Calicivirus

[livingwith]

My sweet kitten Icky is at the vet-hospital right now being tested for this Feline Calicivirus (FCV). The vet says that his symptoms are textbook for this virus. i dont know how to handle this. i feel so helpless. we have 7 other kittens and most likely they all have it as well.
Icky is our first. he is my baby. my birthday surprise. after him there are two sisters we adopted, and about a week or two ago we rescued another litter of five.
Icky means the world to me. my husband keeps repeating t...Read the full article

[heelsdown]

I have worked in a veterinary hospital for 25 years. I have 4 cats. Rose is 7 years old and just recently was diagnosed with calici virus. I have a younger cat, Toby, that has a mild case and may be able to fight off the disease, only time will tell.Fortunately, we have a veterinary dental specialists that works with us every Wednesday. We ran other virus panels also, but only calici was positive. She lost weight, would scream, hiss, growl and run for no reason (this is due to the pain). She has severe redness in the caudal area (where the jaw hinges) on both sides. she has had a full set of mouth xrays, 2 crownectomies, needs 2 more teeth pulled, has inflamed tonsils, and the areas were "debulked" by use of a laser. The areas looked much better after the laler therapy although this is not a long term solution. We are going to anesthetize her again and be more aggressive with the laser therapy and pull her 2 canines that have suspicious roots. Unlike some stomatitis/gingivitis/faucitis her gums around her teeth are not nearly as inflamed as the back of her mouth. The rule has been to pull all teeth in stomatitis/gingivitis cats as they can have an "allergy" to the tooth and it's enamel (as I understand it). Steroids have also been used extensively. We are doing neither at this point. She is eating CANNED FOOD ONLY (science diet adult) and has gained some of her weight back We are treating her for the pain with transdermal tramadol 12.5 mg twice daily(I rub the cream in her ears twice a day as giving her pills by mouth is very painful.) I had the tramadol formulated by a local drug store. We are also giving her liquid Cimetidine (tagamet) at 30 mgs. three times a day. This is a test. After research, some vets in the UK are using for T cell value. We are also looking into a couple of chinese herbs, and a powder that derives from colostrum (sp?). We tried oral buprenex (buprenorphine) which is a liquid. she would take this, but it did not work as well as the tramadol. We also had her on metacam at a maintenance dose of 1 drop twice weekly. Metacam, however, is a dog drug and prolonged use can cause renal failure in cats.
There is no cure - the thing is to make the cats more comfortable. Please let me know if you need someone to talk to. This is a VERY frustrating disease and painful for the cat. If the cat is not going to be treated, it needs to be euthanized.

[Beanpole]

My vet never recommended euthanizing Mei Ling. Mei Ling is actually a little fatty. We have no behavioral problems with her. She's just a bit reclusive. She doesn't seem to be in any pain. After spending $740 on her, I really am not ready to euthanize her, especially when she doesn't seem to be suffering.

[vickihurst]

How long has your kitty been showing symptoms? I'm going through the same thing right now, but the vet wanted us to treat him at home- he has a feeding tube now, but I think he is slowing dying. I understand your helplessness. The lesson I've learned is STAY AWAY FROM SHELTER CATS. MOST OF THEM ARE PROBABLY CARRIERS!

[Beanpole]

She showed up in our neighborhood around April. I trapped her in June. She was diagnosed with FCV shortly after, of course after I had gotten her spayed, tested for leukemia and AIDS (negative) and had a dental done. The only symtom she has is a brownish discharge from her eyes. She is very reclusive, but that might be due to her not being tame. She will come out from under my bed for me usually and I give her attention and groom her. I have her on a very strong antibiotic now and maybe it somehow might help. Sorry about your kitty. My other cats have been vaccinated against FCV except my other 2 ferals, which only were vaccinated once, when I trapped them. I worry about them but they keep their distance from her and do not like her, though she is so sweet -- wouldn't hurt a fly. She doesn't even want to go outside -- strange since that what my other 2 ferals insisted on.

[heelsdown]

All four of my cats have been routinely vaccinated against calici virus. The vaccine itself is a modified live vaccine, not a killed vaccine. So, the question is do you continue to vaccinate with calici in the future to strengthen the immune system, or will this only make the virus worse as you are introducing more virus into the system? So, even though Rose has had approximately 11 calici virus vaccines prior to coming down with the disease, she still got calici virus. (FYI, there is a new virulent calici strain out there now that causes even worse problems. Check with your veterinarian regarding risk and vaccinating against this new strain of the virus). Also, do you use an immune boosting or suppressing drug to aid in treatment? The veterinarian dealing with my cat has been in contact numerous times with the veterinary specialists at the University of Tennessee Vet School. The answer is, there's no cure and no one knows what if anything will work best. Trial and error is still the only answer at this point. As I post this message,Rose just screamed in pain from the bedroom. Her mouth smells atrocious again, the effects of the laser treatment have worn off.

In regard to Mei Ling, I was not championing euthanasia for all calici infected cats. However, ones affected as bad as my Rose need to be euthanized if the owner is unwilling or unable to afford treatment. Rose's mouth is EXTREMELY painful without the pain medicine. It's even painful to a degree with the pain medicine. I have seen cats that the owner chose not to treat for this painful disease and it breaks my heart to know the cat is hurting so very badly. In regarding to dollar amount of treatment, I am over $3000.00 and that is at my veterinary discount rate of cost plus 10%.

[Beanpole]

I'm so sorry about Rose.

I read where stomatitis is the most pain a cat can have. Mei Ling doesn't seem to be in any pain. When she does get that bad, I will put her down.

I'm going to the vet today for a yearly exam for another cat, so I will ask my vet about that strain of calici. I'm sure Mei Ling has it as my vet said it was very dangerous and nasty. And I did read there is nothing you can do about it, plus the stomatitis.

As far as my other cats go....I will just hope they will be OK. All of them were ferals or strays before I took them in. Maybe they are stronger than your average housecat -- survival of the fittest and all.