Why do ‘crowds of cats’ have have any problems at all? Surely it’s traditional to keep cats in groups?
You love them, you feed them and there they are with weeping eyes again! It’s a hard pill to swallow to find that it is often the numbers of cats that we keep that are the major cause of their ongoing ‘disease problems’!
Cats evolved as ‘solitary’ creatures, in low density populations, in semi-arid environments.This is obviously the antithesis of the way many cats live now in our modern world, and the diseases which evolved with the cats are doing better under the new conditions than many cats are!
Examples of problems which thrive in high density feline populations are fleas,ringworm and most of the viruses that afflict cats’ respiratory and immune systems. Control of any of these conditions requires an intense review of the unique situation involved (i.e. if you have a problem, you need to find your solution), however, general comments and reflections can be made.
Whenever a feline problem presents, be it nutritional, behavioural, environmental or infectious, it is helpful to consider ‘what is different in this cat’s life from how it would be living in it’s natural state’. When cats live closely with other cats, in groups of more than about three or four, then social and environmental problems increase (usually exponentially!). When cats are fed non-carnivore diets, even more problems arise--a mouse is 80% water, mostly protein, high fat, some minerals and no carbohydrate! With these basics in mind, a general picture of ‘good cattery management’ can be painted.
Water and elbow grease are the essential ingredients--there is no chemical, other than formaldehyde (very nasty stuff),which will do as good a job at disease prevention and decontamination as a good wash--this is for hands, utensils, food bowls and floors--and then careful drying (preferably air dry).Detergents may be necessary to remove ‘organic material’, rinse again, then bleach or chlorine-based disinfectants as a follow up. Interestingly, ultraviolet light (good old sunshine-think semi-arid again!) kills nearly every infectious agent cats have problems with.
Cats need to be kept in small, stable groups if possible. (This includes the queen-kitten group, so don’t mix different litters after weaning for example.) Attention here minimises the Stress Factor which is cited as the underlying problem for many neonatal deaths and breeding problems. The one thing in the world which reliably gets a cat’s attention, is another cat! 80% of the time they will hiss and be rude to another cat. In fact, the cortisol (stress hormone) release in an antagonistic encounter is at least as strong as an immunosuppressive(cancer-strength) dose of cortisone, and will trigger a ‘flu carrier’ cat to excrete virus again. Hence, minimising stressful and distracting fellow feline encounters will reduce many of the chronic viral problems.
Washing off ‘for mites’ (blobs of virus in mucous on feeding bowls, litter trays, water bowls hands and cleaning utensils) between groups will then minimise the spread of diseases. The litter box is actually regarded by leading experts on viruses as the‘prime mover’ of most of cat’s problems--the spread of flu viruses, Feline Infectious Peritonitis Virus, Chlamydia, panleukopenia virus, ringworm spores etc. And of course the litter tray is also the place where cat’s express their social frustrations--by not using it! The many and varied causes for ‘inappropriate elimination’ cannot be covered here, but a significant number are because the cat doesn’t think the owner is being meticulous enough with their litter tray!
Kittens are of course the primary indicators of problems--they’re just not sturdy enough to resist assaults on their organ systems by any infectious agents. Thus kittens act as ‘multipliers’--any disease-producing agent which they get grows well--so they excrete larger numbers of infectious agents (be it virus, fungus or bacteria), the agents tend to become more virulent (aggressive) and they excrete them for longer. This means more kittens can be infected, and so the circle goes. Breaking the circle goes back to the ‘original blueprint’--small numbers of cats in a clean and dry environment, fed a very high quality diet.
This includes recording ALL Births, Deaths and Marriages. As a cattery slips into disease problems, the numbers of kittens per litter declines, or perhaps there will be more deaths in the neonatal period. Any death (and prior symptoms of decline) should all be recorded--MEMORY IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Where possible, the kitten (or adult) should be examined by a vet--look upon the effort as helping to save the next generation, as ‘just trying things to fix it’ COSTS MORE KITTEN LIVES, which is both sad and expensive.
All matings should be recorded, and related to the robustness of the offspring. This will detect genetic problems earlier and more efficiently than genetic testing. If a female is mated to one particular male and then produces few or poorly kittens, it may not be mum to blame... Record these ‘marriages’ and the results as carefully as the births and deaths.
Some accepted statistics indicating a healthy cattery situation are: kittens born weighing more than 100 gms (those < 80 gms rarely survive because their hearts and lungs cannot cope in the outside world), who sleep after drinking (=mum has enough milk), who gain 10 gm per day, who start on kitten gruels at 3 - 4 weeks old and wean at 6 - 7 weeks weighing 550 gms and with a minimum of separation anxiety and fussy eating.
Obviously there is a great deal of variation between breeds and breeders (Maine Coone vs. Singapura!), but if you track your cats’ progress, then any changes in the pattern will indicate a problem emerging before it becomes endemic (=more or less built in!).
Cattery owners are all dedi-cat-ed people, who love their cats singly and as a colony. However, maintaining groups of cats is going against a few million years of evolution, and it requires time, effort and involvement to keep them healthy.
Catteries won’t run on autopilot!Enjoy your cats, record their ups and downs, and ask for help early--there’s always someone else who has been there before!