I wonder if my absence had been felt in the cat blogosphere as I have been MIA for days. One thing I have to say, I have been extremely busy ensuring the health of every kitties in the J Family are well looked into as well as mine. The whole week has been a hectic week with Justin, Joey, Jimmy and Jeremy getting themselves in and out of sicknesses. I won’t have to mention but I guessed you all would have known how tough it was to have a few purging kitties at home at the same time. By now with all the medications I had purchased from the vet, everyone except Jimmy and Jeremy had recovered.
Although Jimmy is still having some soft stools, at least those were not as watery and mucus filled as before. He should be cleared within the next few days. Jeremy was the one that made me concern the most. Constipation! That was something new to me in cats. He was down with fever ever since Sunday and I was praying hard that he would pull through. Not only fear was in his eyes. Mine too as I was in real panicky situation for the worst scenario.
I had to manually feed him with some wet food and water every few hours before giving him his medications. On top of that, I had to wipe him clean with a damp towel occasionally to try to keep his temperature down. You should just look at his eyes in tears. I could even feel his pain in trying to recover from his sickness. Even Mama Jessica was trying hard to comfort him at all times. I got even more heartache when I found out that he had lost some much weight considering that I always like to call him a fatty. He’s so skinny now!
I was relieved barely an hour ago when he gave out his first “mess”. Although it was in my living room, it was a sign that got me in tears. He was fighting to recover and he was up moving about purring and rubbing against my legs for more food! I hope his worst would be over soon.
Janice on the other hand is still at the vet, doing quite well after a minor surgery to remove that “horn” of hers. Although she was still crying for my presence, I have no other choice but to keep her there to ensure that her wound would heal properly without getting infected by the remaining sick kitties in the house. Whicky Wuudler, Oliver, Angel O'Cakes and Gerry’s Mum, Jane, was right about the Calici Virus that has been affecting Janice. I just got this information from her last night although I would love to have known it earlier without proceeding to surgery which had just cost me a bomb. From the symptoms that were described in her email, it was exactly what happened to Janice (and maybe the rest). Luckily, I forced myself to push Janice to the vet at the right time, although reluctantly due to some circumstances.
With this useful information given, it did help the vets to narrow down the assumption on what was happening to Janice. Out of curiosity, I did ask them on why they have no knowledge on such an existence of the virus. I know I was not in a position to question their expertise in treating Janice but I had to know. To my surprise, they answered me very well with a sense of humor as well. “Not all doctors would know everything unless they were specialized in a specific sickness. What Janice was experiencing was never seen before in our entire 30 years plus of involvement in the veterinary services throughout the world.” I was dumbfounded with the last statement and did not wish to ask any further.
I would like to quote what Jane had emailed me, just in case any of the kitties out there is experiencing the same symptom as Janice.
“The Merck Veterinary Manual: According to this book (reference textbook as used by veterinary surgeons) Nasopharyngeal Polyps can often be caused by Calici Virus. This is an upper respiratory virus that is common in cat colonies and is easily spread. The symptoms for Calici Virus fit perfectly (I'd bet exactly) with the symptoms you described that Janice had as an adjunct to the polyps and also your other cats. The rate of spread within your cat family fits too.
A viral swab is easily done by your vet to establish if it is Calici virus causing the polyps and other symptoms. Not every cat will get the polyps but Calici virus, whilst as a virus is not directly treatable, the symptoms CAN be treated successfully with a range of antibiotics. Once a cat has Calici Virus, it will always have it (and shed it too) and acute episodes (which can last from 7 to 10 days) can be caused by stress, which is common in multi cats household. Vaccines are available for it, but obviously this is of no use to an already infected feline.
I have a cat with Calici, Gerry - he has had one of the worst cases of Calici my vet had ever seen. 100% ulcerated mouth, oral abscesses, vomiting, extreme diarrhea, dehydration, inappetance, sneezes, coughing, depression and generalized pain. There's also a form of Calici called Limping Calici Virus (but he did not have this) and it took 9 months to stabilize him and control the episodes. Initially we tried 6 weekly injections of Depomedron (a steroid) to control it, but the effect just did not last for the interval between doses. What has worked (in the last year he's had only one episode of Calici - due to a fight with the neighbor’s cat) is Interferon. This is available from the vet in solution form - the approved brand is Virbagen Omega and it's administered once a day orally, not with food but by syringe. Interferon in contact with the cat's throat causes the immune system to work harder in that area and keep the virus at bay. For Gerry this has been a life saver and once Janice and the others have recovered (if of course it is Calici causing their illness) it may work for them too.”
Anyway, I should be real thankful to Jane for endlessly trying to help in getting Janice out from her misery. THANK YOU JANE!
