calicivirus- sharing my story & hoping it may help another cat/owner

catcaregiver

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Originally Posted by mrjonah

Glad I dug up this thread. Isaac, our kitten who we got a month ago from the shelter developed a terrible cold 3 weeks ago and 2 days ago became lame, not wanting to bear weight on any of his legs. He will hobble if he has to and looks like he's 100 years old. It is heartbreaking to watch. His eating and drinking are good though. It's scary to see him this way but from what I've read on various animal websites, he should recover from the lameness. The vet has him on antibiotics and all we can do is keep him comfortable and wait.
I hope your little one recovers.
 

rang_27

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I'm glad you dug up this thread too. I've never heard of the lameness thing. I'm sort of wondering if one of the cats at our shelter just got over FCV. He was sick for at least 2 weeks. He's all better now, eating and talking like a champ again, but I was worried for a while there. He was being force fed 2x a day & given sub-q fluids along with antibiotics & L-Lysine supplement.
 

debramh

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Sadly my 3 month old kitten passed away from this a 6.37 this morning. I found him around 5 weeks ago. He had a runny nose which  was taken care of at the vets. 10 days ago he got sick with an extremely high fever, and a limp. After 3 days he was back eating and getting stronger. On Wednesday, I noticed him drooling, went straight bavck to vets, more medicine, but he had mouth ulcers. We went back yesterday, vet said he was in pain for the ulcers, but they would go after a week, or so , and that he wouldn't die. Now he's gone, he was such a beautiful little man, I'm bereft...This virus is horrible!!!!!!
 

di and bob

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I'm so very sorry for your loss, thank you for bringing back this info on this horrible disease to make us aware of it's symptoms. You were doing all you could for that precious baby, but sadly it was not to be.....I'll keep you both in my thoughts and prayers. You are so wonderful for helping that tiny one, surely you will be blessed for you kindness. Take care.......
 

debramh

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Thank you Di and Bob for your kind words.The same thing happened to a cat we rescued on our compound last year, she just died, too. I have had cats for over 20 years, all of them sad cases, and they have gone on to reach around ages 16-17. I live in Qatar, and the plight of animals here is so,so sad. I was rooting for poor Hamish, and would have given my last for him to pull through. Bereft is not even close to how I feel right now. Regards Debbie.
 
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puddertatten

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I'm so sorry, Debbie, and to the others that have had kitties suffer from calicivirus. :( It's a horrible illness.

I'm glad that I took the time to post this all those years ago, but only wish it could've helped sooner.

Re-reading the post takes me back to how bad it was to see Ashley (now 12, with no known repercussions from the FCV) so sick.

The limp plus not eating can be so very serious; I hope my experience can continue on here and that others can read about it and maybe save a kitty.

Again, I am so sorry, Debbie, and anyone else reading who lost kitties due to this illness. :(
 

martha anne

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Hello all posters:  This is a terribly important topic, Calicivirus. Please know that some cats with this virus are silent shedders for life and can and do infect other "naive" (never infected) cats.  Yes, the vaccination, FVCPR, which all kittens must get, does some protecting but it only lessens the symptoms and does NOT always prevent a cat from getting the virus.  Why do I know so much?  Because, sadly, I have 11 inside cats who all got this virus at once from an outside cat I was feeding (he has died) and I didn't know it and knew nothing about the virus. My local vet, in a middle class area, very experienced, Cornell vet school and all of that, didn't even recognize the lame leg as being what it was when I brought in one of my newly infected cats for him to examine. Lameness, a temporary form of arthritis, is one of the symptoms of calicivirus.  This highly contagious virus has a variety of strains.  It frequently leads to dental and mouth inflammation and gingivo stomatitis which necessitates, in turn, full mouth extraction if not caught very early. So, if you have a cat with diagnosed calicivirus, be sure that you have a well informed vet, someone very familiar with this disease, examine the back of your cat's mouth, the soft palate tissue in particular, to see if there is increased redness there.  If so, run, don't walk, to a dental specialist who will try to save the teeth by doing aggressive prophylactic work:   Do not, absolutely do not, adopt a cat who has had this virus to another home where there are other cats unless you have had only a vet who is knowledgeable about calicivirus do an extremely careful, just about microscopic examination of the mouth and tongue of the cat who will go to a new home.  This is because there may be tiny ulcers in the mouth or on the tongue which means that this cat is contagious for his horrible virus. The cat may look and feel and behave perfectly healthy, but she is NOT and is shedding the virus.  A good shelter medicine veterinarian is your best bet as to how to prevent spreading the disease.  Please see this made for vets but which will help all rescuers in shelters and anyone interested in helping homeless cats:  http://www.animalsheltering.org/res...007/shelter_medicine_virulent_calicivirus.pdf

See:  http://www.sheltermedicine.com/node/38
 
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puddertatten

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Thank you so much for adding this info. I talked to a vet shortly after Ashley got sick and he acted like he didn't know why I was concerned about it being contagious.Now years later, we are thinking of adding a kitten to the household. I will be talking to my new vet about the possibility of Ashley still carrying disease.
 

martha anne

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You are so welcome. I no longer even trust the average vet to know how to screen a healthy survivor of the calicivirus as to her still being or not being a silent carrier who continually sheds the virus.  It is extremely important that you read through the second link I posted.  Also, there is a fascinating video where one of the big shots in shelter medicine discusses calici virus in shelter settings, but it applies to all of us.  YOu have to wade through some of the talk but it is worth it!   See the video on this page.  Dr. Hurley is at one of the best vet schools, as I understand it, in the world:    http://www.maddiesfund.org/Maddies_Institute/Webcasts/Knocking_the_Snot_Out_of_URI.html
 

martha anne

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I had one vet actually tell me not to even mention to the new adopter (I do rescue out of my home) that our cats had calici.   !!!!!!   I could not disagree more with her!  The more I learn, the more I want to find someone to show me that each of my cats are no longer contagious.  I will not adopt out unless I know a cat is not a carrier.  K-N-O-W.
 
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puddertatten

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I will definitely look at that link!

This is all so sad, because my 80 year old mother lost her two elderly cats (21 and 22 years old!) over the past two years, and we really wanted to get her a kitten, but from a shelter. I hope to find info that will help this situation.

Thanks again & I will be looking at that link.
 

martha anne

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Why don't you adopt 2 kittens who are near each other in the shelter?  They will each have been exposed to the same viruses, likely, in the air and so they can grow up together not infecting a new cat. This is to provide them company.  I don't think a kitten ought to be alone, they need companionship.  Many shelters won't adopt out a kitten alone.  Re: your worry,  honestly, I don't think that most cats coming home from a shelter are going to be sick.  If so, we would have heard about this long, long ago.  I am just concerned  because of what we experienced with the strain we came across.  Not every strain of calici is the same.  The dentist said.
 
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puddertatten

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We've seriously thought about getting two kittens. I live with my mom as her caregiver, and the thing is, I have the two cats (12 and 13). Since they are getting up in years we thought a kitten could bring new life to the whole household. And I started considering a pair, because mine are very close and have the established relationship. I'm in a position where I could take care of them all if my mom were to unexpectedly pass away. She's in pretty good health though so we don't expect that.Wondering if/how calici virus could come into play (one of my current cats is the one who had the virus). My vet is pretty up on things; I'll run it past her as well as doing the internet research.
 

martha anne

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I don't mean that you "must" get 2 kittens, but I have heard it said that a kitten really needs a playmate pretty badly.  I am a multi-cat caretaker so I guess I am biased but I feel that only a few cats are better off as only cats.  I think that companionship is usually very desirable - 2 or 3 cats, even 4, is nice.  Hey, why not 6 or 7?  LOL!!!  Just joking around!

Yes, I just got off the phone with my vet.  She said that she is going to ask around for me about my concerns.  I tend to think that it is not likely that your cat has calici (that is, is a carrier now) but there are, most definitely, lifetime carriers.   If you go for 3 to 6 months, it's better, before you expose another cat to the cat who had calici.  Also, kittens, young ones, might be more unable to deal with the URI that usually comes with calici.  But then again, shelters have calici and the kittens might have had it in their system.

Let me know what your vet says.   Be sure your vet is experienced with this disease - many are not if they are not working with shelter cats.  The ones who know the most are shelter medicine vets.
 

martha anne

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Oh, and yes, kittens REALLY need playmates even more than adults do.  
 
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