Children often demand pets, and cats seem easier to manage than a horse or a monkey. Pet cats are always around, provide companionship and are unconditionally loving and loyal, offering emotional comfort, especially through their purring and cuddling. Pet owners are also less likely to have stress-related high blood pressure and may have a reduced risk of adverse cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes.
Cats roam freely outdoors, slipping out on their own day or night and returning when they are ready. They seldom soil their immediate surroundings and only need to be fed regularly. While this makes cat ownership seem less physically demanding, it also brings other concerns.
People are aware that dogs can transmit rabies but many do not realise that cats can transmit it as well. Cats often fight with other cats. During such encounters, they may contract rabies and either become symptomatic and die or remain asymptomatic carriers for a time. There is, therefore, a very real danger of them unknowingly transmitting this fatal disease to their human owners.
Cats, especially kittens, may scratch their owners either playfully or in anger. This can lead to an infection called cat scratch disease. It may cause fever, headache, sore muscles and joints, fatigue, poor appetite and enlarged lymph nodes. The illness can last 2-4 months before spontaneous recovery occurs, even without antibiotics. If the treating doctor does not know that you were scratched by a cat, you may be subjected to many unnecessary and expensive investigations.
Cats can also transmit other infections through their saliva, urine and faeces. Owners may develop infections such as giardiasis and salmonellosis, which cause abdominal cramping, pain and diarrhoea. Like humans, cats can be infected with intestinal parasites, which they may pass on to their owners.
A particularly dangerous infection spread by cats is toxoplasmosis. If a pregnant woman contracts toxoplasmosis, it can result in miscarriage or congenital abnormalities in the baby. In non-pregnant individuals, it is less dangerous.
Mites and fleas can also spread from cats to humans. They may bite the skin, causing redness and intense itching. These parasites can hide in furniture, infest the entire household and cause re-infection.
Immunisation is essential for house cats. The core vaccines, recommended for all cats, FVRCP and rabies protect against feline panleukopenia, herpesvirus, calicivirus and rabies, which can spread to humans. Vaccination should begin as early as six to eight weeks of age, with boosters at 10-12 weeks and again at 16 weeks. After this, booster doses are required annually or every three years.
Household members should protect themselves with three doses of pre-exposure rabies vaccine. If scratched or bitten, immediately wash the wound with soap and running water for at least five minutes. Apply an antibiotic ointment and lightly cover the wound with sterile gauze. Seek immediate medical attention.
The writer has a family practice at Vellore and is the author of Staying Healthy in Modern India. If you have any questions on health issues please write to yourhealthgm@yahoo.co.in