Upper Respiratory Infection - New Kitten in a house with another cat

catzorz

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Hello!

I just adopted a new kitten that previously was treated for an upper respiratory infection (likely herpes, they said). She is not showing symptoms currently, but she's only three months old, so it wasn't long ago that she had the infection. She was treated with antibiotics for the cold symptoms and an eye infection.

I have another cat at home who has never had any symptoms of upper respiratory infection. She is up to date on her vaccinations.

Since bringing home the new kitten, we have had the cats separated in different rooms (because we were going to do the slow introduction over the course of the next week). But now we are questioning if we should even keep the new kitten because I couldn't stand risking the health of my current cat. I also wouldn't want to act as a carrier of the virus on my clothes and potentially transfer it to friends' cats etc.

What do you guys think I should do? Would you adopt a cat that had been treated for upper respiratory infection knowing that it could potentially flare up again in the future or that your new cat could be acting as a carrier?
 
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catzorz

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OH! I also forgot to add, she is also missing hair on the tip of her tail and it appears as though there is a strange sort of scabby sore or something on the very end of it. It's not red or irritated and she doesn't care at all if you touch it. The vet had NO IDEA what it was. We were just told to watch it. Any clue what this could be?
 

detmut

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OH! I also forgot to add, she is also missing hair on the tip of her tail and it appears as though there is a strange sort of scabby sore or something on the very end of it. It's not red or irritated and she doesn't care at all if you touch it. The vet had NO IDEA what it was. We were just told to watch it. Any clue what this could be?
can you take a picture and post it?
 
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catzorz

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Anyone have any ideas what that is? Or if we should keep her? I feel so bad thinking about taking her back...but I also need to make sure my own cat is safe.
 
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catzorz

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Ugggggggggggggh.

Does anyone know how often a can that has FVR usually gets sick?
 
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catzorz

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Does anyone know if the tail could look like a small degloving injury? I'm just pulling at strings here trying to figure it out.

I'd really like to get another shelter cat, but all of these health mysteries are driving me bonkers.
 

vc128

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Bump on this thread. Also curious about this as my cat was from a shelter and diagnosed with URI but treated and no symptoms now. vet doesn't recommend a PCR bc no URI symptoms now. Just don't want to unintentionally carry and spread anything...
 
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catzorz

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WELL.

I really like the nature of this kitty so we are spending a wad of $$$ on a swab to find out if she's a carrier of herpes or calici. The vet said that the swab test isn't 100% accurate, but is the most accurate - moreso than the blood test, as that would just check for antibodies.

This new vet said the tail is a vertebrae sticking out from a previous injury and that we can dock it off if we want to.

Now we wait three days and find out if the sweetest kitty is also a safe kitty!
 

purmonster

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I have a cat who had crazy herpe flare ups, and it seemed I was dealing with runny eyes, sneezing, heavy breathing on a weekly basis. And if I didn't get if fast enough, respitory infection. I finally figured out a diet of grain-free foods, and 250mg of lysine a day(500mg during a flareup) seemed to manage flare ups. Bee is almost a year old now and we haven't had a flare up in a few months. During this time I brought in a feral kitty, and he has not once shown any symptoms. If bee were ever to flare up I would probably separate them since they do roughhouse together and play, but if your kitty's don't play together too much or groom each other I probably wouldn't even be worried. Also stress can cause flare ups! I could tell by his eyes before I got really bad into a respitory infection. Ask your vet to show you what to look for in the eyes for a first sign of a flare up. My vet was great and took the time to show me how to look for sores around the pupil so I could start treating right away. Hope that helps, good luck with you're kitties!
 
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