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Did cat have bubonic plague?
Disease centre tests to pinpoint feline's deadly illness

Glenda Luymes
The Province

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Scientists at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control are running tests to determine if a Maple Ridge cat died of the bubonic plague.

"It's on the list of possible causes, but I wouldn't say it's at the top of the list," the centre's public health veterinarian Brian Radke said Friday.

Although early tests show Tango, a one-year-old tabby, died from a different bacterium, the black plague can't be ruled out until the final test results come back in a few weeks.

Because of the risk to human health, the BCCDC was alerted to the possible plague case by the Fraser Health Authority.

"We need to follow up and clarify what it is," said Radke. "Small rodents can carry the plague. I imagine we do have some in B.C. at a very, very low level."

Tango's owner and her daughter, Eva Renios, were shocked to discover their cat may have contracted the plague. "She wasn't looking too well, so we took her to the vet," explained Renios.

"We had no idea it was so serious."

Tango was given medicine for an infection, but she didn't get any better. Renios brought her back to the vet a few days later and an X-ray showed a partial blockage in her intestinal area.

"Me and my mom had bets on what she swallowed. She though it was a small, fake, furry mouse. I thought it was an acorn or rock."

It was neither.

The veterinarian found an abscessed lymph node and removed it. Tests revealed a bacterium that could be yersinia pestis, or the black death. The next day, Tango's other lymph nodes began to swell. The vet recommended she be put down to prevent suffering.

"She was in horrible pain, and the chances of medication working at that point were so slim," said Renios.

Dr. David Loff with the Eastridge Animal Hospital in Maple Ridge said he was not able to make a firm diagnosis of Tango's illness.

"It's a little too early to say if this is a case of the plague," he said. "Certainly it's one of the possible causes of death."

Renios said she wants other cat owners to be aware pets can pick up diseases outside. "Cats live longer if they stay indoors. Tango had a short little life, but she was full of life."