The Calicivirus
Protect Your Cat

The Calicivirus is associated with the condition known as cat flu, but in its most severe form is a nasty, dangerous virus which can kill your cat.

I am not a vet and there are medical sites about this virus which goes into far more detail. I will outline the main points here about the virus and also tell my story, so that you are informed and will be able to protect your cat as best you can by vaccinating them every year.

The Calici virus

Some of the symptoms of the virus are similar to cat flu i.e.

• Sneezing,
• Nasal discharge,
• Conjunctivitis,
• Oral ulceration,
• Reluctance to move
• Sleep a lot

In the more severe strains the following are also present:

• Limping or lameness
• High temperature
• Swelling of the head and paws
• Jaundice
• Bleeding from nose
• Bleeding from the bowel

The virus is very contagious and so is more prevalent where cats are kept in larger quantities, so catteries and animal shelters have to be very careful and keep their eyes peeled for the first signs of the illness.

However any cat that comes into contact with a carrier or infected cat may also contract the calicivirus.

Cats can remain contagious for 72 days some may even still shed the calicivirus a year after infection even though they show no symptoms themselves.

It is reported that a third of the cat population may be carriers of the virus meaning that its spread can be very fast through a community.

Treatment

As with any virus there is no specific treatment, the only thing available is for back up treatment to be given to the rest of the system to make sure that it is supported i.e., kidney function, liver etc.

As with cat flu the cat needs to be kept hydrated and in the less severe cases a fairly healthy cat will recover within 5 to 7 days. However the more severe cases can result in death regardless of any treatment provided.

Anti-biotics are often prescribed to the cat to help with any infections which may arise due to the virus. It is there for important that you visit your vet as soon as possible if you suspect your cat is suffering with cat flu like symptoms.

This is my recent experience with this nasty little virus. My aim is to make you aware of the calicivirus, aware of the symptoms but most of all to encourage you to have your cat vaccinated every year.

I have two cats, Byron and Shelley, they are male, 2 years old and neutered. they are gentle non aggressive cats who I rarely see fight in fact they are more likely to go up to tot tally new cats and give them a friendly sniff than anything else.

About two weeks ago Byron woke up and was holding his front right leg up. He hobbled around all day and so we booked him in that evening for a vet visit. At the vets the vet examined him and could not find the cause of the lameness but discovered that he had a very high temperature. Byron was given an anti-inflammatory and anti-biotic Injection.

The next day Shelley slept all day and didn’t move a muscle, not even to get food and this was very odd for Shelley. When he finally got up he could hardly walk, he was so stiff, and it was awful to see. Again we took them to the vets and he too had a very high temperature. After another set of injections the vet was still puzzled.

Saturday came and both cats had now stopped eating, even their favourite treats did not tempt them. Shelley was less stiff but Byron was still limping on the front leg. I was now getting worried about the fact that both cats had eaten little in three days and so off the vets they went again. The vet still could not work out what was wrong, gave some more anti inflammatory injections and told us that by Sunday they should be eating.

Well Sunday came and went and so did Monday and still both cats had eaten nothing. They would go to their bowls look at their food and back away. I began to suspect that their mouths were hurting them. On Tuesday we went back to the vets.

This time the vet discovered that both cats had terrible mouth Ulcers. Byron was jaundiced and both cats were now severely dehydrated. Both cats were admitted to the vet hospital and put on drips.

The next day I was told that the vets suspected the Calicivirus and because of this had put both cats in quarantine as it was highly contagious. We were told that we could not see them and that in the mean time, blood tests and swabs were being taken to confirm the illness.

On Thursdays the vets phoned me to say that both cats were very sick. Byron’s front legs had swollen up and were full of fluid and that they thought he may have pancreatitis too. I was also told that if the cats had the severe form of the virus that they could die. I was totally shocked.

Over the next five days we were not allowed to see the cats at all. We received daily reports of how they were getting on and all we could do was wait and see how the cats responded to treatment.

The tests came back and confirmed that it was the Calicivirus. Our boys started to slowly improve and eventually were allowed to come home. Over the next week and a half the cats had to go back several times, there temperatures hung around but the ulcers slowly went and so they could eat again and the Byron’s lameness slowly went.

On our final visit to the vets we had a long discussion about the calicivirus. We were told that there were many strains of it and that it is constantly changing and mutating meaning that there was no one way to protect our cats from it.

We were told though that because we had had our cats vaccinated that they believe that is why they pulled through because they had some immunity against the virus but not the particular strain they had so that’s why they were ill but survived. Thank god we vaccinated.

The Importance of vaccination against the calicicvirus.

A discussion with my vet since has informed me that here in the UK the really nasty strains of the calicivirus have not yet been reported but that in the USA some very nasty cases have occurred and that the virus seems to be mutating.

In the severe cases the cats die or have to be euthanized.

Because of the new severity of the virus new drugs are being developed and in fact I have been informed of a completely new one which is designed to help protect against these new strains. We will be having our cats vaccinated with it in a month’s time once their immune systems are back up to full strength.

Please speak to your vet about these new vaccines; they may not even be aware of them as they are so new. I cannot give you its name as it may be called something different where you live.

After watching my cats go through what they have and the fact that I could have lost both of them, I strongly urge you to have your cats vaccinated.