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- Jul 29, 2017
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Not sure whether to continue famciclovir or not...Vet believes both kitties have feline herpes or calicivirus and says it's really common in rescues.
The suspects:
1. Cleo, 6 months old, blind (enucleated). Vet says that her tear ducts were removed but remaining tissues can still weep. One eye was really bad two weeks ago, with pink pus discharge. She got a shot of antibiotics and improved immediately. So that was clearly bacterial (maybe secondary to the virus). She's had wet sneezes since I got her 5 weeks ago, no better or worse.
2. Pixel, 5 months old, scrawny, needs to gain weight. She had pinkeye when I adopted her. The eye improved some with NeoPolyDex (or got better in spite of the drops). She's started to sneeze in the past few weeks.
The vet said they probably have a virus (no testing done). I started them on famciclovir a little over a week ago. Cleo has tolerated the drug well but is extremely difficult to pill. Her eye and nose symptoms are maybe a little better, but her appetite is off. She has remained playful (in fact, is bullying Pixel, which I'm trying to deal with). They both get an L-lysine supplement gel, which they seem to like.
Pixel was very drug sensitive and had to be ramped up on dose to avoid vomiting. It knocked back her appetite, and all she wanted to do was sleep. Also, she got her second FVRCP vaccine when she saw the vet last week. She limped on her right rear leg right after that. She is still limping today and a bit stiff overall, but the limp has improved. (Cleo got the same vaccine, but no limping.) Pixel has no oral ulcers that I can see. Her respiratory symptoms improved a little while on the drug.
Anyway, I think it might be more important for Pixel to gain weight than to deal with a virus that can't be cured. So I took them both off the drug two days ago. Pixel's appetite is back and she's playful again. But her eyes are starting to look worse, a little bit pink and weepy, though both eyes are fully open. Cleo's eye is a little more weepy off the drug, also, but is eating well and super playful. Both still have wet sneezes, which is a fun way to wake up their guardian :-)
So the drug might be helping symptoms, but it can't be good for kittens to eat less than they should. Has anyone seen these viral symptoms clear on their own, or has anyone got cats where the symptoms never got better even into adulthood? I have no idea what to expect.
I also don't know if getting the symptoms under control is just for the cats' comfort, or if getting it under control now will help them suppress the virus in the long term.
I know you can't give me medical advice, but you can maybe say what you would do if you were in my situation, or give me some resources, or tell me your experiences.
I'm willing to take them to a vet, but just as with doctors, if you talk to three, you will get three different opinions, and two of them will be wrong. That's not a knock on vets/docs; medicine is complicated. So I believe in being more proactive.
The suspects:
1. Cleo, 6 months old, blind (enucleated). Vet says that her tear ducts were removed but remaining tissues can still weep. One eye was really bad two weeks ago, with pink pus discharge. She got a shot of antibiotics and improved immediately. So that was clearly bacterial (maybe secondary to the virus). She's had wet sneezes since I got her 5 weeks ago, no better or worse.
2. Pixel, 5 months old, scrawny, needs to gain weight. She had pinkeye when I adopted her. The eye improved some with NeoPolyDex (or got better in spite of the drops). She's started to sneeze in the past few weeks.
The vet said they probably have a virus (no testing done). I started them on famciclovir a little over a week ago. Cleo has tolerated the drug well but is extremely difficult to pill. Her eye and nose symptoms are maybe a little better, but her appetite is off. She has remained playful (in fact, is bullying Pixel, which I'm trying to deal with). They both get an L-lysine supplement gel, which they seem to like.
Pixel was very drug sensitive and had to be ramped up on dose to avoid vomiting. It knocked back her appetite, and all she wanted to do was sleep. Also, she got her second FVRCP vaccine when she saw the vet last week. She limped on her right rear leg right after that. She is still limping today and a bit stiff overall, but the limp has improved. (Cleo got the same vaccine, but no limping.) Pixel has no oral ulcers that I can see. Her respiratory symptoms improved a little while on the drug.
Anyway, I think it might be more important for Pixel to gain weight than to deal with a virus that can't be cured. So I took them both off the drug two days ago. Pixel's appetite is back and she's playful again. But her eyes are starting to look worse, a little bit pink and weepy, though both eyes are fully open. Cleo's eye is a little more weepy off the drug, also, but is eating well and super playful. Both still have wet sneezes, which is a fun way to wake up their guardian :-)
So the drug might be helping symptoms, but it can't be good for kittens to eat less than they should. Has anyone seen these viral symptoms clear on their own, or has anyone got cats where the symptoms never got better even into adulthood? I have no idea what to expect.
I also don't know if getting the symptoms under control is just for the cats' comfort, or if getting it under control now will help them suppress the virus in the long term.
I know you can't give me medical advice, but you can maybe say what you would do if you were in my situation, or give me some resources, or tell me your experiences.
I'm willing to take them to a vet, but just as with doctors, if you talk to three, you will get three different opinions, and two of them will be wrong. That's not a knock on vets/docs; medicine is complicated. So I believe in being more proactive.