Immunocompromised cats should only be vaccinated when it is deemed absolutely necessary, and then an inactivated vaccine should be used. Zoonotic risk Please note that parcels weighing over 2kg may be sent via courier due to Royal Mail weight restrictions. Lubrithal Eye Gel is sterile, and contains cetrimide & disodium EDTA as the preservative/stabilizer.

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 Halanova M, Petrova L, Halan M, Trbolova A, Babinska I, Weissova T (2019): Impact of way of life and environment on the prevalence of Chlamydia felis in cats as potentional sources of infection for humans. Ann Agric Environ Med 26(2), 222-226. Harley R, Herring A, Egan K, Howard P, Gruffydd-Jones T, Azuma Y, Shirai M, Helps C (2007): Molecular characterisation of 12 Chlamydophila felis polymorphic membrane protein genes. Vet Microbiol 124(3-4), 230-238. Everson JS, Garner SA, Lambden PR, Fane BA, Clarke IN (2003): Host range of chlamydiaphages phiCPAR39 and Chp3. J Bacteriol 185(21), 6490-6492.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. Nakanishi H, Furuya M, Soma T, Hayashiuchi Y, Yoshiuchi R, Matsubayashi M, Tani H, Sasai K (2019): Prevalence of microorganisms associated with feline gingivostomatitis. J Feline Med Surg 21(2), 103-108. Wills JM, Howard PE, Gruffydd-Jones TJ, Wathes CM (1988): Chlamydia psittaci in different cat populations in Britain. J Small Anim Pract 29337-339. 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. 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.

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 Sibitz C, Rudnay EC, Wabnegger L, Spergser J, Apfalter P, Nell B (2011): Detection of Chlamydophila pneumoniae in cats with conjunctivitis. Vet Ophthalmol 14 Suppl 167-74. Lang GH (1992): Ontario. Prevalence of antibodies of Coxiella and Chlamydia spp. in cats in Ontario. Can Vet J 33(2), 134. 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. Wu SM, Huang SY, Xu MJ, Zhou DH, Song HQ, Zhu XQ (2013): Chlamydia felis exposure in companion dogs and cats in Lanzhou, China: a public health concern. BMC Vet Res 9104.The nature of the protective immune responses to Chlamydia infection is uncertain. However cellular immune responses are believed to play a crucial role in protection (Longbottom and Livingstone, 2006). The MOMPs and POMPs are important targets for protective immune responses in other species (Longbottom and Livingstone, 2006) and have been shown to exist in the cat (Harley et al., 2007). Clinical signs 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. 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

ABCD follows a recent nomenclature proposal to classify all 11 currently recognized Chlamydiaceae species in a single genus, the genus Chlamydia (Sachse et al., 2015); these species include Chlamydia felis, Chlamydia pneumoniae and Chlamydia psittaci. C. felis is the species typically seen infecting cats. Graham EM, Taylor DJ (2012): Bacterial reproductive pathogens of cats and dogs. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract 42(3), 561-582, vii.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. 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. 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). 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 Lipman NS, Yan LL, Murphy JC (1994): Probable transmission of Chlamydia psittaci from a macaw to a cat. J Am Vet Med Assoc 204(9), 1479-1480.