Despite their reputation, cats only have one life which can be compromised by many diseases. When a cat lives indoors, her chances of catching a fatal disease is reduced, but not entirely eliminated. This is why vaccinating your cat is important. Cats can also catch fatal diseases from insect bites, so you need to keep up with pest control, too.
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Infectious Diseases
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These are the diseases that are covered by vaccinations, including rabies, feline lukemia (FeLV) and feline infectious peritonitis.
Bacterial Diseases
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These can be caught eating spoiled food or having a wound become infected. They include tetanus, salmonella, tularemia, tuberculosis and feline infectious anemia.
Viral Diseases
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These are highly contagious to other cats and are usually spread through contact with a sick cat. These diseases include feline viral respiratory diseases, feline panlukopenia (also called feline distemper) and feline infectious peritonitis.
Feline Heartworm Disease
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This can be easily prevented with heartworm medication. Heartworms are passed through mosquito bites.
Lyme Disease
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This is a potentially fatal diseased passed from ticks, usually deer ticks but dog ticks can transmit it, too and they often bite cats.
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