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Rarely is a house flooded with such tenderness as when a cat gives birth to her litter and takes care of her cubs. The mother's nursing and attention during the first three weeks will be of great importance for the proper development of the kittens and adequate attention to the mother by the owner will be essential to keep the cat in good health, through the necessary care.
After the cat's pregnancy, certain health problems typical of these postpartum stages can occur and it is important that the owner is aware of them in order to detect any disorder as soon as possible, since timely treatment is vital for recovery of the cat.
In this article by Animal Expert we talk about Symptoms and Treatment of Mastitis in Cats.
What is mastitis?
Mastitis is defined as a inflammation of the mammary glands, the number of glands affected may vary in each case. Despite being a common problem in the postpartum period, it can appear for other reasons.
The death of a kitten, an abrupt weaning, the lack of hygiene or the suckling of the puppies are also factors that can predispose to the appearance of mastitis.
Sometimes mastitis goes beyond a simple inflammation and also involves infection, in this case, the bacteria that most commonly affect female cats are the Escherichia Coli, Staphylococci, streptococci and enterococci.
Usually the infection starts in the nipple and ascends to the mammary glands, mastitis can range from mild inflammation with only mild symptoms to severe infection with gangrene (death of tissue from lack of blood supply).
mastitis symptoms
You symptoms of mastitis in cats are very variable depending on its severity, however, from the mildest to the most severe cases, the following signs are grouped:
- The litter does not gain adequate weight (set at 5% weight gain after birth)
- The cat does not want to breastfeed her puppies
- Moderate inflammation of the glands, which appear hard, painful and sometimes ulcerated
- Abscess formation or gangrene
- Hemorrhagic or purulent breast discharge
- Milk with increased viscosity
- Anorexia
- Fever
- vomiting
If we observe some of these symptoms in our cat we should go to the vet urgently, since mastitis can be very serious for both the mother and the puppies.
Mastitis Diagnosis
To diagnose mastitis, the veterinarian will rely on the cat's symptoms and complete history, but may also perform several of the following. diagnostic tests:
- Breast secretion cytology (cell study)
- Bacterial culture of milk
- Blood test where you can see an increase in white blood cells in case of infection and a change in platelets, if there is gangrene.
mastitis treatment
Properly treat mastitis does not mean to interrupt the lactation of the puppies, which must have a minimum duration that varies between 8 to 12 weeks, in fact, weaning is reserved only for those cases where there is the formation of abscesses or gangrenous mastitis.
Continuing with breastfeeding will favor the drainage of the breasts, and although the milk is poorer and contaminated by antibiotics, this does not pose a danger to the kittens.
The veterinarian should choose one broad spectrum antibiotic to carry out the treatment, the most common being the following:
- amoxicillin
- Amoxicillin + Clavulanic Acid
- Cephalexin
- cefoxitin
The treatment will have a approximate duration of 2-3 weeks and it can be done at home, with the exception of those cases where there is generalized infection or sepsis.
In the case of mastitis with gangrene, surgical intervention can be used to remove the necrotic tissue. The prognosis is good in most cases.
This article is for information purposes only, at PeritoAnimal.com.br we are not able to prescribe veterinary treatments or perform any type of diagnosis. We suggest that you take your pet to the veterinarian in case it has any type of condition or discomfort.