Calicivirus -is Interferon the correct treatment? and am I supposed to sacrifice my cat????

Until two weeks ago I had never heard of calicivirus and now I am spiraling into confusion and dread.

I had two healthy cats - Daisy and Teddy - and decided to adopt a third kitten from a shelter 3 weeks ago.  Both Daisy and Teddy are vaccinated against Calicivirus.  

A couple of weeks later Teddy started drooling so a quick trip to the vet and a blood test later he is diagnosed with Calicivirus and now all three are being held in quarantine (different bedrooms) until the result of blood tests on Daisy and no-name-yet are done.  I should state that all three are currently symptom free, Teddy having responded well to antibiotics for a small ulcer in the mouth.  Daisy and new kitten have never shown any symptoms (not yet at least).

If the result is that all three cats are positive for calicivirus then I will take them out of quarantine.  My vet has said the they should be treated with three injections of Interferon each which should slow down the progression of the virus.  Is this right?  Each injection is €200.  So three injections multiplied by three cats - €1800  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  About $2500 by my guesswork.  I haven't noticed interferon being mentioned on other threads about calcivirus or anywhere else for that matter.  If my cats do not currently display any symptoms, what is the correct treatment?

If one of my cats turns out to be negative for calicivirus, then what do I do???  I can't keep the cats in quarantine for ever.  I don't want to put them back together and infect the healthy cat.  Am I supposed to sacrifice the infected cat??????  I'm worried sick about this.  

I have a few doubts about living with calicivirus which i can't find answers to on wikipedia or other threads:

1   as my cats were vaccinated prior to infection, does this mean that symptoms should be lighter and the disease easier to live with?

2   I understand there is no cure and the cat will always be a carrier.  What does this mean?  Can I expect flare ups of symptoms from time to time? or maybe never??

3   Is the life expectancy the same as for a healthy cat?  

I look forward to your replies.  I'm so worried at the moment so I am hoping for some good news!!

The Calicivirus vaccine only protects against certain strains (much like our flu vaccine.)

I have dealt with calici before. For the most part, we just treated with Famcyclovir. The my most serious case (he was extremely critical) we used Doxycycline, Famcyclovir, prednisolone and Baytril.

I had 12 cats in the house at the time of the outbreak and only 5 cats contracted it (they were all litter mates) despite sharing food/water, litter boxes, etc...I haven't had any issues with Calici since and all recovered from their ordeal (this was 3 1/2 yrs ago.)

I haven't heard of using interferon for anything other than feline leukemia and have no experience with this particular medication.

Thanks for the reply

I keep reading that it is highly contagious and the once infected, the cat is a permanent carrier of the virus and constantly sheds it.  I can't understand how your other cats have managed to stay virus free?

Does this mean that if Daisy's results are negative for calicivirus it is safe to put her together with Teddy(infected)? 

njg1225 said:

 

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Hi

Calici is a fairly common cold virus, and interferon is not a correct treatment.  As said above, antibiotics are used to help prevent secondary bacterial infections, and anti-viral eye drops can be used as well.  Mainly you support the cat and his appetite which can be influenced especially as cold sores in the mouth can appear and hurt.  Despite vaccinations your other cat should be separated from Teddy until Teddy is 100% healthy.

As to your questions:

1   as my cats were vaccinated prior to infection, does this mean that symptoms should be lighter and the disease easier to live with? Yes.

2   I understand there is no cure and the cat will always be a carrier.  What does this mean?  Can I expect flare ups of symptoms from time to time? or maybe never?? Once healthy you should not expect a recurrence.  Feline Herpes virus is the cold virus that recurrs.

3   Is the life expectancy the same as for a healthy cat?  Absolutely, yes!

See my article on the subject at http://www.thecatsite.com/a/identif...dopted-from-animal-shelters-and-rescue-groups

Good luck!

Thank you for the positive reply Stephen.  Each time I go to the vet I come away feeling quite depressed, and information on the internet is quite mixed - some call it a terrible disease and talk about possible fatalities, and then others say it is nothing to worry about.

Daisy's results have come back and unsurprisingly she is positive too.  So at least that means Teddy and Daisy can finally come out of quarantine and they are very happy about that.

Sorry to go back over something you have already answered for me, but i'm trying to get things clear in my head.  Teddy displayed symptoms - a very small ulcer on his tongue - which was treated with antibiotics and disappeared after 48 hours.  He's fine now.   You said above that once healthy I shouldn't expect a reoccurrence.  So that's it?  Just that little ulcer?  If that's the case then that's fantastic.  On the web I read about pneumonia, breathing problems, blah blah blah.  I thought that all these horrible things would be waiting for him further down the line.  But maybe he managed to contract a particularly non-aggressive strain, in which case, great!

Daisy has never displayed symptoms, but has tested positive.  Is she a ticking time bomb? or might she never get ill?

I'm still confused as to why my vet mentioned interferon to slow down the progression of the disease.  

njg1225 said:

 

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Hi there!

Several thoughts.  One, the internet is a terrible place for medical info if only because there is no filter, no context, and no way to apply generalized information to your specific animal and illness.  Imagine you knew nothing about "accidents in the home" and then you googled them.  You'd want to wear a personal air bag and never get out of bed!

Second - and i don't like saying this at all, but i am compelled to,  i do NOT trust your vet.   Any vet who is prescribing interferon for calici virus sounds like a vet who is trying to make money off a scared client.  It's like prescribing chemo therapy for a mole.  I have never seen interferon discussed in the literature for Calici, nor have any of the vets i have worked with discussed using it for that purpose.

And while it is true that in some cases, due to a bad strain of the virus, or due to a very vulnerable (often kitten) patient, it can become a serious illness, most of the time it is simply a bad cold with cold sores that sometimes are bad enough that the cat won't eat due to mouth pain, and syringe feeding becomes necessary for a number of days.  This reputable website that I go to often has a very balanced discussed of FCV (calici).  Most of the recommended care for FCV is supportive care at home.  Again i am very worried about your vet, if your cat has what seems to be a very mild case.

Third, i am not aware of a cat being protected from infection just because of a positive antibody test.  My understanding is that any cat who is shedding virus (which can continue for several weeks post symptoms) can infect a non-symptomatic cat.  I would use caution when re-introducing your cats to each other.   What i would suggest is talking to your vet about it, except for #1 above, not trusting your vet. As to Daisy testing positive, that just means that she has had prior exposure, and is not at risk of getting it unless exposed to your ill cat.  So to be clear, prior infection doesn't protect against future infection but prior infection doesn't cause latent re-infection.  Does that make sense?

I would urge you to get a second opinion and i would be very very careful about accepting medical advice on the use of interferon for a mild case of calici.

Lastly, here is a good article on interferon use in cats, and you will note the only URI it mentions its use in is for viral rhinotracheitis in kittens, neither of which applies to your cat and would be a highly rare treatment in any case.    https://www.vetinfo.com/interferon-alpha-for-cats.html

PS - can you tell us roughly where you're located?

Stephen

Apparently Interferon is used for very serious cases and those involving FCV and dental disease:
https://www.vetstream.com/felis/content/generic/gen60017

Recombinant feline IFN (Virbagen Omega") is licensed for the treatment of feline viral disease. Field studies of cats with calicivirus infection have shown reduction in the severity and duration of clinical signs related to the virus. In one study, two dose protocols were tested (standard dose of 2.5 MU/kg versus high dose of 5 MU/kg) showing that early treatment with the low dose was more efficacious.

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This article deals with FCV-induced gingivitis and Interferon:
http://www.vetsonline.com/publicati...alicivirus-gingival-and-systemic-disease.html

With just one cat with a mouth ulcer and the other two showing no symptoms, expensive Interferon treatments seem overly cautious to me. It would probably be wise to get a second opinion before putting out that kind of money.

jcat said:

Apparently Interferon is used for very serious cases and those involving FCV and dental disease:
https://www.vetstream.com/felis/content/generic/gen60017
This article deals with FCV-induced gingivitis and Interferon:
http://www.vetsonline.com/publicati...alicivirus-gingival-and-systemic-disease.html

With just one cat with a mouth ulcer and the other two showing no symptoms, expensive Interferon treatments seem overly cautious to me. It would probably be wise to get a second opinion before putting out that kind of money.

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I happily stand corrected, but as Jcat said, and i read the article as well, interferon use in Calici virus is rare, indicated in spacial cases, and regardless your cat is almost over it!