Or Register for FREE!


Welcome to our Cat Forums!
Welcome to our CatForums!
You are seeing this message because you are viewing our cat forums as a guest.

You can continue to browse our many cat related areas as a guest but you are more than welcome to register and join our friendly community of Cat Lovers! ... And for free!

Doing so will also remove this message and some of the ads, such as the one on the left.

Please click here to register.

Reply

Kobster's Avatar
Catsey Senior
 
Cats owned: 2 DSH and a Siamese
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Texas, USA
Posts: 487
21-03-2007, 04:31 AM   #1

Cat flu


I heard about this on another thread and didn't want to hijack it so I thought I would ask about it on a different thread.

What is cat flu? What are the symptoms? Is there a vaccine? Must be something unique to the UK as I have never heard of it and I worked in vet medicine for seven years in the U.S.



Reply With Quote


Tanya's Avatar
Almost a Veteran Member
 
Cats owned: SHD x3 and LHD X1
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Gloucestershire
Posts: 1,075
21-03-2007, 10:58 AM   #2

Re: Cat flu


Oli had cat flu when I got him at 13 weeks old (and he was from a cattery!) He had watery, conjunctivitis (sp?) looking eyes and sneezed alot. The day after I got him I thought he was going to die coz he had no energy and just led still. Poor baby!!

We took him to the vets straight away and he was checked over and given a jab (antibiotic I think, coz he was rather down in the dumps!). We asked the vet how long it would take Oli to recover and if he would be ok and the vet said to keep him warm and keep a close eye on him. We wanted Oli to have his kitten vaccinations, but coz of the cat flu we had to wait several weeks for him to recover before he could have them.

As well as having the cat flu, the vet suspected chlamidia (eyes), so we had to put cream in his eyes twice a day for three weeks. He was also allergic to mites so had thick black scabby looking ears. We had to put drops in his ears too!

Now, which the vets believes to have been caused by cat flu, Oli has a blocked tear duct (so looks like he is crying and sometimes has dirty looking fur around his one eye) and something behind the eye is damaged. This causes him to often have very sore, red looking eyes which wink alot. There is no treatment for this.

We, at home have noticed that Oli's sight doesnt appear to be that great. Mind you, he could just be a dopey cat! For example: Our friend stroked him on the side, but he didnt see her hand and jumped a mile. He also regularly misjudges the wall, when trying to dodge us and usually ends up banging into the wall or door frame.


I think cat flu is common in catteries due to the number of cats coming and going all the time. You may find this link helpful ...
http://www.fabcats.org/catflu1.html



Reply With Quote


Mags's Avatar
Global Moderator
 
Cats owned: NA
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: South-West,UK
Posts: 37,618
21-03-2007, 02:52 PM   #3

Re: Cat flu


Here's another link which you may find useful..........

http://www.provet.co.uk/health/diseases/catflu.htm



Reply With Quote


charliebubs's Avatar
Catsey Veteran
 
Cats owned: Ragdoll, 2 Siamese & a Balinese
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Northamptonshire, UK
Posts: 4,265
21-03-2007, 02:54 PM   #4

Re: Cat flu


cat flu is just the common term for it...........it's feline herpes virus and feline calici virus.

Yes, there are vaccines for it, but they aren't 100% effective. Cat flu is more common in catteries and multi-cat households, as far as I am aware.

I think it must exist in the US too!?



Reply With Quote


Kobster's Avatar
Catsey Senior
 
Cats owned: 2 DSH and a Siamese
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Texas, USA
Posts: 487
21-03-2007, 08:00 PM   #5

Re: Cat flu


AWE! Yes, Feline Herpes and Calici I understand!

I had a cat with the feline herpes virus, it was a chronic condition with her, would flare up anytime she got stressed about anything. We think she was born with it, but she lived a good long time, 21 years.



Reply With Quote

Reply