Research has shown that cats show visible signs within five days of exposure to this bacterium
This isn't true as it can be an asymptomatic disease. In other words your cat can have the disease without displaying any symptoms.
Outward symptoms Dino displayed were never more than rale and cough. Within 12 hours of first symptom revealing itself Dino was at the emergency room with a collapsed trachea.
Cats that have been treated and recovered can "carry" the bacterium and shed it for up to nineteen weeks - that is it...scientifically speaking, cats who have been treated stop shedding after a period of time, so no, they are NOT carriers for life or years - unless they are asymptomatic carriers and not treated...
I've never known anyone who has had a cat/kitten with bortadella so was not familiar with it at all. Very glad it is easily treated and not one of those dreaded life-long diseases!
This kind of sums it all up. We never hear about Bordatella because it's blindly treated as a "kitty cold" with the presence of some sniffles or a cough. Give the cat some Clavamox and in a week or ten days they're better and not showing any symptoms. Meanwhile they are shedding the bacteria for the next 4 and a half months because it takes as many as 3 weeks of treatment to clear it.
Additionally, a carrier that has built some immunity to the disease and having gone through colonization of the bacteria, post displaying any symptoms can have the bacteria recolonize in times of stress. This is especially true with birthing mothers. Wash, Spin, Rinse, Repeat.
What transpired in Dino's case is pretty rare for cats, but very common in dogs. There isn't any difference in the bacteria between species, just some differences in how cats and dogs respond to the bacteria. Like anything else, Bordetella is evolving and changing and the Internal Medicine Specialist Dino was under the care of preferred using Doxycycline to treat Bordetella as in many acute cases Clavamox was ineffective.
While this disease in cats is generally pretty mild, with Dino's case it's a glimpse of what an acute case can look like and how the secondary symptoms can become life threatening. Again, with Dogs this happens on a much more regular basis and why dogs who are regularly kenneled are required to be vaccinated twice a year for Bordetella.
Because the disease is generally pretty easy to treat it's not recommended to be immunized for in cats, even those in high risk categories such as shelters or catteries. The lone exception is cats who repeatedly show outward symptoms or are known to be frequent carriers.
In all what I have learned is that I don't have any idea where my cats contracted the bacteria from. That despite there only being one other documented case that was posted on these boards, in addition to my own, there have probably been hundreds of them that have been blindly treated by a vet or breeder. Likewise categorically denying potential sources without testing is naive and foolhardy as no symptoms need to exist for Bordetella to be present.
