Anyone have experience with Interferon?

My poor Stanley seems to have a virus he can't shake. He's a rescue cat that was taken from a horder with 60+ cats. He's never really been well in the 4 months we've had him. He's come up negative for FeLV and FIV multiple times, but he still has a recurrent URI and occasional tongue sores. Bartonella test was negative, so the suspicion is an underlying viral infection. The vet has put him on Clavamox in the past to help the secondary infections, but within a week of stopping that he's back to the (sorry graphic) bloody/yellow snot and nasty breath. He's had dental exams and although there doesn't seem to be any actively rotting teeth, they do look worse than a yr old cat's teeth should.

Fast forward to yesterday. He's been sneezing up a storm and leaving nasty snot globs all over the place. Up until last week, he was still a very playful lad. Eats, uses the litter box just fine, but I noticed over the past few days he was much more interested in sleeping than playing Back to the vet with him and now we've been given an Rx for Interferon and Azithromycin. The compounding pharmacy made it up with "triple fish flavor" and it seems to go down OK

Anyone have experience with this? Is there anything I should look out for? We've already started the Bene Bac to keep his tummy happy on the Azithromycin.

I have used Interferon to help my leukemia kitties in the past, but to be honest it didn't help them because I believe the disease they had was FIP, and its a miracle if a kitty survives that, but I don't remember any side effects the vet told me except for a possible decrease in appetite.

Best wishes for a full recovery for Stanley, I know how frustrating it is when the kitties just can't get over their cold

I don't have any experience with Interferon, but how long is the prescribed course of Azithromycin?

I hope Stanley can kick the virus soon.

Poor little boy - between the circumstances he was rescued from and his illness, Stanley's been through an awful lot, especially at just a year old. Bless you for giving him your heart and home.

My little guy was given Interferon several years ago. The vets decided he had a virus that was causing digestive problems - vomiting, decreased appetite. He didn't have any of the symptoms Stanley has, but the Interferon seemed to have worked well for this particular virus. My cat was put on what seemed to me a long course of the drug, 30 days, but he was great about taking it each day, and there were no side effects.

I hope this works as well for your boy as it did for mine. It's a strong drug so it may knock out Stanley's virus too. Please let us know how he's doing.

Originally Posted by beandip

I don't have any experience with Interferon, but how long is the prescribed course of Azithromycin?

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He's on a three week course, I'm really hoping this will give him some relief. He already gets daily lysine in case of herpes, so I'm hoping we've now got all the bases covered. He is the sweetest creature I have ever encountered I just want to see him grow up into a great big boy! Aside from the mouth sores and snotty nose he is actually doing much better than when we got him and my husband (who is utterly smitten with the little guy) called him the "road kill kitty". He was a skinny 5 lb stinky ball of matted fur with dandruff.

He's now 8lbs and his coat is getting silky.

Originally Posted by JellyBella

He's on a three week course, I'm really hoping this will give him some relief.

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That sounds like a good plan I hope the medications do the trick this time. I have had good success w/Azithromycin for similar symptoms.