Infectious disease in dogs and cats: Is it on the rise? | Dr. Justine Lee

Posted by justinelee in Animal Safety, Blog, Pet Health

According to Banfield Pet Hospital, infectious diseases are on the rise in dogs and cats!

This is alarming, because with the improvements in quality of care in veterinary medicine (including advanced medicine and preventative medicine like vaccines, deworming, etc.), now there’s proof that our pets are more at risk.

The State of Pet Health Report for 2014 just came out, and stated that there was a “staggering” increase in infectious diseases in dogs and cats. Now, granted this is just based on information from Banfield’s clinics, but they looked at 470,000 cats and 2.3 million dogs seen at their 850 hospitals throughout the United States.

So, what’d the Banfield hospitals’ internal research team (called Banfield Applied Research and Knowledge or “BARK” for short) find? There’s a 48% rise in feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), and a 21% increase in the prevalence of infection with the bacterium (Borrelia burgdorferi) that causes Lyme disease in dogs. BARK also looked at a few other infectious diseases. In dogs, this included kennel cough, Giardia and parvovirus. In cats, this included ear mites, feline leukemia virus (FeLV), and upper respiratory infections (commonly called URIs).

Here, some facts from the Banfield BARK study:

> Approximately one in every 130 dogs was infected with Borrelia burgdorferi, the cause for Lyme disease. That said, please don’t freak out! In some states (those infested with ticks like CT, NH, NY, NJ, PA, MN, WI, etc.), we know that the prevalence of a positive blood test for Lyme is high – often up to 80% or more in normal health dogs. This test just means that they’ve been exposed – not that your dog necessarily has Lyme disease (stay tuned for a future blog on this!).

> Lyme disease is 2X more likely to occur in large breed dogs compared to smaller ones – makes sense: as larger dogs are often outside hiking, camping, running, or hunting more (Gross stereotype, I know!).

> When it comes to parvovirus, 1 out of almost every 300 dogs tested positive for it. This breaks my heart, since the vaccine is almost 99% effective when used correctly (in other words, one vaccine alone is not protective, and a whole puppy series is necessary!). The states with the biggest parvovirus losers? NM, TX, and NV. Get vaccinating, southwest!

> Of the dogs that did test positive, most were puppies. According to Banfield’s pet population, 1 out of every 74 puppies was infected.

> Neuter, neuter, neuter. What they also found in this study was that intact (unspayed or unneutered) dogs 1 year old and greater were almost 23X more likely to be infected than a neutered dog. Preventative care, folks!

> Ah, Beaver fever. Giardia, a cause for mild to severe gastrointestinal signs, occurs when dogs drink out of infected water (e.g., streams, ponds, etc.). In 2013, 1 out of over 200 dogs was diagnosed with a Giardia infection, with dogs in the northeast and central parts of the US being over-represented.

> Lastly, kennel cough was seen in almost 2% of dogs in 2013 (thankfully, not too high!); remember, if you take your dog to a doggy day care, kennel, or dog show, this vaccine should be part of your CORE vaccines. Interestingly enough, kennel cough was seen the most in KY, UT, and FL.

So, how’d our cats rank in the US?

> Sadly, almost 1 out of every 300 cats seen at Banfield in 2013 were infected with FIV, with the highest prevalence being seen in OK, IO, and AR (Arkansas – Yes, I had to verify). Thankfully, cats can live with FIV for a long period of time, but when in doubt, it’s highly contagious – so please still keep your cat inside.

> With FIV, male cats were 3X more likely to be infected than females, and intact cats over 1 year of age were 3.5X more likely to get it also.

> As for the more deadly infection, FELV, 1 out of every 250 cats was positive. Heartbreaking, as this virus is deadly, and results in a dramatically shortened lifespan. The states with the most FELV? ID, AL, SC, and LA. This may be weather related – in the warmer states where cats may be roaming outside more and spreading it more rampantly.

> As for URIs, 18% of juvenile cats were diagnosed with this “common cold,” and were 3X more likely to be diagnosed as compared to older cats. This makes sense as these younger cats are getting adopted from shelters, where there’s more exposure and stress. Unfortunately for Wildcats, the state of KY is infested with URIs: 1 out of every 7 cats was diagnosed with it!

> Overall, 10% of cats seen by Banfield in 2013 were diagnosed with URIs.

> Finally, itchy ear mites: 1 out of every 45 cats in 2013 was diagnosed with this. Now, if you can imagine having microscopic mites crawling in your ears and constantly scraping the inside of your ear drum… you can imagine how miserable this is. So, any itching or brown discharge in the ears is a mustgotothevet now!

Ultimately, this study depressed me as a veterinarian. We are obviously failing to educate about the seriousness of diseases – many of which are treatable and preventable. Keep in mind that there are some infectious diseases that can spread to you too! With cats, toxoplasmosis, and with dogs, leptospirosis (future blog!).

When in doubt, please go to your veterinarian at least once a year – more so when you just purchased or adopted a new pet, as that’s when they need preventative care the most!

Has your dog or cat had any of these? How’d they do?