Caliccivirus

I have a 4-year old Maine Coon that I adopted from a cat shelter about
a year ago. He was only at the shelter for one week before I adopted
him, but he has had one thing after another since bringing him home.
Of course, I did take him to the vet the first week I got him and the
vet warned me that many of these shelter kitties get various diseases
from being in the shelter.

Well, sure enough. We had ear infections - not mites, just crud. We
had eye infections. We even had a sinus infection. Then all was calm
until September. We had some windows replaced and kitty started
limping. I thought he stepped on something from the carpenters. Took
him to the vet - an infection on the pad of his rear foot. Treated
that and it went away. Christmas he turns up with a red ulceration on
the corner of his lips. The vet said it was a virus.

So I did some online research and this sure sounds like caliccivirus.
Have any of you had experience with this? Does is ever go away? Or
does it keep popping up whenever he gets stressed from something? He
appears to be a very laid back, easy going guy. Not the type to stress
over anything. The vet thought the stress of Christmas made him have
this outbreak. We didn't even have anyone over, so the only stress he
would have had would have been a Christmas tree.

He is an indoor kitty and the only one. So he isn't getting infected
from another kitty.

wrote:
I have a 4-year old Maine Coon that I adopted from a cat shelter about
a year ago. He was only at the shelter for one week before I adopted
him, but he has had one thing after another since bringing him home.
Of course, I did take him to the vet the first week I got him and the
vet warned me that many of these shelter kitties get various diseases
from being in the shelter.

Well, sure enough. We had ear infections - not mites, just crud. We
had eye infections. We even had a sinus infection. Then all was calm
until September. We had some windows replaced and kitty started
limping. I thought he stepped on something from the carpenters. Took
him to the vet - an infection on the pad of his rear foot. Treated
that and it went away. Christmas he turns up with a red ulceration on
the corner of his lips. The vet said it was a virus.

So I did some online research and this sure sounds like caliccivirus.
Have any of you had experience with this? Does is ever go away? Or
does it keep popping up whenever he gets stressed from something? He
appears to be a very laid back, easy going guy. Not the type to stress
over anything. The vet thought the stress of Christmas made him have
this outbreak. We didn't even have anyone over, so the only stress he
would have had would have been a Christmas tree.

He is an indoor kitty and the only one. So he isn't getting infected
from another kitty.

Most likely not Feline Calici Virus. Probably eosinophilic granuloma
complex. Calicivirus almost always goes along with illness - upper
respiratory symptoms of either high or low severity are almost always
seen. Sometimes it can present as limping in a cat that otherwise
seems sickly, but since your vet found a pad infection, I wouldn't
contribute the limping to Calicivirus. Look up EGC on the 'net and
look at representative photos of the lesions - they are usually found
on the mouth, lips and chin but can present anywhere. Also they are
sometimes called "rodent ulcers". They are usually treated with
injectible prednisone, and it is a disease for which there is no cure,
although contributing factors can be identified.

-L.

Gross. My kitty's lesions are not that profound. They actually look
like I would expect an ulcer to look like and the one he has now is on
both the upper and lower lip on one side. The vet said it was a virus
but also had a bacterial infection [was yellow crusted] from rubbing it
on things. He hasn't had fleas since I have had him and his skin and
coat look very healthy. Strange.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Gross. My kitty's lesions are not that profound. They actually look
like I would expect an ulcer to look like and the one he has now is on
both the upper and lower lip on one side. The vet said it was a virus
but also had a bacterial infection [was yellow crusted] from rubbing it
on things. He hasn't had fleas since I have had him and his skin and
coat look very healthy. Strange.


any chance of getting a picture of the ulcer and posting it? You can put it
on alt.binaries.pictures.animals if you have no where else to post it.

W

wrote in message
oups.com...
Gross. My kitty's lesions are not that profound. They actually look
like I would expect an ulcer to look like and the one he has now is on
both the upper and lower lip on one side. The vet said it was a virus
but also had a bacterial infection [was yellow crusted] from rubbing it
on things. He hasn't had fleas since I have had him and his skin and
coat look very healthy. Strange.


Do the lesions look like any of these:

http://www.maxshouse.com/Dermatology...ma_on_chin.jpg

http://www.maxshouse.com/Dermatology..._upper_lip.jpg

http://www.maxshouse.com/Dermatology...dent_Ulcer.jpg

Phil

Phil
They look slightly like the last two of three. But his are not
swollen. He has had this on the corner of his mouth since Christmas.
It has decreased in size- about half, but isn't gone. It no longer has
the yellow crust. The vet only gave him an anti-inflamatory shot and
told me to clean it with peroxide for 10 days. And that 10 days is
over.

I don't think I can get a picture of it - he isn't crazy about me
touching it. Maybe it is EGC. But his isn't as swollen as the
pictures.

wrote:
Phil
They look slightly like the last two of three. But his are not
swollen. He has had this on the corner of his mouth since Christmas.
It has decreased in size- about half, but isn't gone. It no longer has
the yellow crust. The vet only gave him an anti-inflamatory shot and
told me to clean it with peroxide for 10 days. And that 10 days is
over.

I don't think I can get a picture of it - he isn't crazy about me
touching it. Maybe it is EGC. But his isn't as swollen as the
pictures.

They don't always present as swollen. I wouldn't treat it with
peroxide more than once - peroxide will kill the new tissue that is
forming. The fact that it is on upper and lower lips indicates to me
that it might be EGC. When my Mimi gets it, it just looks like a
crusty scrape and it can takle a couple of weeks to improve. I would
seek a second opinion from a feline specialist (or even just another
regular vet) if you can afford to do so. But if you do, be sure to
tell them how you have been treating it as peroxide will alter the
healing and appearance of the lesion.

-L.

So, do these just go away on their own? I only used peroxide once a
day for about 8 days- he started running from me - not wanting it
anymore. You mentioned prednisone - I hate to start that on a cat that
is only 4. Isn't that tough on the kidneys, etc.?

A crusty scrape is what Buddy's looks like, too. Unfortunately, I live
about 45 minutes from a larger city. We only have this one vet in the
area without driving that far.

I just got home from the grocery and noticed that Buddy was chewing on
a plastic bag, before I could put everything away. I have seen him do
this before, but didn't think much of it. Now I am wondering if this
might be the cause of the ulcerations on his lips?

wrote:
So, do these just go away on their own? I only used peroxide once a
day for about 8 days- he started running from me - not wanting it
anymore. You mentioned prednisone - I hate to start that on a cat that
is only 4. Isn't that tough on the kidneys, etc.?

No one really knows the cause of EGC except that it is a virus that
never goes away and can stay latent for years. Some think it is
autoimmune in nature, others think it is an allergic reaction. Some
things that trigger it in some cats is plastic dining bowls, fleas,
dander, or other animals (birds, dogs).



A crusty scrape is what Buddy's looks like, too. Unfortunately, I live
about 45 minutes from a larger city. We only have this one vet in the
area without driving that far.

I would drive the 45 minutes to get a proper diagnosis. An injectible
steriod is needed to control it if it is in fact EGC.

-L.