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- Fever
- Lethargy
- History of fleas or tick infestation
- Swollen lymph nodes or glands
- Lack of appetite
- Stiff, sore muscles
- Vomiting
- Reproductive difficulty
- Eye redness
- Western blot, which tests for antibodies against the Bartonella bacteria. The cat's immune system will make the antibodies once exposed to the bacteria. The presence of these specific antibodies indicates bartonellosis. The blood used for the Western blot test must be sent to an outside lab for the proper diagnosis and takes some time to get the results back.
- Immunofluorescence is used to illuminate antibodies in the blood or tissue using fluorescent dye. The veterinarian will take a sample of the cat's blood and expose it to a specific antibody for Bartonella. The antibody will attach to any bacteria in the sample and glow bright green on the slide under a microscope.
- ELISA testing, which works similarly to the Western blot but takes a shorter period of time to get results. ELISA stands for "enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay" and is used to detect cat bartonellosis by seeing if the cat's body has made antibodies against the Bartonella bacteria.
- Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is an advanced method that tests the cat's blood or a lesion on the affected human for the bacterial DNA of Bartonella.
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