Cat Flu

Cat flu is the common name for a feline upper respiratory tract disease. While feline upper respiratory disease can be caused by several different pathogens, there are a few symptoms that they have in common.

Avian flu can also infect cats, but "cat flu" is generally a misnomer, since it usually does not refer to an infection by an influenza virus. Instead, it is a syndrome, a term referring to patients displaying a number of symptoms that can be caused by one or more of these infectious agents (pathogens):

1. Feline herpes virus causing feline viral rhinotracheitis (cat common cold). This is the disease most commonly associated with the "cat flu" misnomer.
2. Feline calicivirus—(cat respiratory disease)
3. Bordetella bronchiseptica—(cat kennel cough)
4. Chlamydophila felis—(chlamydia)

In South Africa the term cat flu is also used to refer to canine parvovirus. This is misleading, as transmission of the canine parvovirus rarely involves cats.