Veterinarians warn cat owners of Bobcat Fever in Arkansas

It’s called Bobcat Fever, or Cytauxzoon Felis, and the Harrison Animal Clinic gets a couple cases a week during this time of year.

One of the clinic's recent cases was Chip. He was just one year old.

Jessica Willis, Chip's owner, said, "He'd just walk the trails with us. He'd go ahead and turn around to look to see if you're still coming. And then whenever I stepped out on the back porch I could holler for him. I'd be like, 'Chippy come here,' and he would come back to the house."

But Jessica said a couple weeks ago she noticed Chip wasn't himself.

"He was lethargic," she said, "He wasn't eating or drinking anything. He was running a fever."

The vet told her Chip had Bobcat Fever, a disease a lone star tick picks up from a bobcat, then passes it on when it bites a domestic cat.

Dr. Heath Jones, a veterinarian with Harrison Animal Clinic, said, "The most prevalence in the whole United States is probably north central Arkansas. Probably Harrison is right in the center."

The odds are about 50/50 of a cat surviving bobcat fever, depending on when it's caught.

But Chip couldn't fight it off.

Willis said, "We hoped that maybe we'd love him enough that he could push through it. But he passed away Thursday night."

The disease kills the cat by attacking the red blood cells and the lungs.

Dogs and humans can't catch the disease.

There's no vaccine and no way to completely prevent the disease from spreading to cats, but there are ways to lower the risks.

An indoor cat could get the disease if the tick is brought in by another animal or person, but it's less likely to get it than an outdoor cat.

Jones said, "There's a three-month flea/tick topical called Bravecto Cat, and then Seresto cat which is an eight-month flea and tick collar. But those are not guaranteed to prevent the disease, but they help lower the chances."

And it could help another cat from suffering like Chip.

Willis said, "I would've emptied my accounts if it would've saved him. So it's worth it to take them in and get it checked out. And if they catch it early enough they might be able to stop it."