Align-ju STUDENT

DOI : 10.56496 / SFCS6883

Jude Bradbury , BVSc , CertAVP , MRCVS , FHEA https :// orcid . org / 0000-0001-5210-9524 Royal Veterinary College , Hertfordshire

ENVELOPE jubradbury @ rvc . ac . uk

Jude qualified as a veterinary surgeon from the University of Liverpool in 2010 . After working in clinical practice for 10 years , she transitioned into veterinary education . She initially taught veterinary nurses at Nottingham Trent University before becoming the examinations manager in the education department at the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons . In January 2023 she joined the Royal Veterinary College as a senior teaching fellow in primary veterinary care .

ABSTRACT Feline flea anaemia is a potentially fatal disease . It is commonly seen around the world , despite the ability to prevent its occurrence with anti-ectoparasite medications . Its severity can result in cats being admitted to the veterinary practice for intensive nursing care . While the management of these cases can be similar to that of other species , such as dogs , there are factors in the feline patient that can make it more difficult . Blood transfusion is recommended for feline flea-anaemic patients with a packed cell volume < 10 %, but transfusions in cats carry a high level of risk , including anaphylactic shock and death if performed incorrectly . Providing nutritional support can also be difficult , due to the size of the patient and the possibility of needing a feeding tube . These cases therefore pose a need to balance risks and benefits , which the veterinary nurse may find challenging but rewarding .

Keywords flea , anaemia , nursing care

Introduction

Fleas are blood-sucking ectoparasites commonly seen on animals and birds worldwide , with Ctenocephalides felis being one of the most common species of flea encountered in veterinary practice . The life cycle of the flea involves four stages [ 1 ] : the adult flea feeds on the animal before mating and laying eggs , which drop off into the environment before hatching into larvae , which eventually form the pupae from which new adults emerge .

In the veterinary practice , animals are often presented with small numbers of adult fleas , and the veterinary nurse ( VN ) is able to provide advice on the correct treatment of the patient , along with information about the environment that accounts for around 95 % of the flea ’ s life cycle . However , fleas can cause and transmit other diseases , such as flea-allergic dermatitis [ 2 ] , bartonellosis [ 3 ] and anaemia , which can result in a patient ' s presentation to the veterinary practice . This article will focus on one of the diseases caused by this parasite : feline flea anaemia .

Volume 38 ( 2 ) • April 2023

39