CAT LOVEPURR

My Vet says my cat has Calicivirus. Please explain?

My vet says my cat has Calicivirus. I told her my cat has bad breath, very red gums & she occasionaly sneezes. I adopted her from a humane society 3 months ago. They said she’s about between 4 to 5 years old. My vet said it’s almost like a kitty herpes, but it’s not and she said she’ll keep a watch out for her. I am concerned as I don’t know much about this a read a few articles, but still confused. I massage her gums almost daily and give her Feline Greenies for cats. I see some results with that. Does anyone out there at Yahoo have the same cat symptoms? Need some good answers Thanks a lot Yahoo Answers ( :

The vet is right, the calcivirus and the herpes virus both affect cats eyes/respiratory system. The herpes virus can be treated easily with powdered lysine, it stops runny eyes in less than three days and can keep that at bay really easily, but the calcivirus is harder to control and if there’s a problem of runny eyes caused by this you need a prescription cream to put in the eyes for that.

If it’s part of a respiratory problem, you need to treat it as it won’t get better without treatment. Usually when a cat gets their three-in-one vaccination it covers the calcivirus but there are different forms.

The red gums COULD be one of several other things though. Feline stomatitis is one, which is connected to feline bartonella (a GOOD thing because if the bartonella is treated, it can cure up the stomatitis completely–you’d need a blood test to see though. New info on bartonella has come out in the last few years, they found 3/4 of cats with bad mouth problems could be treated because of the bartonella connection). It could also be an immune system reaction to the surface of the teeth (an FIV problem mostly) or one of several other things.

But if your cat was tested and the test said calcivirus, then read up on it more, you’ll find some good info online.

Cat Dental Health & Tooth Care : Healthy & Unhealthy Cat Mouths