Calicivirus

[tennisgirlsc]

We just came home from the vet - our new babies, Klaus and Anika both probably have calicivirus. I knew they had colds but now I'm being told this.

We just lost our first baby - 1 year old - to feline leukemia 2 months ago.

We are really scared. I would appreciate any advice from anyone who has experience with this. We feed our kittens, wet food - Avoderm with no dry food. What else should we do?

What is the prognosis? They both have little ulcers on their tongues but have recovered from their cold symptoms.

I know I'm rambling but we are so scared. We've had them one week and have already fallen in love with them.

Thanks,
Debbie

[Suzygeorgie]

I have had a cat with calicivirus and can say that he recovered well from it. It lingered in his mouth and throat and he had to have teeth removed in the end. I'm no expert so I don't know if this is a normal thing to happen. He has allergies that are unrelated to the calicivirus so has to have steroids, but he charges round the house like a young kitten and is the most affectionate cat you could wish for. Hang on in there - hopefully all will be well.

[candes]

Sorry to hear that. There are at least 2 strains, one is worse than the other. Did they say which it was? Considering how healthy yours look I would think it was the mild strain.

My sister fostered a bunch of severly underage kittens with the bad strain. And they all lived. If you give them the extra special attention they need, anything is possible.

Why strain makes a difference... I am honest to a fault, so here goes... Once when I was a very small child, we had one with a bad strain. And we were called by the shelter and told to quarantine it from the other cats and return it. Since all their cats were dying. But since we had no others, and it showed minimal signs, my parents kept it for short bit until. I think my parents should have returned it to give it a better chance. Easier said than done. They gave us a refund and told us to not get any cats for a bit.

[candes]

Oh my famouse Lysine I rave about. I do know the enzyme competes with the feline herpes virus for the arginine it needs. Not sure about this other virus, let me look it up via google really quick. It looks like it is gonna take a while. But it is really good for immune health. So I would run out and buy some before the stores close, if they close soon. I use Vetri lysine plus chews. But break them into 4 pieces since they are a little tough. But my cats love em. Will be back once I find out about FCV and lysine.


Now I am gonna look for info on FCV for acute treatment vs chronic. But here is this so far.

http://www.petside.com/condition/cat/calicivirus-feline

Cats that have been previously diagnosed with calicivirus may benefit from L-Lysine, an amino acid supplement that has been helpful in minimizing reoccurrence of infection.

Edfted to add...Looks like lysine doesn't specifically compete with anything the virus needs. But the overall consenses is that it can only help. And I am certain your babes are on antibiotics to prevent secondary infection, so I think they will be fine. Don't be surprised if the URI symptoms come back if they do. The bad strain I mentioned from childhood was very quick in its bad deeds.

[H&SWells]

Hi Tennis girl - not sure which country you are but if uk the Feline Advisory Bureau has a good website for info on calici - both my boys caught this = one at a show and the other from him , they did only have it mildly and recovered quite quickly without antibiotics , we were told by our vet that just think how you feel with flu and that is how they feel. Jacki may be able to give you better advise as i am sure she must have come across this quite a bit im her job. Both my boys are fine now ( they were 25 weeks when they got it ) I believe if they have no underlying health problems and have been vacinated with lots of TLC , they will shake this off. Warm, love, space to feel miserable and smelly food and only meds they had was bisolvin did it for ours. Good luck and keep us posted x

[jckkerrison]

We just came home from the vet - our new babies, Klaus and Anika both probably have calicivirus. I knew they had colds but now I'm being told this.

We just lost our first baby - 1 year old - to feline leukemia 2 months ago.

We are really scared. I would appreciate any advice from anyone who has experience with this. We feed our kittens, wet food - Avoderm with no dry food. What else should we do?

What is the prognosis? They both have little ulcers on their tongues but have recovered from their cold symptoms.

I know I'm rambling but we are so scared. We've had them one week and have already fallen in love with them.

Thanks,
Debbie

Lots of good advice from people on here who have had to deal with the same problem,the fact that they have all ready recovered from their cold symptoms is a good sign bless them make sure they are getting plenty of fluids as their tongues are still sore,its always handy asking for a syringe to have on standby so you can dribble extra fluids into the side of the mouth if required & as everyone else says plenty of TLC. Can understand your panic loosing a cat to feline leukemia must have been devastating & although there can be a nasty side to calicivirus I have to say its been a long long time since I have seen one mostly the ones I can remember have gone on to make very good recoveries or at the worst slight flare ups occasionaly so along with everyone else fingers crossed for you & your babies...x

[tennisgirlsc]

Thanks to everyone for your advice and support.

They did not tell me which strain it was but they are running around the house and are showing no signs of illness other than the ulcers on their tongues.

As far as the lysine goes, I am calling the vet in the morning - she mentioned a lysine powder that goes into their food yesterday. I will pick this up tomorrow.

They look wonderful and are so sweet!!!!! I've never had kittens that are so sweet before! They have already won our hearts!!!

Once again, thanks so much to all of you for your kind words and support. It is scary after losing our last kitten but I feel confident that these two are on the upswing

[tennisgirlsc]

Picked up lysine from the vet today. The vet prescribed 2 doses of 250mg twice daily.

Does this sound like too much? I do NOT want loose stools.....

I'm hoping this helps with the mouth ulcers.

[candes]

Picked up lysine from the vet today. The vet prescribed 2 doses of 250mg twice daily.

Does this sound like too much? I do NOT want loose stools.....

I'm hoping this helps with the mouth ulcers.

Too much can be problematic in more than the loose stool dept. You definately don't want to overdose with this. I am not certain if you are using the Vetri or not. But the dosing for that can be confusing. 2 chews provide 250mg (125 each). So 4 would be a maximum daily dose of 500mg. Now that is for an adult cat. My baby Sasha gets 1 chew twice daily for a total of 250mg.

Oh and I am a worry wart just like you. Which doesn't help unexperienced folks that arrive here. My Teddy Bearz recently started sneezing after our new youngin arrived under the weather. Mom was checking him for breathing etc... Keeping him close by, which he loved since he felt he was dying too you know. He was like, "mommy, take care of me"!!! You should have seen the pitiful way he looked at me. Boys always get a bit dramatic when under the weather. The sneezing is gone after just a few days. He got over it quite fast since I upped his lysine to the max vs maintainance.

[tennisgirlsc]

I'm happy to report that the lysine worked magic! Thanks so much for the tip :-) They are doing so well! Another question - since they have had calicivirus, should they receive the next booster which contains this virus? I'm very scared of giving vaccines to kittens who have compromised immune systems. Also, when should I take them for their spay/neuter? I was thinking 4 months? I want to build up their immune systems before so obviously, IF they receive the booster shots, the timing comes into play. Thanks so much to everyone for your help and concern :-) Merry Christmas to everyone!