Dechra Lubrithal Eye Gel - 10g

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Gunn-Moore DA, Werrett G, Harbour DA, Feilden H, Gruffydd-Jones TJ (1995): Prevalence of Chlamydia psittaci antibodies in healthy pet cats in Britain. Vet Rec 136(14), 366-367. Wills JM, Gruffydd-Jones TJ, Richmond SJ, Gaskell RM, Bourne FJ (1987): Effect of vaccination on feline Chlamydia psittaci infection. Infect Immun 55(11), 2653-2657. Chlamydia felis vaccines are non-core. Both inactivated and modified live (attenuated) vaccines, based on whole Chlamydia organisms, are available, but only as components of multivalent vaccine preparations. Vaccines are effective in protecting against clinical manifestation of the disease, however, not against occurrence of infection (Wills et al., 1987). No reliable data are available to compare the efficacy of inactivated versus modified live vaccines.

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 Shelters Streeten BW, Streeten EA (1985): “Blue-body” epithelial cell inclusions in conjunctivitis. Ophthalmology 92(4), 575-579. 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.Segarra S, Papasouliotis K, Helps C (2011): The in vitro effects of proxymetacaine, fluorescein, and fusidic acid on real-time PCR assays used for the diagnosis of Feline herpesvirus 1 and Chlamydophila felis infections. Vet Ophthalmol 14 Suppl 15-8. 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. Chlamydia spp. target mucosal tissues and the primary target for C. felis is the conjunctiva. The incubation period is generally 2-5 days. They primarily cause ocular disease and conjunctivitis, with ocular discharge, hyperaemia of the nictitating membrane, chemosis and blepharospasm can all occur. Chlamydia spp. persistently infect the epithelial cells of the ocular, respiratory, gastrointestinal and/or reproductive systems, although association with disease in some of these systems is poorly understood. Chlamydial organisms can be isolated from the vagina and rectum of cats, but it is unclear whether venereal transmission occurs although there is circumstantial evidence that Chlamydia may cause abortion (Graham and Taylor, 2012).

Longbottom D, Livingstone M (2006): Vaccination against chlamydial infections of man and animals. Veterinary Journal 171(2), 263-275. Chlamydia infection in cats can be treated very effectively with antibiotics. Systemic antibiotics are more effective than local topical treatment (Sparkes et al., 1999). Tetracyclines are generally regarded as the antibiotics of choice for chlamydial infections (Dean et al., 2005). Doxycycline has the advantage of requiring only a single daily dose and is most frequently used at a daily dosage of 10 mg/kg orally, although 5 mg/kg orally twice daily can be used if vomiting occurs with single day dosing. Administration of the hyclate preparation of doxycycline should always be followed by food or water because of the possibility of it inducing oesophagitis in cats with incomplete swallowing. Studies have shown that treatment must be maintained for 4 weeks to ensure elimination of the organism (Dean et al., 2005). In some cats, recrudescence may be noted some time after discontinuation of therapy. Continuation of treatment for two weeks after resolution of clinical signs is recommended. Tetracyclines have potential side effects in young cats although these appear to be less common with doxycycline than oxytetracycline. Alternative antibiotics may be considered if this is a concern. Both enrofloxacin and pradofloxacin have shown some efficacy against Chlamydia spp. (Gerhardt et al., 2006; Hartmann et al., 2008), although pradofloxacin would be preferred over enrofloxacin in view of the diffuse retinal degeneration and acute blindness that has been reported following enrofloxacin treatment in cats, albeit very rarely. A 4-week course of therapy with clavulanic acid potentiated amoxicillin may represent the safest choice of alternative to doxycycline in young kittens (Sturgess et al., 2001). Vaccination Chlamydophila (Chlamydia) guidelines were first published in the J Feline Med Surg 2009; 11: 605-609 by Tim Gruffydd-Jones et al. The present guideline was updated by Séverine Tasker. Synopsis

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. Di Francesco A, Piva S, Baldelli R (2004): Prevalence of Chlamydophila felis by PCR among healthy pet cats in Italy. New Microbiol 27(2), 199-201. 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 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

Vaccination should be considered for cats at risk of exposure to infection, particularly in multicat environments, and if there has been a previous history of Chlamydia infection. Everson JS, Garner SA, Lambden PR, Fane BA, Clarke IN (2003): Host range of chlamydiaphages phiCPAR39 and Chp3. J Bacteriol 185(21), 6490-6492.Consult your vet prior to use if your pet is on any other eye medication or if they are showing any of the following signs: pain or irritation, red or inflamed eyes, excessive tear production, opaque discharge or if your pet is scratching or rubbing at its eyes. Fernandez M, Manzanilla EG, Lloret A, Leon M, Thibault JC (2017): Prevalence of feline herpesvirus-1, feline calicivirus, Chlamydophila felis and Mycoplasma felis DNA and associated risk factors in cats in Spain with upper respiratory tract disease, conjunctivitis and/or gingivostomatitis. J Feline Med Surg 19(4), 461-469. Fig. 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 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.