Anyone Here With An Indoor-outdoor Cat With Coronavirus? Experience Needed. :-/

[MissClouseau]

My adult female cat was a stray in my condo before I officially adopted her and she never stopped going outside daily. Trust my word that not only she totally refuses but she also gets super depressed if I avoid all the window-door bangings and cryings and keep her inside all day and she holds her pee and poop.

But... there are unvaccinated stray cats everywhere in the yard and it freaks me out so much she will catch something from them or from the soil they used to poop on. She didn't even get vaccination herself this year yet. She's getting immune boosters Zylexis first, 3 doses. She is also not spayed and apparently the operation is risky? On the ImmunoComb Elisa test they used to see how likely it would be for her to mutate FIP, on a scale of 1-6 her result was 4 so it's higher than average. But I don't know how reliable that test is.

My question is anything you can tell with your experience. How long does your cat been living with coronavirus and an outdoor life? What kind of health problems have you dealth with? Anything, really, I would appreciate.

 

[Noirele]

Hello,
how old is you cat? If she is older than 18-24 months old, the risk of getting FIP is quite small. Growing up, their immune system improves, and they are usually able to control the virus. Also, if she has had the antibodies for more than a year, it's unlikely she would develop FIP now.
Spaying her is risky because surgical stress could increase the virus mutation rate, but if she is old enough, the risk is almost zero. Also, bear in mind that pregnancy is WAY more stressful for a female cat, so it would be more worrying than the surgery itself.
Long story short: I would be worried, but only about another viruses (FIV, FELV, calicivirus,parvovirus) and about her getting pregnant.

 

[MissClouseau]

Hello,
how old is you cat? ....
Long story short: I would be worried, but only about another viruses (FIV, FELV, calicivirus,parvovirus) and about her getting pregnant.

We are not sure of her age but she's definitely older than 2. I asked if she could get FIV vaccination as well but learned FIV vaccine isn't available in our country anymore and that even in other countries they stopped giving that shot as they didn't see evidence it does anything to protect (or something like that.)

 

[Noirele]

We are not sure of her age but she's definitely older than 2. I asked if she could get FIV vaccination as well but learned FIV vaccine isn't available in our country anymore and that even in other countries they stopped giving that shot as they didn't see evidence it does anything to protect (or something like that.)

My advice is to spay her right away, then after a month get her vaccinated with the shots available in your country. It would protect the cat from pregnancy and reduce the risk of FIV infection. If you are really worried about FIP (we all are, I know it's scary) you could do an antibodies titration and check their level, postponing the surgery if they are sky-high. But in that case, you have to keep her inside until she is spayed, it's for her own good

 

[MissClouseau]

My advice is to spay her right away, then after a month get her vaccinated with the shots available in your country. It would protect the cat from pregnancy and reduce the risk of FIV infection. If you are really worried about FIP (we all are, I know it's scary) you could do an antibodies titration and check their level, postponing the surgery if they are sky-high. But in that case, you have to keep her inside until she is spayed, it's for her own good

She took an antibodies test. I mean I think it was that, ImmunoComb test. On a scale of 1-6 with 6 being the highest her result was 4. I read mixed things about the reliability of that test though

 

[Noirele]

She took an antibodies test. I mean I think it was that, ImmunoComb test. On a scale of 1-6 with 6 being the highest her result was 4. I read mixed things about the reliability of that test though

I have no idea what that test is, it doesn't sound so reliable by the way, but it's not a titration. I'm gonna search the web to get more info, though.

 

[Noirele]

On a scale of 1-6 with 6 being the highest her result was 4.

Sorry for the double post, but I've just found info. The number rates the level of antibodies indeed, but of course it's much less accurate than a blood titration. Anyway, this is not linked to the likeliness of the virus mutating to FIP. It just shows a recent infection or possibly a chronic carrier, or anyway a cat with strong antibody response. I would do the titration anyway, if possible. If not, you could consider to wait to spay her, but like I said: pregnancy is a stronger trigger for FIP

 

[lutece]

Especially if you have concerns about her health, she needs to be spayed. Unspayed female cats that go outdoors are very likely to become pregnant. Pregnancy, birth, and lactation would all put much greater stress on her body than spay surgery, and then you would have kittens to worry about... kittens are much more likely to develop FIP than adult cats. Even if she does not become pregnant, going through repeated heat cycles is very stressful on the body and can lead to life-threatening uterine infections (pyometra), as well as trigger other health issues.

 

[Willowy]

Is she pregnant already? Almost all unspayed female cats are at this time of year. Anyway, yeah, I'd have her spayed right away, that's the most important.

I've never even had a cat tested for Corona so if any of my cats have a high count I don't know about it. I'm not sure how I feel about the trend of routine testing for it.

 

[MissClouseau]

It just shows a recent infection or possibly a chronic carrier, or anyway a cat with strong antibody response. I would do the titration anyway, if possible. If not, you could consider to wait to spay her, but like I said: pregnancy is a stronger trigger for FIP

Unfortunately I don't have money left for anything other than vaccination and can't save up until September. This last vet trip and the tests were the second time this year that I left four digits in money. I've also never heard of a vet who advised the spay surgery before vaccination?

She had infection the first week of January. She might have had a minor dental infection in more recent history. (She had some trouble in her mouth but since I already knew she has dental issues and she could eat still, I didn't take her to the vet. She will get dental cleaning the same day when she (can) get spayed.)

 

[MissClouseau]

Is she pregnant already? Almost all unspayed female cats are at this time of year. Anyway, yeah, I'd have her spayed right away, that's the most important.

She's not pregnant. She's been around since 2017 and surrounded by male cats but never got pregnant nor showed any interest in mating. She's not the only female stray cat like this though. She had a female buddy I feed who grew up in my backyard. She also showed no interest in mating but rather occasionally chased the male cats aggressively and not got pregnant in over 2 years. (She then left this street just last month. Not sure how she's doing now.)

 

[Willowy]

Is it at all possible somebody already had them spayed? Cats are normally extremely fertile.

 

[Margret]

Is it at all possible somebody already had them spayed? Cats are normally extremely fertile.

It's very unlikely for an unspayed female cat to never go into heat, and for a cat in heat to be uninterested in toms is impossible.

Margret

 

[MissClouseau]

It's very unlikely for an unspayed female cat to never go into heat, and for a cat in heat to be uninterested in toms is impossible.

Margret

It's possible she goes in heat. Just doesn't show the typical signs nor have any interest in mating. Like the times these two intact male cats serenaded her outside the window, weeks like that she's by my side even more and sleeps longer. That's literally the only difference if she does go in heat. The other stray cat I mentioned, she was aggressive. All year around she goes near male stray cats that are minding their own business and yells at them until they either start to fight or until they leave.

I live in Istanbul where there are stray cats everywhere and can safely say not all unspayed female cats are interested in mating. (Older intact male cats don't really care either.) I don't think it's THAT uncommon either considering how often I read people trying to get their cats mate but the cats refuse.

 

[MissClouseau]

Is it at all possible somebody already had them spayed? Cats are normally extremely fertile.

With my cat Hima there is a possibility but it's a slim chance. The vets do that cutting a piece of ear when they spay female stray cats but Hima doesn't have that. I also suspect she might be infertile. Check this out. But I know male cats serenade her occasionally and she doesn't show interest. She also gets angry shortly every time a male cat gets behind her for whatever the reason. Also despite being a very affectionate cat, the only time she saw kittens she hated them. That was the only time I saw her hiss at another cat. No idea if she knows she would get kittens if she mated or if it's a sign of anything at all.

But the other stray cat I mentioned, I'm 100% sure she's unspayed. She was like 2-3 months old when she showed up in my backyard and never left more than a day until last month.