Advice please re poss cat flu

booktigger

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 11, 2005
Messages
4,520
Purraise
3
Location
UK
I picked up a stray cat on Thurs (i foster, so the idea is to foster her till we can find her a home). I was already going up to the vets with another foster, so took her up with me that evening. She has a few cuts/scratches around her face which we believe are from rats (didnt find this out till the day after she had been up), a weepy eye and as soon as she got to the vets she started sneezing. She has sneezed once that i have heard since she has been here, as soon as we left the vet she stopped. Now, as she was sneezing in the vets, and had a weepy eye, the vet assumed cat flu, even though the weepiness was clear and not gungy. She was given antibiotics, and i have been isolating her as although my two are vaccinated, my other fosters arent. She is still not showing any signs of cat flu, she is bright eyed, got a brilliant appetite, very playful and affectionate. Her eye still occassionally looks weepy, and she gets a bit of a white thing from the corner of her eye going over a slight bit of her eye, is this her third eyelid?
Now for the question!!! She is showing signs of really wanting out of the bathroom (cant blame her for, it is small so ideal for cats that need to rest, but she is very playful and also used to being outside), but i do have possibly unvaccinated cats in the house, should i risk it even though she isnt showing signs, or should i wait till she has finished all her antibiotics on Thurs? Typical really, as my other foster is prob long term, so i want him to be integrated with my two, yet he wont leave the room even when the door is open!!
 

ollyextra05

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 14, 2005
Messages
2,520
Purraise
3
Location
The Windy City
I would say you should keep the cats separated until the new cat is done with his/her course of antibiotics and is not showing ANY signs of illness--weepy eyes, sneezing, any of those things.
Glad to hear he is doing well though!

I figure, its always better to be safe than sorry!

If he really wants to get out and explore, try putting the other cats in a room together for a little while with the door closed, and then take the new cat out by himself for a bit (maybe a half hour) to poke around.

But, I would keep them all separated until the new cat is feeling 100% and is given a completely clean bill of health by a vet.
 

coaster

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 28, 2005
Messages
5,174
Purraise
7
Location
Wisconsin
Agreed with the above, except I don't think I would even let her explore if there's any chance of her being sick, because some of the cat viruses can be transmitted by contact to exposed surfaces. Waiting until after the vet's check-up isn't all that long to wait to make sure your resident cats aren't exposed to something serious.
 
Top