3 days ago
Vets find ‘something no one expected' up kitten's nose. And it can be deadly
Unless you're a die-hard cat lover or veterinarian, chances are you haven't heard of a potentially deadly parasite that can find its way into the orifices of your favorite feline friend.
The staff at a New York shelter unexpectedly stumbled upon this particular parasite up the nose of a tiny kitten they thought they were treating for an upper respiratory infection.
'Taylor is only five weeks old, but he's already shown incredible resilience!' the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Serving Erie County said in a Aug. 13 Facebook post.
'He and his siblings were found outside by their current owner, and when he arrived at our Lipsey Veterinary Clinic, he showed signs of an upper respiratory infection. During his exam, our team discovered something no one expected — a cuterebra larva lodged inside his tiny nostril.'
A cuterebra infestation isn't something to sneer at.
'They're larva from adult botflies that can burrow under a cat's skin or, more alarmingly, enter through the nose and migrate to the brain,' Cornell Cat Watch says.
Dwight Bowman, a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, told Cat Watch that an infestation is 'more rural than urban and suburban.'
But it is a high-risk infection.
'If it ends up developing its lesion in the skin and migrates deep into the cat's body, it is lethal. The effects are neurologic,' Bowman says. 'Less significant infestations are subcutaneous big maggots the size of the end of the thumb under the skin.'
Owners should contact a veterinarian when finding one on or in their cat and not try to remove it themselves.
'If not removed, the larva will exit the skin in about 30 days, drop to the ground, pupate and become an adult fly,' Cat Watch says.
This particular larva discovered in Taylor was found in time.
'Thanks to gentle, careful work from our veterinary team, the larva was safely removed while Taylor was sedated. Today, this small but determined kitten is resting, healing, and growing stronger each day!' the shelter said.
Taylor is not currently up for adoption.
For more information on other adoptable pets, visit the shelter's website.
Erie County is about a 20-mile drive south from Buffalo.
