[merlinsmom]

Hello and man am I glad to have found this forum.!! Merlin, last year had horrible bad breath that went away with antobiotics but the vet (smart girl) warned us that if it came back, he would need a swab for a test for this FCV virus. well, it came right back! He was just this past week diagnosed with this awful virus.

Merlin is 3 years old and has a sister (from the same parents but different litter) and a sister from America ( we are in the UK).Neither of his sisters seem to be having any problems but he is miserable.

Since his diagnosis he is eating very little (today ate nothing and vomited). I have tried, chicken breast, tuna, AD by Science diet etc and he is interested in none of it. He usually drinks a lot of icewater but again today very little. He did clean his precious face today so not yet an emergency situation.

They have prescribed and he has taken an oral painkiller for the past 4 days which is to be given with food...but HE WILL NOT EAT After I give it to him and the pain apparently subsides, he does eat some.

So, I have had cats all of my life and have lived through caring for them with various cancers, thyroid conditions, kidney disease and kidney stones. This is a new one to me!

Apparently this is non curable so any ideas how long he will be miserable or how often it returns to an active thing? He has always had all of his vacinations since he was a kitten and the cattery has never shown any signs of having this problem. He is an indoor cat also!!

[Midgie]

The poor little baby!I adopted a 3-4 month old kitten in October 2000.I took him to the vet for all of his shots,worming,etc.In 2007-2008 he started getting sores in his mouth.Had a hard time eating and lost a little weight.May 2008,I took him to a vet who diagnosed him with the Calicivirus.He was given a Linco injection and put on Amoxicillin.I was told the virus will not go away,but that it is not fatal.He had already been exposed to this virus when I got him and I did not know it.Antibiotics help for a brief period of time.He does not have a discharge in eyes or nose,but drools something terrible and had horrid breath.Sometimes he cries when he is eating or not eating!I recently took him back the vet who have him a Depo Medrol shot(Steroid) and put him on Clindamycin.I noticed an immdeiate improvement!He quit drooling and the horrid breath went away.Clindamycin works better for Stormy then Amoxicillin.However it only lasted about 2 weeks or so.He is an indoor cat as well,but was not prior to adopting him.

[merlinsmom]

I am so sorry to hear that your baby is also ill with this strange virus! Merlin had his teeth cleaned and had to have 5 teeth pulled at age three!!! He had some injections into his gums while under anesthetic and still has four more of these injections to go for the full treatment. Most days he seems a lot more like himself..energetic and playful though he will never eat a lot...he is eating!!

I will keep in touch to let you know what happens after the completed treatments within the next two weeks.

Thanks for writing