Posted by Winston

Are you sure it is not called Bortadella? (kennell cough)???

Cindy

Yes, I'm sure it's Bartonella and not Bordatella. Thanks for the links jenn, they were quite helpful. It seems azithromycin is the way to treat it, and that is what the vet gave me so hopefully it will help clear up the eyes. I get the impression that there's not much known about it, my vet went to a conference last month and learned all about it so I'm guessing it's a relatively new discovery. I've owned many cats over the years and I'd never heard of it before.