Virus carriers

[tilly]

As I have mention Tilly is a virus carrier. I think it is herpes and I was wondering if anybody else had owned a virus carrier. As I am not sure how it will effect her later years. She is nine now and seem to be fine although she has lost most of her teeth to neck lessions (sp?). Also her hearing is going, she can hear high pitch noises and if I shout she can usually hear me. But I was wondering whether anything else was likely to go so that I can help her out as much as possible. Like I said she is fine and only needs antibiotics now and then to help with her sneezing (which is the only sign anthing is wrong).

Also on a side note does anybody have any suggestion for giving antibiotic to cats. As if I give her tablets she throws a fit and won't eat so I have turned to liquid antibiotics but she doesn't like them either and it causes her stress which make her worse. But if left she gets worse as well. The sneezing will lead to runny eyes and other such problems. I hid the pills in the food but she then leaves the food. Next I tried hiding them in gourmet but she got wise to that as well. Then it was onto liquid mushed in to the food. And last time I had to squirt the liquid down her throat which caused her to foam at the mouth and be sick. If I put the pills on the own down her throat she won't come in and won't eat so she looses weight and gets iller. So any idea are welcome. When she stops eating it can be for weeks at a time hence the worry as if she misses one/two meals she is fine as she is slightly fatter to allow her to do this and be OK. She is also quite picky but seems to like whiska and Felix senior at the moment. I am asking as I noticed her sneezing alot when I went round to my parent (where they live at the moment until I find somewhere they are allowed) so she will probably need another course some time soon. I am leaving it until her coat goes a bit faded as I try not to give her to many antibiotic incase she become immune to them

Anyway thought I would ask and see if anyone had the same problems and what happened to them. Sorry it is such a long post and I hope it makes sense.

Sally

[dinahsmum]

No experience with viruses so i can't help there.
Giving pills? - well, just think of as many exotic things as you can to hide it. Squeezy cheese worked well for a while, or a bit of a Dairylea triangle is nice and malleable so you can push the pill in to hide it. Ham is a favourite too. But you could try other things - pate maybe, a cube of liver, etc etc.
You could try keeping the pills in the fridge (as long as that is OK - the packaging will say what temp range it should be stored) - it will help disguise the aroma (remember cats' sense of small is much better than ours)
Good luck - hope someone else can help with the virus question.

[Moli]

One of my cats is just awful to give pills, liquid anything like that to,When he needs AB, I go to the vet nurse, she gives him a 2 day injection at a time.....

[Donna]

I would take the easy option out and ask the vet to do it, like Moli does!

[tilly]

That sound a good idea and might be the way forward
thanks for the advice

Sally

[Moli]

The only down side is a visit to the vets every 2 days...

[EmmaG]

You could try putting the tablets in cheese (some cats like stilton which smells really strong) or raw chicken or prawns.

My female cat is a carrier of the cat flu but it is now only obvious if she gets very stressed as her eyes will water and she will start sneezing a lot (almost continuiously) but I try and makes sure she isn't stressed out in any way.