Hello!
În July, I found a 1-month old kitten crying in front of our building. He was very sick, with both his eyes filled with pus, runny, stuffy nose, barely breathing, yet screaming for help. I do think he was destined for us, as we had seen him a week earlier but by the time we got downstairs to pick him up, someone else had already taken him in. I guess they were not willing to deal with a sick kitten and kicked him out - we found him where that person had picked him up from. Once we picked him up, we rushed him to the vet and begged for help, having no money at all. The doctor diagnosed him with calicivirus and from then on,we embarked on a journey of treatments. We started with anti inflammatory medicine, immuno-strenghtening feed. The vet decided to switch to antibiotics, ointments, nebulization,liver-protective pills and steam treatments for his airways. After a couple of months and two paychecks, he seemed to have recovered. The vet told us that some side-effects will remain and they did: frequent sneezing and teary eyes. Other than that, sweet Garfield seemed to have dealt with it. Unfortunately, in December he developed a massive abces on his forehead which the vet proceeded to drain and treat. Mind you, for 3 months after we found him, daily or even twice a day visits to the vet were the rule. With the abces, that schedule once again took over. A week into treatment with mild antibiotics, we found that the abces was collecting pus from all over his upper respiratory system and suggested a mucous infection. We had bloodwork done as well as an antibiogram and biopsy (not sure of the terms here) and found out that Garfield had some type of pasteurella. We proceeded with nebulization with antibiotic, liquid antibiotic and liver-protective pills.the abces had gone down and he seemed to respond to treatment. After 20 days of treatment, we stopped and now I'm here. Garfield has had no sense of smell since we found him, but had exhibited few traits that would suggest he was bothered by anything all throughout the past 4 months. He's seemingly a happy kitty, who no longer has sneezing fits but still has teary eyes. The vet thinks pasteurella appeared because the calicivirus wasn't treated long enough. Today, sweet Garfield had his left pupil enlarged. I'm dumbfounded, as I have not encountered such a case, despite extensive research since the day we found him. He hasn't had eating problems, nor any other issues after his calicivirus treatments had concluded. We have two adult cats he gets along with very well. I have spared no expense in his treatment and spent hundreds of hours taking care of him. I am willing to continue, but I'm not sure what to think. All of this happened within the same clinic, 4 different vets weighing in and working together on his treatments. Any ideas how this time-line could have occurred and if I should still be sick with worry? Thanks for any and all input!

excerpt from

Pasteurella in Cats

Pasteurella sp are a genus of zoonotic bacteria (meaning they can be passed between animals and people). There are a number of species and sub species, but all are quite similar². They are a natural inhabitant of the skin, digestive tract and oral cavity of cats, but can cause disease under the right conditions. The bacteria can spread from cat to cat when aerosolized (by way of coughing or sneezing). It can also spread through bite wounds (when saliva enters open wounds). The result can be abscesses or an infection in the blood stream (septicemia) which can result in serious or even fatal repercussions.

What kind of disease does Pasteurella cause in cats?

Pasteurella may cause:

• A lower-respiratory-tract infection (pneumonia) which is often fatal.
• Ear infections
• Nasal and sinus infections
• Eye infections
• Joint infections
• Infection of the covering of the brain and spinal cord

How is Pasteurellosis spread among cats?
Because the organism lives in the mouth, it can be readily spread by bite wounds or by licking open wounds. This leads to wound infections and even abscesses and deep infections.

By Dr. Mike Paul, DVM

Pasteurella naturally lives in cats, so his immune system may not be going after it.  Calici knocks down the immune system, so this bacteria seems to have taken up residence in your cat and he may need to live on an antibiotic.  Fortunately it is sensitive to penicillin type drugs, so you might be able to keep him on amoxicilin indefinitely.  I had one cat that lived on amoxicillin for a long time because of frequent mouth infections.  I don't think the vet ever cultured it but just started with a drug (Clavamox) that is generally well tolerated and it worked.  Since your vets obviously cultured the abscess in order to discover it was Pasteurella, they may have done a sensitivity test too and discovered what antibiotiic could best treat it.  The eye problem you see now may be related to internal infection related to this, either of the eye or of the brain itself, or it may be something totally new.  You and your vets have done an amazing job of saving this kitten, and it may be that he needs to live on a maintenance antibiotic for a long time in order to control it.  That would be a lot easier than having flare-ups and trips to the vet again and again.

Let us know what your vets think, and hang in there.  It sounds like he is having a generally good quality of life and maybe just keeping him on an antibiotic will prevent the pasteurella from running rampant again.

Thank you for your informative and lengthy response! We've been to the vet today and they seem convinced that the pupil dilation was caused by cigarette smoke. We do smoke in the living room, so I think it's possible Garfield might have developed a bit of a sensitivity to it. Nonetheless, after three hours the changes in his left pupil had gone away and his eyes seemed to be back to normal. I've checked with the vet about the proposition of keeping him on mild antibiotics, but they advised me against it as he would sooner or later develop resistance to the antibiotic if taken for too long a time. At the same time, they've reassured me that the pasteurella strain is most likely gone by now, taking into account that he has been on meds for all his life. With regards to the culture and sensitivity test, we did do that when pasteurrella was discovered because he is resistant to most conventionally used antibiotics, including penicilin. We did find a specific antibiotic he was sensitive to and he responded quite well to that, I've set the meds that were left after his treatment aside for further reference, if necessary. Since the vets reassured me that I shouldn't keep him on these meds for so long due to possibilities of liver- and renal damage, we decided to instead give him a six-month break (if no relapses occur in the meantime) and to go with immune-strengthening meds in the future. He isn't spayed yet and we do intend to do it sooner or later, but getting him into surgery after so many months of treatments would be a bit too much for his already stressed body, I reckon. He isn't marking or anything, but I do think his lack of smell (like, no smell at all, he would even eat garlic if I let him and he regularly steals fruit or anything else he can find) has a lot to do with that, but we're not sure. I would be happy if he didn't spray at all around the house, I would even consider leaving him without spaying for a couple of years, although I don't really know how healthy that is. I still haven't done proper research on the male cat's reproductive system , since we've had so much on our minds with all his issues. Hopefully, we've nipped the thing in the butt, but we'll have to wait and see. Otherwise, you are right, his quality of life is pretty darn good and he seems to be enjoying life to the fullest. He has begun meowing a lot when active, but that's something both our cats had done when at this age, so I don't think I should be worried. It's annoying, but it's definitely a relief to see him quite close to being in good health. Thanks so much for your input and I will keep everything you said in mind for further reference. I will consider indefinite treatment if we see another flare-up of disease, but I'm crossing my fingers that we're done with the daily vet trips.
These are our babies, Garfield, Mazu (the brooding dark lady) and Pitic (translates to Dwarf, the tigger)

themundame said:

Thank you for your informative and lengthy response! We've been to the vet today and they seem convinced that the pupil dilation was caused by cigarette smoke. We do smoke in the living room, so I think it's possible Garfield might have developed a bit of a sensitivity to it. Nonetheless, after three hours the changes in his left pupil had gone away and his eyes seemed to be back to normal. I've checked with the vet about the proposition of keeping him on mild antibiotics, but they advised me against it as he would sooner or later develop resistance to the antibiotic if taken for too long a time. At the same time, they've reassured me that the pasteurella strain is most likely gone by now, taking into account that he has been on meds for all his life. With regards to the culture and sensitivity test, we did do that when pasteurrella was discovered because he is resistant to most conventionally used antibiotics, including penicilin. We did find a specific antibiotic he was sensitive to and he responded quite well to that, I've set the meds that were left after his treatment aside for further reference, if necessary. Since the vets reassured me that I shouldn't keep him on these meds for so long due to possibilities of liver- and renal damage, we decided to instead give him a six-month break (if no relapses occur in the meantime) and to go with immune-strengthening meds in the future. He isn't spayed yet and we do intend to do it sooner or later, but getting him into surgery after so many months of treatments would be a bit too much for his already stressed body, I reckon. He isn't marking or anything, but I do think his lack of smell (like, no smell at all, he would even eat garlic if I let him and he regularly steals fruit or anything else he can find) has a lot to do with that, but we're not sure. I would be happy if he didn't spray at all around the house, I would even consider leaving him without spaying for a couple of years, although I don't really know how healthy that is. I still haven't done proper research on the male cat's reproductive system , since we've had so much on our minds with all his issues. Hopefully, we've nipped the thing in the butt, but we'll have to wait and see. Otherwise, you are right, his quality of life is pretty darn good and he seems to be enjoying life to the fullest. He has begun meowing a lot when active, but that's something both our cats had done when at this age, so I don't think I should be worried. It's annoying, but it's definitely a relief to see him quite close to being in good health. Thanks so much for your input and I will keep everything you said in mind for further reference. I will consider indefinite treatment if we see another flare-up of disease, but I'm crossing my fingers that we're done with the daily vet trips.
These are our babies, Garfield, Mazu (the brooding dark lady) and Pitic (translates to Dwarf, the tigger)

garfield, mazu and pitic.jpg

• themundame
• Feb 10, 2016

Click to expand...

Great job![emoji]10084[/emoji]️[emoji]128062[/emoji][emoji]10084[/emoji]️

themundame said:

Thank you for your informative and lengthy response! We've been to the vet today and they seem convinced that the pupil dilation was caused by cigarette smoke. We do smoke in the living room, so I think it's possible Garfield might have developed a bit of a sensitivity to it. Nonetheless, after three hours the changes in his left pupil had gone away and his eyes seemed to be back to normal. I've checked with the vet about the proposition of keeping him on mild antibiotics, but they advised me against it as he would sooner or later develop resistance to the antibiotic if taken for too long a time. At the same time, they've reassured me that the pasteurella strain is most likely gone by now, taking into account that he has been on meds for all his life. With regards to the culture and sensitivity test, we did do that when pasteurrella was discovered because he is resistant to most conventionally used antibiotics, including penicilin. We did find a specific antibiotic he was sensitive to and he responded quite well to that, I've set the meds that were left after his treatment aside for further reference, if necessary. Since the vets reassured me that I shouldn't keep him on these meds for so long due to possibilities of liver- and renal damage, we decided to instead give him a six-month break (if no relapses occur in the meantime) and to go with immune-strengthening meds in the future. He isn't spayed yet and we do intend to do it sooner or later, but getting him into surgery after so many months of treatments would be a bit too much for his already stressed body, I reckon. He isn't marking or anything, but I do think his lack of smell (like, no smell at all, he would even eat garlic if I let him and he regularly steals fruit or anything else he can find) has a lot to do with that, but we're not sure. I would be happy if he didn't spray at all around the house, I would even consider leaving him without spaying for a couple of years, although I don't really know how healthy that is. I still haven't done proper research on the male cat's reproductive system , since we've had so much on our minds with all his issues. Hopefully, we've nipped the thing in the butt, but we'll have to wait and see. Otherwise, you are right, his quality of life is pretty darn good and he seems to be enjoying life to the fullest. He has begun meowing a lot when active, but that's something both our cats had done when at this age, so I don't think I should be worried. It's annoying, but it's definitely a relief to see him quite close to being in good health. Thanks so much for your input and I will keep everything you said in mind for further reference. I will consider indefinite treatment if we see another flare-up of disease, but I'm crossing my fingers that we're done with the daily vet trips.
These are our babies, Garfield, Mazu (the brooding dark lady) and Pitic (translates to Dwarf, the tigger)

garfield, mazu and pitic.jpg

• themundame
• Feb 10, 2016

Click to expand...

Aww they are so cute!

Thank you so much guys! My boyfriend and I are really glad to have been brought together with these wonderful felines. They make life so much happier! 

Since I'm already here and loving thecatsite, I thought I'd elaborate a bit more on Garfield. His situation is weird, yet manageable. What bugs me though is that he seems to have no sense of smell, yet his appetite is fierce. He will eat absolutely anything, regardless of whether it's food or not. We are used to being careful leaving dangerous things around the house that the cats could get into, so that's not why I'm curious. I'm curious because at 8 months, I would have expected him to start spraying and he's not. He does however meow and howl while active. When not eating or sleeping, he's howling. I told the vet about these things and they said that because he seems to not smell anything, he might not even spray at all - since he can't smell his own scent. I'm not sure if his sense of smell is totally absent or just diminished due to the mucous that has been damaged by his illnesses, but it seems so. He does occasionally seem to be sniffing things more fiercely, but I can't see whether that helps him actually smell something or not. I've searched the forums and haven't found anything like this. I found threads talking about kitties with no sense of smell refusing to eat, but I had no problems with Garfield and his relationship with food. It's just pretty darn weird. Anyone experience anything like this? 

You don't want him to spray!  Get him neutered it he's not.  Neutering tends to stop spraying if they've not developed that habit.

I have no experience with this in cats, but it could be the infection may indeed have damaged the mucous membranes in his sinuses. The sinuses are very important in sensing scents. Dogs and cats have much larger sinuses (in proportion) than humans do, which is why they can smell better than we can. You know yourself that when you have a cold and your sinuses are involved, you can't smell very well. This may be his problem. As time goes on, his smelling abilities may improve.

Your feline family is beautiful! Garfield is lovely, and I hope he continues to improve.

Thank you DreamerRose! I hope he does improve, although I became skeptical because the vet said that the last treatment he got should have had an effect on his sense of smell, yet I see no difference.  It might take some time, I hope he recovers! It must be pretty annoying for him not to smell the food he's eating. 

Stephanietx, we will get him fixed eventually, but we were told by his vets that it would be better to give him a 6-month break from this kind of stress, due to the lengthy treatments with antibiotics. They said that there's a higher risk of him having complications after the surgery or because of the anesthetic, so the safer bet is to wait a bit longer. I do think he's meowing a lot because he's not neutered, he seems to be looking for something, I guess it could be girls... I'm not sure. Thanks so much for your input! I am so glad I found this forum! In my country, it's hard to have serious discussions about cat health and behavior with anyone aside from vets. Mostly my boyfriend and I get called "crazy" for having three cats, as if it were such a big deal. A dog is incoming in a year or so, let's see how crazy we'll be perceived then.