Cat Flu

My Firbaby Bruce was diagnosed by the vet a few days after we took him on (at the age of 8 weeks)as having cat flu. He's now approaching 12 weeks of age but is still suffering from the virus He has runny eyes which we have been medicating with cream to stop them from getting bad (they were so puffed up when we had him he could hardly see)he has also now had 2 weekly treatments of antibiotics to prevent the infection spreading, and has had a runny nose and sneezes alot. The other surviving kitten out the litter has also had puffy eyes for a number of weeks now (i took Bruce on after loosing my last cat Dink, at only 17 months, and had him from my best mate). She belongs to my oldest pal but the family refuse to take her to see a vet saying that there is no way she has the virus. I am conserned because they have another 7 cats in the house, of varing ages, and i know if the virus spreads they still will probably not take the animals to the vets. Dose anyone know if there are any symptoms of cat flu i could look out for to try and convince them it's serious?
Also i noticed that Bruce has a brown spot in his mouth about 1cm long and 0.5 cm in width, dose anyone know what this is? is it conected to cat flu? And lastly, dose anyone know if there is anything i can do for Brucey to maybe make him get better faster? We keep him warm and he feeds and drinks plenty of fluid, but it breaks my heart to see him ill.

Conserned mom

I don't know what the brown spot is on his mouth . But if you are out of meds and he still is sick I would go back with him to the vet . He may need more meds to clear that up , sometimes it takes a long time for a cat/kitten to get all better again .

These cats may be caring the feline calici virus (FCV) or rhinotracheitis (ie:feline herpes virus etc.)The vet can do a test/culture to figure out if the cat is caring either of these viruses.

Here's a link to more info on the feline calici virus:

Calici Virus

Here's a link to more info on the feline herpes virus:

Rhinotracheitis

These viruses are contagious and should be treated by a vet through proper medications, not ignored!! FIV/FELV and FIP are examples of disease(s) which can make cats more susceptible to Rhinotracheitis.

In addition to Russian Blue's post on calicivirus and herpesvirus, also ask your vet to rule out chlamydia. Calicivirus and chlamydia may present mimicking signs....I would strongly suggest you ask your vet to get a swab/cytology and/or culture done to make absolutely certain this viral or bacterial is isolated. Treatments vary depending on the type, so it's so important to know what type you're dealing with in order for treatment to be most effective. In this case, I'd opt for a second opinion by a vet more experienced...or a feline-only vet. A full optic exam needs to be re-addressed right away, to rule out ulcerations.................Traci

Awwww poor baby,hope he feels better soon

Try some GSE it helps fight these viruses PM me for more info///

I have had a virus with all of my cats now and then. My Smokey Jo was sick when we got her. We placed her in a cage and fed her vitamins and got antibotic from the vet. It took about 4 months for her to come back from that virus. Also if you get sick you can give it to your cats been there done that. I don't know what that mark is but my cat Tiger had one in her mouth and was tested for everything and never had anything just keep an eye on him if he doesn't gain weight or doesn't get any better go back to the vet.
Hope this helps you I have a some knowledge of cats.

Thankyou all for your help. We've had Bruce back at the vets this evening. The vet now thinks that he may be suffering from FHV. We would like to get a swab done to be sure, but living here in Briton makes it difficult, we only have one lab that can test for it so it takes an awful long time. Since FHV is brought on be stress, she has advised we give him a week without meds as it really stresses him out when we put the cream in his eyes. He has had a shot of antibiotics to last him the week.
The vet hasn't really been very informative about the condition, but from the little we found to the internet it sounds as if FHV is what he has, we found some pics of a cat with the virus and his eyes looked identical to my little tykes. Does anyone know what long term effects this could have on him? someone told me there cat went blind from having FHV! As a family we have never encountered anything like this before, we've had cats but they have never been ill. I'm just greatful we dont have any other cats who could catch it! (this might seem like a silly question but it cant harm my hamsters can it? i have 6 of them at the moment)
Thank you all for your support and time and i will keep you posted on Bruce's progress.
Laura

You should read this website when you have some spare time. It is very informative and gives many links to other sites concerning the virus:

Herpes Info

Also, there is a Yahoo group devoted to the topic of Feline Herpes Virus. You can ask questions and read up on how other pet owners are handling the virus in their cats. Here is the direct website: Yahoo Group

I do know that most cases of herpes usually are easily controlled through medications and reducing stress in the household. Also, if the cat's eye gets severe ulcers and nothing is used to reduce the ulcer, the eye could be seriously damaged and therefore become blind. But this is usually a worse case scenerio.

As long as stress is controlled, the immune system is kept up with a good quality food, and medications are administered when an outbreak occurs, there should be no other problems with your cat. I know a few people with cats that only have outbreaks every few years. My cat was just diagnosed with the herpes virus, but she hasn't shown any symptoms yet.

Herpes is contagious, but I'm not sure if it could spread between animal species.

I would like to thank you all for your help in this matter. Little Bruce is looking 500% better than when we first had him, his eyes are clear and he has stopped sneezing now.It seems as if the vet was correct in that us giving him his meds was stressing him out to a point where he couldn't get rid of the virus. We couldn't have him tested so were not sure what he has exactly, because it was already in remmisson when we opted to have the test done. It could be any number of things, but his siter who also had it has now started to spread the infection around my friends house, 3 out of 8 cats are now displaying symptoms.

Thank you all for your help.
Kittylover

Awwww sorry to read this hope he gets better soon. My kitten rebel had cat flu when we brought him off this woman she had been keeping him in te back off her car. He was hungry and thristy when we got little boy home. He also had fleas and ear mites. We took him the vets and he also had mild cat flu he is now 6 months old and running all over the place with hiss big sister and big brother. Luckly hiss own body fighted off the cat flu. I had to clean all the house with bleach and used my streamer in the places the kitten had been as i didnt want my other two adult cats getting it. Lucky upto now anything has been fine.
Good luck and i say keep him warm but not to warm plenty off fod water and i also gave mine cat milk.
Hope this help. Here is a photo off him now and one when we first got him.