ForestWind Siberian Cats

We lost one of our special Russian boys last autumn, he was one of the first Siberians we had the pleasure of sharing our home with. It's been a year now, and we wanted to share with you what we learned, as well as celebrate what a wonderful boy he was. He was the sweetest, most gentle and affectionate boy, and we knew something was wrong when his personality changed. He became unpredictable and aggressive. We brought him to the Vet's where we learned that he had a systemic bone infection called cryptococcosis.                 

We'd never heard of it, and were initially mistakenly told that it was a fungal disease only known in the American south west. Researching more, we learned that Cryptococcus neoformans, the fungus that causes this disease, is ordinarily found in soils. It enters and infects the body through the lungs. Once inhaled, infection with cryptococcosis may go away on its own, remain in the lungs only, or spread throughout the body (disseminate).  

Although our boy was too sick to save, our Vet complimented us for bringing him in based on a change in temperament. He told us that cats are masters at hiding illness. We all need to take special care when grooming, playing with and observing our feline buddies to note changes in temperament, behavior, or playfulness.

Generally, this disease shows as a cough or other minor complication that the body heals on its own. But turns out that those with weakened immune systems are more likely to have serious, or fatal, infections from the fungus. When we looked back, we realized that this boy had been sick off and on from kittenhood. His initial delivery to us was delayed for weeks due to what was believed to be minor illness. He fought what seemed at the time to be repeated "small" infections - generally intestinal problems that would be attributed to one common problem or another, treated and healed. After his death, we combed his history, and put together that even litters sired by him had unusual sickly kittens or babies still born. The same mothers mated to other males had no problems.

Our sad experience with this Angel taught us that any cat who presents as a sick kitten should not be used in a breeding program. Being a 'whole' cat in cattery life is stressful. Sexual hormones result in increased physical activity, emotional stress, and anxiety. In a breeding situation, there is usually at least one other whole male. There are females in heat that may not be being bred. All of these scents and natural instincts can be upsetting to a cat with a weak immune system. Additionally, expected activities like outside studding, folks visiting for allergy testing, or showing can be very stressful for cats. For example, showing involves travel, staying in an unfamiliar location, meeting many peiople, the other whole cats' scents, being handled over and over by judges for several days...

Had we been experienced breeders, when this loving kitten arrived, we would have known these points, and would have neutered this sweet boy and placed him as a loving pet. It may not have saved his life if he was exposed to the same fungus in his new home, but fewer exposures to new situations, and the lack of the stressors as a stud would - we beleive - have contributed to a longer life.

Below we share the information published by Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine on this illness

We love you and miss you, our sweet boy...

Q We recently lost our much loved 2-1/2-year-old cat. He and his mate were originally feral, but with patience and TLC, they became loving pets. It took awhile, but I got their outdoor time down to one-half hour to two hours a day.

But when we took them for their annual examination, I noticed a small swelling on Poppy's underside, and asked the doctor to check it. He said it was just a "fat ball" and was nothing to worry about. Five days later, we took him back because the "fat ball" was growing and had turned dark pink. The doctor suspected it was a bacterial infection and started him on antibiotics, but the swelling continued to grow at an alarming rate over the next several days, turning purple. We returned to the veterinarian, who was shaken. He punctured the swelling, expecting pus to come out, but was surprised to see only dark old blood.

A specialist removed the by-now huge swelling and sent a biopsy to a pathologist. It was not anything we'd ever heard of. It was cryptococcosis. Poppy did not survive.

I later learned that the disease is spread via pigeon droppings. What else can you tell us about this disease?

A Systemic fungal infections, such as the one your cat had, are caused by the fungi Histoplasma capsulatum, Blastomyces dermatitis, Coccidioides immitis, and Cryptococcus neoformans Generally, they are rare in cats. Infection with Cryptococcus is the most common. A number of reports of cryptococcosis (disease caused by infection with the Cryptococcus fungus) have been published since the early 1950's when the disease was first described in cats.

Inhaled fungus
Cats probably become infected by inhaling the organisms (skin involvement is believed to result when it spreads from other areas of the body, although infection stemming from an injury to the skin is possible). Cryptococcosis can involve many different organ systems - thus, the term systemic - including the skin, the brain and spinal cord, the nasal passages and other parts of the respiratory system, the eyes, the bone marrow, the liver, and the kidneys. More than likely, the mass found under Poppy's skin was just the tip of the iceberg.

Prevent it
As with all the systemic fungal infections, treatment is lengthy, expensive, and often unsuccessful. Preventing infection would be the ideal solution: just keep cats away from places where the fungi are present and all should be okay. Unfortunately, it's not that simple, because the organism is ubiquitous in the environment. It is commonly found in the soil (being a saprophytic, yeast-like fungus that feeds on dead plant and animal material) and even on the skin, in the mouth, and in the gastrointestinal tract of healthy humans-and presumably cats, as well. It's found in highest concentrations in pigeon droppings, where it remains capable of causing infections for at least several years.

Natural resistance
Healthy humans, cats, and other species are by nature quite resistant to infection - so resistant, in fact, that if a person becomes infected with the fungus, it always heralds the need to look for some underlying disorder of the immune system (such as AIDS and certain forms of cancer). Upwards of 5-10% of human AIDS patients develop cryptococcosis at some time during their illness because of suppression of their immune system. In some studies, cats with cryptococcosis were more likely to be infected with feline leukemia virus or feline immunodeficiency virus - both of which cause immunosuppressive disorders - than the general feline population. However, underlying disease is usually not found in cats with cryptococcosis, so the reasons why some cats become infected with the organism while the vast majority do not are simply not known at this time.

Prevention of exposure to the fungus is not possible, but it's a good idea to keep cats away from areas where the fungus is likely to be present in high numbers. Avoid areas that have high concentrations of pigeon droppings, especially damp, shaded buildings where the Cryptococcus organism can survive for long periods. Don't worry that you might have become infected from Poppy. Contact with infected pets is not a risk to people.

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/FHC/askDr/fungusInfection.htm