LONG LASTING – carbomer lubricating fluid helps retain moisture in the tear film for much longer than many eye drops Halanova M, Petrova L, Halan M, Trbolova A, Babinska I, Weissova T (2019): Impact of way of life and environment on the prevalence of Chlamydia felis in cats as potentional sources of infection for humans. Ann Agric Environ Med 26(2), 222-226. In catteries with endemic Chlamydia infection, the first step is generally treatment of all cats in the household with doxycycline for at least 4 weeks to attempt to eliminate the infection. In some cattery cats a minimum of 6 to 8 weeks of treatment has been shown to be necessary to eliminate natural infection. Once clinical signs have been controlled, cats should be vaccinated to provide protection against disease should re-infection of the cattery occur. Immunocompromised cats ABCD follows a recent nomenclature proposal to classify all 11 currently recognized Chlamydiaceae species in a single genus, the genus Chlamydia (Sachse et al., 2015); these species include Chlamydia felis, Chlamydia pneumoniae and Chlamydia psittaci. C. felis is the species typically seen infecting cats. Streeten BW, Streeten EA (1985): “Blue-body” epithelial cell inclusions in conjunctivitis. Ophthalmology 92(4), 575-579.

O’Dair HA, Hopper CD, Gruffydd-Jones TJ, Harbour DA, Waters L (1994): Clinical aspects of Chlamydia psittaci infection in cats infected with feline immunodeficiency virus. Vet Rec 134(15), 365-368. Azuma Y, Hirakawa H, Yamashita A, Cai Y, Rahman MA, Suzuki H, Mitaku S, Toh H, Goto S, Murakami T, Sugi K, Hayashi H, Fukushi H, Hattori M, Kuhara S, Shirai M (2006): Genome sequence of the cat pathogen, Chlamydophila felis. DNA Res 13(1), 15-23. Everson JS, Garner SA, Lambden PR, Fane BA, Clarke IN (2003): Host range of chlamydiaphages phiCPAR39 and Chp3. J Bacteriol 185(21), 6490-6492.

Dechra Academy launches interactive CPD modules for unintended feline weight loss keyboard_arrow_down Nakanishi H, Furuya M, Soma T, Hayashiuchi Y, Yoshiuchi R, Matsubayashi M, Tani H, Sasai K (2019): Prevalence of microorganisms associated with feline gingivostomatitis. J Feline Med Surg 21(2), 103-108. Sparkes AH, Caney SM, Sturgess CP, Gruffydd-Jones TJ (1999): The clinical efficacy of topical and systemic therapy for the treatment of feline ocular chlamydiosis. J Feline Med Surg 1(1), 31-35. Dean R, Harley R, Helps C, Caney S, Gruffydd-Jones T (2005): Use of quantitative real-time PCR to monitor the response of Chlamydophila felis infection to doxycycline treatment. J Clin Microbiol 43(4), 1858-1864.

The genome of C. felis has been sequenced (Azuma et al., 2006). There is extensive nucleotide sequence homology between the genomes of various Chlamydia species. The membrane contains important families of proteins: the major outer membrane proteins (MOMPs) and polymorphic outer membrane proteins (POMPs). The organism attaches to sialic acid receptors of cells. It has a unique pattern of replication within cells, involving reticulate bodies and elementary bodies. The latter represent the infectious forms of the micro-organism that are released following cell lysis. Some C. felis isolates appear to contain plasmids, and this may be related to their pathogenic ability (Everson et al., 2003). Epidemiology Sturgess CP, Gruffydd-Jones TJ, Harbour DA, Jones RL (2001): Controlled study of the efficacy of clavulanic acid-potentiated amoxycillin in the treatment of Chlamydia psittaci in cats. Vet Rec 149, 73-76. Wu SM, Huang SY, Xu MJ, Zhou DH, Song HQ, Zhu XQ (2013): Chlamydia felis exposure in companion dogs and cats in Lanzhou, China: a public health concern. BMC Vet Res 9104. Sanderson H, Vasquez M, Killion H, Vance M, Sondgeroth K, Fox J (2021): Fatal Chlamydia psittaci infection in a domestic kitten. J Vet Diagn Invest 33(1), 101-103. Vaccination of kittens generally begins at 8-9 weeks of age with a second injection 3-4 weeks later at around 12 weeks of age. Limited information is available about the duration of immunity. There is some evidence that previously infected cats can become vulnerable to re-infection after a year or more. Annual boosters are recommended for cats that are at continued risk of exposure to infection. Disease control in specific situations SheltersFig. 4. Indirect immunofluorescence test to titrate antibody directed against Chlamydia felis; infected cell culture serves as the antigen substrate. Courtesy of The Feline Centre, Langford Vets, University of Bristol, UK Treatment Graham EM, Taylor DJ (2012): Bacterial reproductive pathogens of cats and dogs. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract 42(3), 561-582, vii.