Can Calicivirus/stomatitis Spontaneously Resolve? Weirdest Thing..

[UnderneathTheStars]

So those of you who have been following my Mousse's recovering health might be interested in this. We have an appointment scheduled with a (very expensive) dental specialist and an internal medicine specialist to deal with what seems to be long-lasting calicivirus symptoms (tongue ulcers, constant runny/stuffy nose) for my 10 year old adopted persian cat. She came to me with calicivirus and it got better but the nose and tongue symptoms never really resolved. My usual vet also is suspicious that her swollen and red gums are stomatitis. So, we are scheduled to go see both specialists for a possible FME in early April. At home we are treating with gabapentin for pain, oral gel from the vet, and 1-TDC supplements twice daily. She also receives weekly B12 injections at home and a raw diet which both keep her IBD symptoms completely at bay. But, here's the weird thing.

For the past three days, she's had no calicivirus or stomatitis symptoms. I know this is probably temporary but it's seriously the weirdest thing. I usually have to clean her face to remove dry drool and nose secretions in the morning and then clean it again at night so she's comfortable. Past three days? No drooling and no secretions. Her gums are a lot less swollen and are turning pink instead of bright red. She hasn't needed her gabapentin in three days.

Now, we have had her for almost a year. Is it possible for calicivirus to last that long and then spontaneously resolve itself? Her calicivirus was AWFUL when we got her and she did recover a great deal but always had those symptoms. If this is her calicivirus resolving, why are her gums improving too?

Of course, we will still see the specialists since they can tell us what's going on but this is all just so weird. It's like I woke up and she's fine. Thoughts?

 

[Willowy]

Did she have any steroids lately?

 

[UnderneathTheStars]

Did she have any steroids lately?

Nope! She has actually never had them (at least not while I've had her) because she has a heart murmur so the vet didn't think it would be good. She had azithromycin antibiotics once in an attempt to clear the stuffiness and it went away while she was on it but came back right after she was done the treatment. It's been three months since she ended the antibiotics.

 

[Willowy]

Sometimes diseases go into remission for no known reason. Maybe she just got lucky. I'd be tiptoeing around trying not to change anything, lol.

 

[UnderneathTheStars]

Sometimes diseases go into remission for no known reason. Maybe she just got lucky. I'd be tiptoeing around trying not to change anything, lol.

Definitely not changing a thing! I'm trying not to be too optimistic because I don't want to feel sad if it changes back. I'm keeping in mind that this might just be temporary. Hopefully, this good luck will continue until we see the specialist.

 

[She's a witch]

Calicivirus will never go away completely, but since it’s a virus then yes, it is possible for the symptoms to go into sleep mode which is as good as it can get. It doesn’t mean she’s cured from it - she never will, as for now. That’s why it’s super important to increase her immunity and keep her stress free as much as possible. Has it been warmer lately where you live? My cat’s calici symptoms are less annoying him in the spring and summer.
I don’t know much about stomatitis but maybe her immunity went up and it helped with her gums too? I tend to think that cats can be pretty great at self healing

 

[UnderneathTheStars]

Calicivirus will never go away completely, but since it’s a virus then yes, it is possible for the symptoms to go into sleep mode which is as good as it can get. It doesn’t mean she’s cured from it - she never will, as for now. That’s why it’s super important to increase her immunity and keep her stress free as much as possible. Has it been warmer lately where you live? My cat’s calici symptoms are less annoying him in the spring and summer.
I don’t know much about stomatitis but maybe her immunity went up and it helped with her gums too? I tend to think that cats can be pretty great at self healing

It's actually really cold here in Eastern Canada but we keep the house toasty and run an air purifier in the living room where she sleeps at night. I've also been adding l-lysine to her food twice daily for the past month or so. Maybe this has helped along with the 1-TDC. I do hope it's her immune system getting stronger. That would make me happy.

 

[She's a witch]

It's actually really cold here in Eastern Canada but we keep the house toasty and run an air purifier in the living room where she sleeps at night. I've also been adding l-lysine to her food twice daily for the past month or so. Maybe this has helped along with the 1-TDC. I do hope it's her immune system getting stronger. That would make me happy.

My cat’s symptoms got much better on lysine, so it might be it. Now i give them probiotics (with l acidophilus strain) and it works even better- also something to consider and talk to your vet. Good luck, I hope it’ll last!

 

[catsknowme]

Any updates on Mousse? I suspect that the L-lysine helped. My Lance was diagnosed with stomatitis yesterday so I will be that resuming that plus curcumin ( tumeric) and possibly adding CoQ10. He is being given Clindamycin by the vet but she doesn't want to put him on steroids.

 

[denice]

Stomatitis is thought to be autoimmune in nature. If it is then a spontaneous remission is possible.

 

[UnderneathTheStars]

Any updates on Mousse? I suspect that the L-lysine helped. My Lance was diagnosed with stomatitis yesterday so I will be that resuming that plus curcumin ( tumeric) and possibly adding CoQ10. He is being given Clindamycin by the vet but she doesn't want to put him on steroids.

Well, we had a bit over a week of no symptoms but then they returned. I expected that but was still a bit sad. Now she has days with no symptoms and days with some. We did the clindamycin as well as azithromycin which all helped wonderfully during treatment but symptoms returned once treatment was completed. We didn't do steroids because she has a heart murmur (we are getting it investigated on Tuesday) and because my vet said it might increase the progression of the disease later on if it is actually stomatitis. How is the turmeric?

 

[catsknowme]

Lance is still on the Clindamycin and L-lysine (another member in another thread says that using the L-lysine is junk science but my own experience in rescuing very sick tiny kittens pulled from feral colonies says otherwise. I have seen the opposing studies but even if it is "junk science" or perhaps faith in action, if it works, or seems to, then I say "try it").
I am including a link to a thread that I am finding useful. At post #4, I included a VERY useful link to the thread "Stomatitis Relief". (A thread within a thread)
Please let me know what you think - all our combined knowledge and experiences benefit more kitties than we could ever imagine! Through TCS, I have seen the Ripple Effect, where in helping one member led to an out-of-state rescue about a year later, where 29 cats were taken from death row and moved up North, to be adopted out!

Mouth Sores (stomatitis) --sigh......