Stray Cat Diseases

Risks

• Whether abandoned or feral, most stray cats are not vaccinated against disease. Forced to fend for themselves, they cannot always eat regularly. Because stray females rarely get spayed, having too many consecutive litters takes its toll on the female̵7;s system. Strays often encounter other sick cats who transmit diseases, either those that are airborne or through fighting. While city strays are subject to physical abuse or being struck by cars, those who avoid contact with humans take shelter in the woods where they hunt. There, they can come in contact with skunks and raccoons who can have rabies.

Diseases

• While rabies is among the most dangerous of the diseases affecting strays, others, such as respiratory viruses, occur from a lack of health care. Cats with Feline Immunodeficiency Virus are unable to fight infection, making them vulnerable to common bacteria and viruses. Those infected with Feline Leukemia Virus can pass the disease on to other cats through their saliva, urine, and feces. Strays might develop panleukopenia, an intestinal infection that is often fatal. Cold germs can give them eye infections, causing the eye to swell and shut. Fighting result in wounds from bites that can lead to infection.

Kittens

• Kittens born to stray mothers are the most vulnerable to disease. Because malnutrition often weakens the mother̵7;s resistance to infection, strays are born with less chance of survival and a greater tendency toward illness. Stray mothers who have diseases like FIV often transmit them to their offspring during birth, with other illnesses transmitted by animal bites. Young strays quickly become predators in the wild. Since most are not spayed or neutered, they continue the cycle of giving birth to new generations of kittens who will never be domesticated in a real home.

Human Contact

• Those who are committed to helping stray cats need to protect themselves from certain diseases. Bacteria and viruses that can harm humans are usually transmitted through bites, scratches, and feces. People caring for strays should wash their hands after touching them, be careful around litter boxes, and keep their distance from cats who are hissing, frightened, or acting aloof. Since the rabies virus is transmitted through saliva, those who tend to strays need to be careful of cats that might have groomed themselves after fighting with a wild animal.

Management

• Various programs across America are attempting to manage the stray cat population. With many of these, strays are trapped, tested for disease, vaccinated, spayed or neutered, and released back into the wild. While the practice has not put an end to the problem, it has decreased the number of stray kittens being born in many areas.