OPC problem. (other peoples' cat)

To try to condense the story, what I need is some input with anyone
who has experience with either herpes virus or calcivirus in cats.

This cat is skinny, ill, won't eat. Friend took her to the vet who
said she had herpes virus and gave her L-lysine; her eyes are
unaffected but she acts lame, and has terrible mouth ulcers. I wonder
if it's not calcivirus. The person who called me about this cat is
unfortunately one of the people who doesn't remember what the vet
says,

Anyway, she said vet told her to administer the lysine, then bring her
back "in a few days" to have her teeth pulled? Good God. I do know
that lysine is not a quick cure. I also know that either disease is
viral, so antibiotics won't help. But wouldn't the mouth ulcers be
like a secondary infection that *would* respond to antibiotics? Aren't
there any antiviral drugs that they give for herpes?

My experience with herpes is limited-and zilch with calcivirus-I'm not
even sure how the two are defined/separated.
Bootsie's herpes manifested itself with runny eyes, runny nose; polyps
in her nose and ears. But NEVER ulcerated gums. I swear there was some
kind of injection she got and IIRC some meds--Too many sick cats over
the past decade and I'm afraid I don't remember the specifics. Just
that she has only had about one or two flares in the last 8 years.
Now, Yoda had mouth ulcers at one time but the vet NEVER mentioned
pulling his teeth, ever.

This is a stray cat -- the first thing I asked was if the vet tested
it for FeLV - no. So theoretically there could be a lot going on with
this poor thing.

About the only advice I could give her was to go to another vet. I
can't believe she took a cat in this ill, and ALL she got was L-lysine
(which she could've bought at Walmart for 1/3 the price) and orders to
have its teeth pulled.

To make matters worse, friend is going across the state Thursday
morning for chemo/radiation. I know she wanted me to keep this cat,
but it's so hot in the garage, and I cannot risk my cats' health. I
told her I'd go to her house and check on/medicate him but she said
she'd ask someone else. DH is having surgery on Tuesday and my plate
is full. But I just feel terrible about it. I'd feel much better if I
could just get some solid information, enough to get her to get this
cat to another vet for further testing.

If you've made it through the post this far, thank you. Anyone with
*any* insight please chip in on the thread or email me. Thanks

Note that the cat does not belong to me, I have absolutely zero
control over what she does with it. It's just one of those situations
that I think is going dreadfully down a bad path and would like to
interfere as much as I can, whether it does any good or not.


Sherry

I don't think it is Herpes - I've never seen Herpes manifest itself in mouth
ulcers and *certainly* not lameness. L-Lysine is a *prevention* for Herpes,
not a cure when the virus is active (although there are some who say it
helps speed healing, I haven't seen that). L-Lysine works by suppressing
the amino acid Arginine which the Herpes virus needs to replicate.

For active Herpes in humans you would need to use Acylovir - I'm not sure if
it would work in cats though (the vet should know) or if t here is another
remedy for it. The mouth ulcers may be a bacterial infection which would
respond to an antbacterial agent. Herpes, while not the direct cause of
other illnesses can overwhelm the immune system so that other diseases can
be contracted.

The lameness, however, throws a wrench into the works.

A quick online search for FeLV brings up the following symptoms:
Symptoms depend on the type of virus and the stage of disease. As you can
see, the second to last symptom is lameness in hind legs, so I think it's
wise not to mix this cat with your clowder.

Common general symptoms include:

Anemia

Blood in the stool

Chronic, recurring infections (FeLV-infected cats are susceptible to
bacterial, fungal, protozoan, and other viral infections.)

Decreased appetite

Decreased stamina

Depression

Diarrhea or constipation

Excessive drinking and urination

Infertility

Jaundice (a yellowing of the skin, whites of the eyes, mucous membranes, and
body fluids)

Low-grade fever

Lymphadenopathy (swollen lymph nodes)

Neuropathies, which can cause anisocoria and hind limb paralysis

Weight loss

--
Hugs,

CatNipped
See all our masters at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped

See the RPCA FAQ site, created by "Yowie", maintained by Mark Edwards, at:
http://www.professional-geek.net/rpcablog/

Email: L(dot)T(dot)Crews(at)comcast(dot)net


"Sherry" wrote in message
...
To try to condense the story, what I need is some input with anyone
who has experience with either herpes virus or calcivirus in cats.

This cat is skinny, ill, won't eat. Friend took her to the vet who
said she had herpes virus and gave her L-lysine; her eyes are
unaffected but she acts lame, and has terrible mouth ulcers. I wonder
if it's not calcivirus. The person who called me about this cat is
unfortunately one of the people who doesn't remember what the vet
says,

Anyway, she said vet told her to administer the lysine, then bring her
back "in a few days" to have her teeth pulled? Good God. I do know
that lysine is not a quick cure. I also know that either disease is
viral, so antibiotics won't help. But wouldn't the mouth ulcers be
like a secondary infection that *would* respond to antibiotics? Aren't
there any antiviral drugs that they give for herpes?

My experience with herpes is limited-and zilch with calcivirus-I'm not
even sure how the two are defined/separated.
Bootsie's herpes manifested itself with runny eyes, runny nose; polyps
in her nose and ears. But NEVER ulcerated gums. I swear there was some
kind of injection she got and IIRC some meds--Too many sick cats over
the past decade and I'm afraid I don't remember the specifics. Just
that she has only had about one or two flares in the last 8 years.
Now, Yoda had mouth ulcers at one time but the vet NEVER mentioned
pulling his teeth, ever.

This is a stray cat -- the first thing I asked was if the vet tested
it for FeLV - no. So theoretically there could be a lot going on with
this poor thing.

About the only advice I could give her was to go to another vet. I
can't believe she took a cat in this ill, and ALL she got was L-lysine
(which she could've bought at Walmart for 1/3 the price) and orders to
have its teeth pulled.

To make matters worse, friend is going across the state Thursday
morning for chemo/radiation. I know she wanted me to keep this cat,
but it's so hot in the garage, and I cannot risk my cats' health. I
told her I'd go to her house and check on/medicate him but she said
she'd ask someone else. DH is having surgery on Tuesday and my plate
is full. But I just feel terrible about it. I'd feel much better if I
could just get some solid information, enough to get her to get this
cat to another vet for further testing.

If you've made it through the post this far, thank you. Anyone with
*any* insight please chip in on the thread or email me. Thanks

Note that the cat does not belong to me, I have absolutely zero
control over what she does with it. It's just one of those situations
that I think is going dreadfully down a bad path and would like to
interfere as much as I can, whether it does any good or not.


Sherry

On Jul 5, 10:42*pm, Sherry wrote:
To try to condense the story, what I need is some input with anyone
who has experience with either herpes virus or calcivirus in cats.

This cat is skinny, ill, won't eat. Friend took her to the vet who
said she had herpes virus and gave her L-lysine; her eyes are
unaffected but she acts lame, and has terrible mouth ulcers. I wonder
if it's not calcivirus. The person who called me about this cat is
unfortunately one of the people who doesn't remember what the vet
says,

Anyway, she said vet told her to administer the lysine, then bring her
back "in a few days" to have her teeth pulled? Good God. *I do know
that lysine is not a quick cure. I also know that either disease is
viral, so antibiotics won't help. But wouldn't the mouth ulcers be
like a secondary infection that *would* respond to antibiotics? Aren't
there any antiviral drugs that they give for herpes?

My experience with herpes is limited-and zilch with calcivirus-I'm not
even sure how the two are defined/separated.
Bootsie's herpes manifested itself with runny eyes, runny nose; polyps
in her nose and ears. But NEVER ulcerated gums. I swear there was some
kind of injection she got and IIRC some meds--Too many sick cats over
the past decade and I'm afraid I don't remember the specifics. Just
that she has only had about one or two flares in the last 8 years.
Now, Yoda had mouth ulcers at one time but the vet NEVER mentioned
pulling his teeth, ever.

This is a stray cat -- the first thing I asked was if the vet tested
it for FeLV - no. So theoretically there could be a lot going on with
this poor thing.

About the only advice I could give her was to go to another vet. I
can't believe she took a cat in this ill, and ALL she got was L-lysine
(which she could've bought at Walmart for 1/3 the price) and orders to
have its teeth pulled.

To make matters worse, friend is going across the state Thursday
morning for chemo/radiation. I know she wanted me to keep this cat,
but it's so hot in the garage, and I cannot risk my cats' health. I
told her I'd go to her house and check on/medicate him but she said
she'd ask someone else. DH is having surgery on Tuesday and my plate
is full. But I just feel terrible about it. I'd feel much better if I
could just get some solid information, enough to get her to get this
cat to another vet for further testing.

If you've made it through the post this far, thank you. Anyone with
*any* insight please chip in on the thread or email me. Thanks

Note that the cat does not belong to me, I have absolutely zero
control over what she does with it. It's just one of those situations
that I think is going dreadfully down a bad path and would like to
interfere as much as I can, whether it does any good or not.

Sherry

I dug through a bunch of stuff on the subject "feline herpes virus and
calcivirus" in
the Cornell U. website and I could not understand the technical stuff
(lab tests and
such about it). So I did another search...and this looks easier to
grasp, at least for
me, the non-vet-tech, see if you get anything useful out of all this
symptom stuff.
Looks like to me (MHO) the cat might have "cat flu" and is definitely
contagious
according to the Cornell site. It does mention that cultures should be
done to determine
presence of these cat sicknesses but I could not understand what the
cultures were
called. Totally not same words as human culture tests names.

http://www.thensome.com/peted.htm

Let me know if you don't like this one and I will dig more.