The cats mouth

[Zab]

Hi everyone,
I would like som advice on the topic of oral hygiene...
My male cat, Ossi, came to us when he was 14 weeks old. When the time came to neuter him we went to the vet. The vet did a "check up" on him and said he was irritated in the gums. Test were made and it showed he had "calicivirus", he had cat flu in his gums.... No other symptoms at all. Some loose teeth was removed. We started treating with Stomodine, it's an anticeptic gel for the mouth, and rubbed this daily on his gums. We also met with a dentist for cats who told me that this is really common in this breed and nothing to worry about. They also said he could have gotten this from his vaccinations when he was a baby.
During the same time the vet suspected HCM on Ossi, so we did a scan. I was so sad, my baby, just 6 months old and so fragile.... well, he's not sick at all, eats, poops and runs around like crazy. We've treated the mouth for 5 months now, I can see improvement but it's still infected. We are living with HCM and keeping an eye on his breething, we have a heart-diary...
My question is, how common is this? How do I know if he is suffering? How long should I keep this treatment up? Maybe it should be a routine daily to brush the teet on my cat and maybe I should start the same thing with the oter one? I don't think it's painful because he purrs when we rub the gel on the gums, and he eats well...
Any input it welcomed!
Thank you,

Zab

 

[admin]

Hi everyone,
I would like som advice on the topic of oral hygiene...
My male cat, Ossi, came to us when he was 14 weeks old. When the time came to neuter him we went to the vet. The vet did a "check up" on him and said he was irritated in the gums. Test were made and it showed he had "calicivirus", he had cat flu in his gums.... No other symptoms at all. Some loose teeth was removed. We started treating with Stomodine, it's an anticeptic gel for the mouth, and rubbed this daily on his gums. We also met with a dentist for cats who told me that this is really common in this breed and nothing to worry about. They also said he could have gotten this from his vaccinations when he was a baby.
During the same time the vet suspected HCM on Ossi, so we did a scan. I was so sad, my baby, just 6 months old and so fragile.... well, he's not sick at all, eats, poops and runs around like crazy. We've treated the mouth for 5 months now, I can see improvement but it's still infected. We are living with HCM and keeping an eye on his breething, we have a heart-diary...
My question is, how common is this? How do I know if he is suffering? How long should I keep this treatment up? Maybe it should be a routine daily to brush the teet on my cat and maybe I should start the same thing with the oter one? I don't think it's painful because he purrs when we rub the gel on the gums, and he eats well...
Any input it welcomed!
Thank you,

Zab

Sorry to hear of this issue. There are usually URI symptoms related to Calicivirus, is there any other symptoms other then infected gums? the symptoms are usually treated with antibitoics. Also you said he was scanned for HCM - did they confirm it was in fact HCM? I didn't see it above in your post of there findings from the scan. It's not uncommon for young cats to have heart murmurs that dissipate over time. There have been a few members with this illness - I did a search and there are quite a few threads, http://sphynxlair.com/community/search/607287/?q=Calicivirus&o=date

The other concern is the the illness being transferred to your other cat. Has the vet advised you on this? Have they both been vaccinated against it at some point as kittens?

 

[Zab]

Both cats are vaccinated as babies and the new cat was vaccinated once more before coming to our home since she is 3 years old. To be fair, I really don't know if this is true, just what the previous owners told me and also the papers from the vet. We all know these things can be fake. I've heard that many breeders know their vet and can get away with lots of things. I'm not saying that's the case, but I'm guessing it's sometimes just business to some.... really sad!
Ossi has never shown other syptoms at all, I never suspected anything before the vet checked him up! The vet told me that antibiotics was not a good idéa since it is a virus... all we should do was try to improve the cats immune system and the problem should work itself out. We did feed him antibiotics for 2 weeks and then the vet decided to stop this. He was just 6 months old at the time...
About the HCM, the specialist we saw who did the heartscan said that Ossi has it. It started with the murmur sound and so we decided to do the scan. She explained that he does not suffer at all at this point. Only one side in the heart was affected currently. The vet showed us how to keep en eye out for new developments and that if things progressed we should be ready to take som difficult decisions. She also told us that Ossi may live to be 10 years old and die of something else, noone knows today. So, we learned to live for the moment, just like Ossi does, and worry about the HCM the day it becomes a problem.
I'm meeting the vet next week with both cats, and I do have a long list of questions for her....

/Zab

 

[Crinkuls]

I have one sphynx with calicivirus. I choose not to have her inoculated with the normal annual jabs as i wouldn't like to introduce any more cat flu into her when she already has it. I had to let Petplan know as it is part of the contract that they have annual jabs. She suffers with very bad runny eyes and over her 4 years I've tried all sorts of drugs including the very expensive Interferon. Nothing makes any difference. Her breathing is very noisy but she isn't suffering and leads a very normal life. Least we can tell when she's in bed with us!! She is on no medication which is just as well as she won't tolerate anyone so a lot of our consultations have been videos on the iPad!! As long as she has a good quality of life we are all coping.
Good luck with everything. Our babies are such a worry aren't they?

 

[Zab]

They sure are... Being a novice in the cat world I just fuss and worry ALOT! I don't want my ignorance cause the wonderful living beings suffering... I am a firm believer of the fact that it's my responsibility to be able to make the difficult decisions if needed....So, I gather you have more than one cat? They don't infect one another with the virus? I also have two of them, one is new to our home. Thanx so much for input.
/Zab

 

[Crinkuls]

Yes I have 2. When I got them Sookie was a 4 month old kitten and her cousin was 1 year 4 months old. I can't say 100% where she caught the calicivirus but think it was a 3 night stay in a cattery when she was 6 months old. Probably as her cousin was no longer really a kitten then she didn't catch it or if she is a carrier , she doesn't show any symptoms. The breeder kept one of Sookies sisters and she is fine so that's why it had to be the cattery. It just means now that they can never go in a cattery as they have to have certificates of inoculations which I would never do again anyway. I have a fantastic lady who owns a pet sitting service and comes round twice a day to see to them when we are on holiday but have never left them for more than 7 days.

 

[Zab]

My vet thinks we should get the shots anyway because here in Sweden it contains other good things the cat needs.... what do I know, I'll try to make good decisions and having my cats best intrerest in mind.... thank you so much for sharing your story, it means the world to me!

 

[Crinkuls]

You're welcome xx