Cat flu caught from new kittens?

[torinsmom]

Okay, I have a sick cat at home I have posted about. He has ulcers on his tongue. Well, we have noticed that my other adult cat has what looks like an ulcer on her nose. The vet told me cat #1 must have licked something caustic. We are treating him for dehydration and possible infection. Well, once I noticed cat #2's nose, I started researching online and found something about calicivirus, which is also cat flu. It fits all the symptoms perfectly.

We got two new kittens almost two weeks ago. Since my cats don't have any interaction with other cats and this is spread cat to cat, I am assuming they caught it from the kittens. The kittens don't have any symptoms though. I know that is part of routine vaccines, but would a kitten be contagious from that vaccine? I am not sure what happened, but I sure wish it hadn't!

Marsha

 

[Imzadi]

If you got the kittens from a shelter, then yes, they could have gotten something there and brought it home.

You also might want to bathe the kittens.

I do hope you had them tested for female leukemia before you brought them into the home.

 

[si-am]

We have two cats-- one is two years older than the other.

When we adopted our second from the animal shelter, she had been given a clean bill of health (no FIV or anything major) but she still gave our other cat both an upper respiratory infection AND ringworm (which wasn't easy to get rid of, I tell ya. I caught it too! )

Eventually everyone got all better, but it did take a few vet visits, some time, and a lot of patience!

 

[themarquis]

our cats both now have chronic kitty herpes (not a big deal, just occasionally causes upper respiratory symptoms and/or eye redness) because the younger one had it in the shelter and brought it into the house. There is no way to get rid of it.

It certainly could be the case that your kittens have brought some weird illness into the home. I'm curious about the "licked something caustic" theory the vet had -- honestly, that doesnt' seem right to me. It's certainly possible, but with the other symptoms, and now the other cat, it just doesn't ring true. It seems to "convenient" of an explanation to me, esp. given that you can't find any evidence of what "caustic" thing could have been licked. I agree that it seems like a contagious illness of some kind.

Have you thought about going to a different vet? if it were me, I would want a second opinion. If it is a virus, there might be very little you can do, but if you are dealing with a bacterial illness, all your cats should be on antibiotics right now. In additon, I wonder whether the first cat should have more aggressive treatment to prevent dehydration and get it to eat at least a little bit to prevent the kind of catastrophic problems that can happen to cats when they can't eat.

 

[torinsmom]

I got the kittens from an independent rescue. They had all their vaccinations and their paperwork says that they tested negative for feline leukemia. I know the foster mom told me that they test the mother and if she is negative, the kittens would be too. They were at a private home with their four siblings before I got them being fostered.

The vet I normally see refuses to see my cat today because Saturdays are so busy. The only vet I can turn to is the emergency vet whom I saw last time. At the time I brought cat #1 to the vet, I didn't mention cat #2, because I thought she had just been scratched by one of the babies. I mentioned that we had two new kittens, but with paperwork showing they were vaccinated against FCVRP(which included calicivirus) and negatives for feline leukemia, I guess he had no reason to assume it was a contagious problem.

They wanted to keep cat #1 overnight on IV's, but I could not afford it. THat is why we did the sub-cu fluids and I am pushing everything at home. I am pushing diluted baby food at this time as well a few times a day to keep something in his somach, along with meds and water.

Should I call the foster mom and let her know what is going on? I don't know for sure this is calicivirus, but it seems much more likely than cats eating or sniffing something caustic. Would the animal rescue share any responsibility, like offering their vet to help to keep me from spending $1000 or more? I went through an agency to avoid having to isolate animals while I waited for testing, vaccines, etc. They were already spade and neutered when I got them. Do you think the kittens could get this is they were just vaccinated against it a few weeks ago?

Marsha

 

[luvdzne]

Our new kitten we brought home last Friday has this. He had to stay overnight at the vet Wed. because he became so sick. He started having really bad diarrhea and by Wed. morning he couldn't stand without falling over. He come home Thursday afternoon doing much better, but is still sneezing.

From what I've read, it is easily passed from cat to cat and is something that will come back throughout their life. Especially when under stress.

You probally won't get much help on the vet bill from the shelter, but if you paid an adoption fee, you can ask for that back to help with vet costs. They may or may not agree to give it back but it's worth a try. Good luck!

On a side note.....This is the second cat that we have adopted from a shelter within 3 months. We ended up having to take the first cat back because they withheld it's serious medical history from us. They knew it would need a lifetime expensive medical treatment and admitted they should never adopted him out. I have since seen it back up for adoption (no mention of the medical history and now the he is a she ). The one we have now we adopted from a different shelter and they sent it home with us knowing it was ill and didn't tell us. Unfortunately I have heard of several stories like this where the shelters are so full they do anything to get the pets adopted and will say anything because they are so full.

 

[torinsmom]

This is a rescue and I had to go through a lot to be accepted to adopt from them. They called my vet, called references, and did a home visit. They have the kitties in foster care, so it is not such a rush to adopt them out. We actually wanted another kitten first, but were told he had a possible heart murmur and they didn't want to adopt him out until they knew the whole story. It ended up being a very serious murmur and he had surgery. The foster mom told me everything and how he would probably need medication all his life. So I do trust that the rescue didn't knowingly give me kittens who have a sickness. I think it's more likely that they were exposed to the virus at the mobile clinic they were spayed and neutered at. It looks like it is very contagious, so that's a possibility. Maybe they aren't showing signs because they were recently vaccinated.

Anyway, my big boy is very sad looking, but I feel a little better that he is fighting when I try to give him fluids. He wasn't doing that yesterday; he was just lying there growling while I shot stuff in. I will take him back in tonight for another round of sub-cu fluids. The vet said he could give me pain meds to put on his tongue, so maybe that would help too.

I am trying to get enough food in him that he has something in his tummy. THe vet said even a little something would be helpful. Poor thing is a hulk at 20 lbs., so at least he has some stored fat to use for energy.

Marsha

 

[torinsmom]

Talked to a former parent who is a vet. She says that he almost certainly has cat flu and that it is usually not that serious. Evidently cats that are exposed shed the virus when they are stressed. The kittens probably shed it and made my other cats sick. Treatment is symptomatic, but she says pain meds would probably help my baby eat more. He actually drank tuna water and ate some of the shredded tuna, so I think he is feeling some better. I called the vet he saw and have to wait until he is on at 8 to see if I can just go by and get pain meds instead of bringing him in again.

Thanks for all the advice. I guess I need to let the foster mom know, so she can warn whoever adopts the other kittens.

Marsha

 

[Imzadi]

I would still take the cat in for a Sub-cu treatment. He may live off his stored body fat, but dehydration is the bigger problem. It would tear you up later if you accidentally didn't do the one thing that could kill your cat because you don't have enough money.

I'd also ask the rescue to help pay for the vet bills as, yes, the kittens did cause the problems to your other two cats. They might not pay, but it's worth a shot.

Also ask if you ned to bring the other cat in.

 

[torinsmom]

The other cat's nose seems to be scabbing up and she is otherwise acting fine. I'm gonna take a wait and see approach with her. She doesn't really socialize with the other cats, so it makes sense that she would get a milder case(Or maybe it is because Pharaoh is a hybrid cat)

If Cat #1(Pharaoh) seems to be dehyrated or stops eating or drinking, I will take him in again. I just don't want to stress him out more. The last trip was very stressful and the way he was running around and jumping on and off the exam table, I figure he used a lot more energy(and fluid) than he needed to. I think pain meds will help him tolerate more food and water. If he needs fluids, I will bring him in and get them. That's not very expensive and actually the other vet said they should be able to send me home with fluid and show me how to do sub-cu myself.

So, I called and left a message for the foster mom about the problem. She knew Pharaoh was feeling bad, because we spoke this past week about one of the kittens maybe needing antibiotics for her incision(looked infected) I didn't know what it was at the time, and actually this vet did not say it was calicivirus(didn't even mention that possibility) He was diagnosed by me and my former parent that is a vet through his symptoms and the fact that we got these new kittens two weeks ago. I'll see if she calls back and offers anything, but I don't know that I could demand any money. I mean, I don't think they really had any idea the kittens had been exposed.

Marsha

 

[Imzadi]

the other vet said they should be able to send me home with fluid and show me how to do sub-cu myself.

You're a better person than me for being able to do that.

but I don't know that I could demand any money. I mean, I don't think they really had any idea the kittens had been exposed.

This really isn't a valid reason, lack of knowledge & intent. That's like saying someone isn't responsible & shouldn't have to pay for a broken leg after they've run someone over, because they didn't know he was crossing the road & certainly didn't mean to do it.

The shelters I've gone to have always given a 30 day return policy. They actually suggest to have the cats checked out by a vet for any unknown illnesses, during those 30 days as it IS their responsibility if they adopted out cats with problems - whether they knew about the illnesses or not.

 

[torinsmom]

Well, I'm sure they would pay for any illnesses the kittens had, but since it was my existing cat that ended up sick, that is probably a different story. There is no way to prove that my cat got sick from the kittens, although it is a likely hypothesis.

I took Pharaoh back tonight to get sub-cu fluids, but the vet said he is well hydrated. I spoke to him about calicivirus and he said he doesn't know if that could be it. It would be treated the same way--fluids, antibiotics, antacids--anyway. He gave me 2 days worth of pain medicine and gave him the first dose there. We got home and he has eaten half a can of tuna!

Marsha

 

[Imzadi]

Yay!

Good for you & Pharaoh. Hope he will be back to his usual self soon.