Calicivirus, Worried Sick

[Sister midnight]

Oh this is awful for you and Luca. He is young to have cancer surely.? I hope its more of a infection response. Ive only had my Luca 19 days and losing sleep with worry. Think I'm high alert after losing my beautiful Elmo in May.

 

[MissMoxieFoxie]

Oh my! What a cutie! He does has a similar build to my Luca! He could have Siamese in him.

I understand being on high alert and being sensitive. We lost our Mainecoon, Finley to heart disease in January on my birthday. The crazy thing is this all started happening a week after Finley died. I worry about what can happen and worse case scenario all the time. I just hope this medicine helps and the food dishes.

 

[Sister midnight]

Oh how sad. Strangely enough Elmo became ill on my birthday and died around first anniversary of my fathers death. It's too much isn't it? I'm hoping it all turns out well for you too.

 

[Sister midnight]

Hi, one of my cats (now aged 11) has been dealing with FCV for 5 years. It's a very difficult thing to treat but we've persevered with various treatments and finally his mouth is showing a huge improvement. First of all he had most of his teeth removed from the affected gum areas, but that didn't help. So then we moved on to Interferon which didn't help either. Then we moved on to steroids but those didn't suit him at all and changed his personality. I did some internet research and discovered that the drug Cyclosporine (branded Atopica here in the UK) could also be used as an FCV treatment and my vet agreed to try it. It's mainly used for dermatitis but after a year of a daily dose and 2 years of a 3 x weekly dose, his gums are now almost back to normal. Hope this info helps you and Luca.

 

[Sister midnight]

CJM. Thanks for your input. What were the first symptoms your cat had? Im hoping mild gingivitis wasn't first sign

 

[CJM]

Hi Sister Midnight. The first thing we noticed was his really terrible bad breath. Then we noticed that while he was eating he would suddenly make a shrieking noise and run away from his food bowl. After this happened a couple of times we headed off to the vet who initially thought it was gingivitis. But when it didn't respond to treatment, they did some tests for FCV which came back positive.

 

[Sister midnight]

Awww poor kittie. Did they do a blood test? Luca has had one but i was told it can bring back a false positive if vaccinated so swabs best. The vet said a general anaesthetic would be needed as she known 2 cats bite and swallow the swab! I refused it.
Is it manageable...just preparing if Luca has it

 

[CJM]

IIRC, they did a swab initially and then a blood test as a follow-up. I was completely panicked at first, but it is totally manageable. Just make sure you have an understanding and gentle vet that you and Luca are comfortable with because Luca will probably have to see the vet every 2-3 months for a mouth examination (and medication review if applicable), and while the gums are swollen it really hurts them to open their mouth wide. As well as the various specialist meds we tried out, our cat starting having Metacam in his food every day as a painkiller and he was pretty much fine and could eat what he wanted even with the inflamed gums.

 

[Sister midnight]

Poor Luca is very stressed going to the vets. When Elmo had tooth out she ead not given metacam as vet said not recommended anymore..i looked into it and apparently so. No easy answers. Im so pleased you are managing your cat. I hate that they suggested returning Luca...they must reckon its bad if positive. It's not an option as i love him and he's not an object he's a living creature

 

[Sister midnight]

Luca tested positive in that he has high calicivirus antibodies, but may have been vaccinated. Still not good news

 

[MiloMaineCoon]

This is Milo. He just turned 3 and is 23 lbs. he’s purebred, always had rescues before, but I fell in love with him at first sight. These cats are amazing. He has such a personality. Plays fetch, comes when you call him.....like a dog. I have tried every cat food in the market and he’s very picky. Anyone have any suggestions? He loves shrimp .....which gets expensive and only one store has the no preservatives, salt or chemicals in it. Occasionally he’ll eat chicken breast.

 

[Sister midnight]

Oh he's adorable! Maybe try putting this as a new thread re food as this one was for teeth probs and it may get missed. I know cats need food with enough taurine in it. Some feed raw and would perhaps give you some tips. Commercially produced food varies, and there is a new one that's dehydrated and you add water . People with picky eaters have had success with it. I'm in the UK, where are you?

 

[MiloMaineCoon]

Oh he's adorable! Maybe try putting this as a new thread re food as this one was for teeth probs and it may get missed. I know cats need food with enough taurine in it. Some feed raw and would perhaps give you some tips. Commercially produced food varies, and there is a new one that's dehydrated and you add water . People with picky eaters have had success with it. I'm in the UK, where are you?

I’m in the US. Had his teeth checked and he’s fine very healthy. Just very spoiled