Home treatment for Cat Flu

[Nutty Ma]

I'm just back from my third visit to the vet with my 16 year old cat, Daisy. She has always been vaccinated annually against cat flu and enteritis, but a month ago she was snotty and the vet diagnosed cat flu. He said older cats' immune systems could be compromised and they could be susceptible even if they had been vaccinated. He said the illness might have been even more severe had she not been vaccinated. He put her on a course of oral antibiotics for a week, and the symptoms improved a little, but once the course of treatment had finished, they worsened again. Back to the vet - and this time 5 days on twice daily "Fluidixine" tablets and 8 on "Marbocyl" (marbofloxacine), half daily. again, some improvement, but the snotty nose returned and worsened once treatment finshed. Back to vet - this time, nasal swab taken, appointment made for next Monday, when results should be back, with a view to nebulising appropriate antibiotic treatment.

Meanwhile, Daisy has virtually stopped eating and become terribly thin. She seems to want to eat, but when she tries, just starts coughing and sneezing and walks away from the food. We've tried all her favourites, but I don't think she can smell with her nose so blocked, and she can't eat because she needs her mouth to breathe.

HELP! She doesn't seem depressed, and I really don't think she wants to die. I know she is old, but my previous two OAP cats lived to 17 and 18 respectively, and they showed more sign of age than Daisy does. Daisy still goes walkabout, still purrs and likes a fuss. I really don't want to lose her. I'm doing the obvious, eg keeping her warm and dry, cleaning the nose with warm water as much as I can (which she hates) and offering small amounts of her favourite foods, as well as giving lots of cuddles and letting her do what she wants. Is there anything else I can try? Plan to put "Vicks" in boiling water and put her in a cat carrier with a towel over the carrier and the water this afternoon so she can inhale the steam. Also have "Silicia 15Ch2 - any homeopaths out there who can advise whether that's worth giving, and if so, how often and how much?

I'm new to this forum - only searched it out because I don't want to lose this cat, and search engines just keep finding references to advice about vaccination against cat flu - I have followed that advice all my life with my cats.

Please feel free to email me direct or post on here - all advice gratefully received

Debbie

[Cat&Dog mom]

Welcome nuttyma, sorry your kitty is feeling down, i've never dealt with this but I will type out some things for you that I found that man work, here it goes.
you must encourage them to eat, since her nose is stuffed you can tempt her taste buds by giving her something with big flavor and smell, like canned tuna. Cats also like highprotein foods such as cottage cheese, scrambled eggs and chicken. you also could try warming her food, by placing it in the micro or mixing not to hot water with the food to make it a gravy, she may not want to chew, and you could also try to puree her food in a blender, if she won't eat because she can't smell, try dabbing a little on her paw or nose so she can lick it off and maybe get a little taste. Make sure she is drinking enough water if she isn't ge a small saringe, no needle, and squirt a small amount of water, don't choke her though. Make sure there is enough humidity by her this will help with any congestion. Saline drops can be used to thin the mucus in her nose and eyes, two drops in each nostril, and or eye with the dropper, be sure to wash after each use.

I hope something works because a cat cannot go as long as we can without food or water, it's a daily must for them, the less they have the weaker they become.

Best of luck, keep us informed of how she is doing. Poor baby!!!!!

[hitchinlo]

try taking kitty into the bathroom and giving a steam bath. Hold them up high since heat rises. this cleared my kitties nose long enough so he got some relief and could breath a little..in fact he liked it so much everytime I would walk to the bathroom he followed me. I also put a dab of metholatum at his nose. He could at least close his mouth to breathe. I also kept him on liver for awhile so as not to become anemic when loosing weight......I forced food and water down him so he would eat but that was an extreme case. good luck to you and kitty!!

[Nutty Ma]

Many thanks for the advice. I have tried mashing and warming all her favourite foods - made a soup yesterday with white fish fillet, tuna, sardine, butter, cream and beaten egg. Offered it warm, but as with everything else, she approached and looked interested, sniffed at it, coughed and backed away. Same happened with liquidised turkey in milk today. My partner's off to buy chicken liver this afternoon. She is, at least, drinking, and indeed drinking quite a lot - I know, sign of kidney problems, and she is an old cat. But she acts like she wants to eat. I slept downstairs on the settee with her last night (dog has upstairs bed with us). She was up asking for food with the other 4 cats first thing, same as always - but when food was put down, she just sniffed at it and walked away. When Spittykit approached the liquidised turkey, Daisy did offer a warning swipe ("Leave off, it's mine!"), but made no attempt to eat it herself.

I'm still cleaning the nose regularly with warm, salty water, and putting her in a cat carrier with a decongestant in steaming water just outside and a towel draped over the lot, and we do seem to be keeping the nostrils clear - she is breathing through her nose, not her mouth. I can only guess it's a throat problem preventing her from eating.

It seems an eternity until Monday, when hopefully the vet will have the lab results. How can she possibly survive until then if she doesn't eat??? I really think we may have to consider force feeding - so can anyone advise how?? I have tried this with guinea pigs, and I am very aware of the dangers of food going into the lungs. We have to wrap Daisy in a towel to clean her nose or get tablets down her - she has never been a very tolerant cat. I hate stressing her, but oh, even more I hate having to watch her starve to death before my eyes. I did try the food on paws bit, by the way - but her paws are already filthy with snot she has wiped from her face, and I think she has given up licking them. Is food on a cotton bud inserted into the side of the mouth worth a try? She is one of those cats who will hold a tablet in her mouth until you think it's been swallowd and let it go, then leap away and spit it triumphantly out.

Think I'll try posting this separately as well, under "Force feeding", in case anyone who has no experience of cat flu has experience of force feeding and can help.

Many thanks once again

Debbie

[Cat&Dog mom]

I lost my post again, I know I typed a reply to you yesterday, but what did I do to it?
Any news? What did the vet say yesterday? I your baby still eating? Is she getting
better?

[Nutty Ma]

Sorry for not having posted an update sooner - 41 animals need a lot of time and attention, and I can't always find time at the end of the day to send as many emails as I'd like.

Daisy started eating again Saturday evening, and has continued to eat little and often; she still coughs and splutters whilst eating, but at least she's getting some nourishment inside her.

The vet reckons her immune system has broken down and she will never be cured. I think he thinks it's Feline Immuno-deficiency Virus, and to be honest, that is a possibility, as a very long time (more than 13 years) ago, we took in a feral "kitten" (who promptly bcame a mum herself), and this kitten, wild as she was, took a liking to Daisy, following her everywhere. They played a lot together, then one day Daisy got really sick - thin, listless, weak, anaemic etc., and her haws were showing. The vet tried all sorts but nothing worked, and both he and I suspected she'd picked up somthing from this feral cat, who showed no symptoms. We never did bloodtests - seemed too late to do anything about it, and I felt I'd rather not know - had 3 other cats at the time, and I felt any damage would already have been done. The other cats have since died, aged 10, 17 and 18.

Anyway, the lab results haven't come back yet, but the vet has given me marbofloxacine for me to inject once daily, plus gentamycin for me to use with my nebuliser, together with Mucomyst and a saline carrier, three times a day. The injections are for 6 weeks, the nebulising to be reviewed after a fortnight.

It may just be wishful thinking, but Daisy does seem a little better today - I only started treatment yesterday, as the vet had to take my nebuliser to the pharmacy to get a missing part, but he did inject her Monday, so today was her third injection. She's still sneezing, but doesn't seem as snotty.

I'll let you know when we get the lab results back - I'm puzzled as to why I was left with no treatment for her for nearly a week whilst we waited for these important results, then I was given treatment for her in their absence anyway. Did the vet think she would die in the meantime and save me a lot of anguish and expense? I really don't think she's ready to die. She still purrs, goes walkabout and has even started eating again. So far the nebuliser doesn't seem to overstress her - it's only for 10 minutes at a time.

Anyway, very many thanks for all the advice and concern - it is great to meet other animal-lovers like myself! Incidentally, I am also a cat-and-dog mum - I have two mongrel dogs called Pixie (aged 9 - actually my daughter's) and Tzigane, aged 2.

Will keep you posted as much as I can

Debbie

[jubjubair]

You should get a vaccine... A FCV or aFVR, and a FIE.. I would ask my doctor what they are called and there full name and get this done for your cat it may help... If the flu is not treated soon your cat will cuase to dealth.... Sorry to tell....

[Nutty Ma]

You should get a vaccine... A FCV or aFVR, and a FIE.. I would ask my doctor what they are called and there full name and get this done for your cat it may help... If the flu is not treated soon your cat will cuase to dealth.... Sorry to tell....

I'm not sure whether you read my first post? All my cats have always been vaccinated annually against cat flu and enteritis. They have not been vaccinated against FIV, and it would be too late now. If this is what Daisy has, they have all been in contact with it all their lives (as she is now my oldest cat), so they must already have antibodies in their blood. They could all be carriers, but our house is isolated and there are no other cats nearby that they could infect.

The vet says there would be no point in vaccinating Daisy again. If her immune system is no longer working, a vaccination could not possibly work, as they work by making the cat's immune system create antibodies against the disease. No immune system means no antibodies means a vaccination would achieve nothing.

The other 4 are booked for their annual boosters a week today.

Meanwhile, Daisy's nose is very slowly becoming less snotty, and she is eating more. There is no hope of a cure, but so long as treatment can alleviate the symptoms, as it seems to be doing now, I will continue with it. I do realise she is living on borrowed time - but she is no spring chicken.

Debbie

[Cat&Dog mom]

I was thinking about Daisy yesterday and today, how is she doing? Did the test come back yet?

[Nutty Ma]

Thanks for your enquiry, and once again, sorry for not having posted - I took in a very sick wild bird last Saturday night, and it needed feeding once an hour, in addition to the rest of the menagerie - so even less time for mailing, Sadly, the bird died this afternoon :(.

However, I'm pleased to say that Daisy is still holding her own. She is still being nebulised three times daily, for 10 mins at a time, and has a daily antibiotic injection. She only sneezes very occasionally now, and the end of her nose is clean. She is also eating as well as she was before her illness, and has put on a little weight.

We are very pleased with her. The other day she was lying on her back squirming in the sunshine like she used to - it was such a pleasure to see. As I think I said before, the vet doesn't think she'll ever be cured as such. But as long as the antibiotics can keep her as clear of symptoms as she is at present, we will be content.

I had to go to the vet's for some antibiotics for the bird, so I asked about the lab results for Daisy. They said they still hadn't had them in writing, although they'd had them over the phone - it was pasteurella (which I thought only rabbits got) and something else which I can't remember. They said I should get them in the post at home. I'm taking the other four cats for their annual boosters tomorrow, so I'll ask the vet to chase the results up.

Once again, many thaks for all the advice and your concern.

Debbie

[Cat&Dog mom]

Glad to hear she is doing better and getting back to her self again.

Bless you for caring for that poor bird, it's sad he didn't make it though, but at least he had you to care for him and give him a chance.

[Nutty Ma]

I got the lab results in the post today. They found Pasteurella multocida and Staphylococcus spp. She seems to be on the right antibiotics, judging from the sensitivity tests they did.

Her fur is becoming really matted; I think it started when she was so ill and stopped washing herself, and now I think maybe the stuf in the nebuliser is getting on her fur and making it sticky. I asked the vet yesterday if it would be okay to cut the worst matts off, and he said it would - seems a much better option than trying to wash her. So I'm just tryin gto snip off the odd one or two when she's on my lap. She's a longhaired cat, but her fur is more like a rabbit's thasn the fluff of a persian. Actually, you can see a photo of her in all her glory if you look on the "Our cats" page of our website at www.serendipity.eu.com - just click on the "Our cats" link on the homepage. You can see most of the rest of our menagerie on the site as well, although it needs updating as we've lost 2 chickens and gained 2 geese and 8 guinea pigs!!

Thanks for the good wishes - I will post again if there is any change.

Debbie

[Cat&Dog mom]

What a great site, and your babies are all beautiful. Daisy is beautiful, i'm drawn to white cats for some reason, just something about them, but all cats are beautiful. I know where to ring if I ever get to go to France. Looks like my kind of place to stay at, not some uppity or swanky hotel.

[Levi]

What do you believe caused the onset of her illness?