Hi all. I'm new here and I'm already troubleprone! Sigh. Okay, I posted yesterday about being in the process of adopting three cats -- a momcat and her two kittens.
I was originally going to take all three cats on Neutering Day (Monday), when the two kittens were going to be neutered/spayed. But I spoke with the foster mom today and apparently the girl kitten, Salli, has come down with the calicivirus. The foster suggests that I take momcat and the boy kitten, unneutered, and wait until Salli is better.
I don't know a thing about calicivirus, and though I've tried to do research, for some reason none of websites give any basic information -- such as, whether a) it's curable, or b) whether the other cats are likely to be infected with it as well. They say it's an upper respiratory infection, and that it's something most kittens are vaccinated* for, but I'm not seeing anything much on what happens once the kittens have the darn disease.
* BTW, apparently this foster mom is not a fan of vaccines. So while she's giving me strict orders about precisely what type and flavor of cat food I must buy prior to adopting them**, she's not vaccinating these little guys as recommended.
** When we had our interview, and I told her that I'd fed my last cat Choie on Nine Lives, she acted like I was Dr. Mengele of the cat world! Now, I certainly don't mind feeding cats differently, so if these little kittens must have Nutro's chicken and wheat germ flavor, that's fine with me. Heck, it's not as if I'm not married to the owner of Nine Lives!
But OTOH, I don't need to feel like the worst mom in the world because Choie insisted on eating ONLY one brand of cat food, and it happened to be the infamous Nine Lives. Choie lived for nearly 20 years and never had an illness, so I did something right with my little girl, thankyouverymuch. Don't you think?
Anyway. Sorry for the rant. I guess I'm just worried and upset tonight. I've been so skittish about getting another cat precisely because I went through a hellish grief after Choie died. Now I have to worry about my new brood, or whether I'm putting myself in a bad situation by adopting them only to lose them to illness.
Argh! Help me stop panicking! Does anyone have experiences, good or bad, with this calicivirus thing?
I was originally going to take all three cats on Neutering Day (Monday), when the two kittens were going to be neutered/spayed. But I spoke with the foster mom today and apparently the girl kitten, Salli, has come down with the calicivirus. The foster suggests that I take momcat and the boy kitten, unneutered, and wait until Salli is better.
I don't know a thing about calicivirus, and though I've tried to do research, for some reason none of websites give any basic information -- such as, whether a) it's curable, or b) whether the other cats are likely to be infected with it as well. They say it's an upper respiratory infection, and that it's something most kittens are vaccinated* for, but I'm not seeing anything much on what happens once the kittens have the darn disease.
* BTW, apparently this foster mom is not a fan of vaccines. So while she's giving me strict orders about precisely what type and flavor of cat food I must buy prior to adopting them**, she's not vaccinating these little guys as recommended.
** When we had our interview, and I told her that I'd fed my last cat Choie on Nine Lives, she acted like I was Dr. Mengele of the cat world! Now, I certainly don't mind feeding cats differently, so if these little kittens must have Nutro's chicken and wheat germ flavor, that's fine with me. Heck, it's not as if I'm not married to the owner of Nine Lives!
Anyway. Sorry for the rant. I guess I'm just worried and upset tonight. I've been so skittish about getting another cat precisely because I went through a hellish grief after Choie died. Now I have to worry about my new brood, or whether I'm putting myself in a bad situation by adopting them only to lose them to illness.
Argh! Help me stop panicking! Does anyone have experiences, good or bad, with this calicivirus thing?