Dear Einstein,

I feel like a ping pong ball. I’ve been bounced from house to house so many times I don’t know whether I’m coming or going. I don’t even bother to unpack my litter box. I’ve only been in my here a week when I bit my new mom. I didn’t mean to, but I nailed her when she brushed up against my face. My eyes hurt all the time, and sometimes I’m snotty. (And I don’t just mean my disposition.) Any suggestions?

Bogie

Hey Booger,

While I’m no vet, those sniveling symptoms of snot and eye swelling sounds like a kitty cold. More specifically, feline herpes virus (FHV), the highly contagious disease formerly known as rhinotracheitis. If your humans are reading over your shoulders, don’t panic. Kitty herpes may come from the same family as human herpes, but people can’t catch it. Your mom shouldn’t take you back to the shelter; she should take you to the vet. Rather than making your people pay for a lot of expensive testing, vets usually just treat the symptoms. When kitties first catch FHV, they could experience fever, sneezing, snotty nose, watery eyes, loss of appetite inflamed nasal passages, and painful conjunctivitis (that’s inflammation of the membrane lining the eye.) Kitties can also develop ulcers or scratches on the cornea. Eye ulcers and conjunctivitis hurt like a spitfire, so you may be grumpy to touch. No wonder you bit your new person. FHV kitties can have painful mouth ulcers too.

The FHV can damage to the nasal passages, making you prone to sinus infections. Because we kitties have such convoluted nasal cavities, the gunk can’t drain and the bacteria have lots of hidden places where they can take up residence.

Any kitty can catch FHV. It most often infects kittens, unvaccinated cats, stressed cats, or those with compromised immune systems. Kitties usually get colds from sneezing, so you have to be up close and personal to catch it. That means you’re most likely to get in if you hang out in multicat homes, catteries or shelters.

Kitties don’t have to look or feel sick to be able to spread the disease. An infected mom cat can even give FHV to her kitten through her milk. That’s why such young kittens become infected even if they’re not exposed to other kitties.

Except for young kittens, most of us live to seize the day. The kitties who kick the litter box lose the fight to secondary bacterial infections. Healthy kitties should bounce back within 10 days, but 80% will continue to harbor the latent virus. Some kitties never have another problem and others like you suffer from chronic eye problems or respiratory symptoms off and on for life. Bummer.

During these occasional relapses, a kitty may be contagious through secretions from his mouth, nose and eyes. However, since your tear ducts may be scarred you might have watery eyes all the time, even when you’re healthy and not shedding the virus.

FHV might flair up when you get stressed, like when you go to a cat show, a sleepover at a boarding kennel or get shipped off to a new home. That why single indoor cats can suddenly get a "cold." He didn’t just catch that bug, it’s a "flair up" of a cold he caught as a kitten.

The virus can live outside the body for up to 24 hours, so you need clean dishes every day. It wouldn’t hurt to air out the old homestead, either. Keep your stress to a minimum. (A study released in the February 2009 issue of the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery stated that giving your cat probiotics may help reduce symptoms of FHV and shedding.)

And of course, when your eyes and nose start running, take a two week sabbatical to the bathroom to writer your memoirs so other kitties aren’t expose to it.

Animal ophthalmologist Dr. Bob Munger of the Animal Ophthalmology Clinic in Dallas, TX also the stresses the importance of vaccinations. Since most kitties catch this disease before they receive the vaccinations, shots won’t prevent infection, but if you become sick, vaccinations may make it less severe, you may have it for a shorter period and you may shed less of the virus.

Like human colds, there’s no cure for the kitty cold so vets just treat the symptoms. Dr. Bob recommended antiviral eye drops like Idoxuridine, oral antiviral medication and L-lysine to reduce recurrences. You may need antibiotics to fight respiratory infections. Given early in the disease, interferon can boost the immune system.

Lysine is an amino acid; it’s not a cure, but it helps prevent the virus from replicating. University studies show it’s not effective in every cat, but lysine can reduce the frequency and intensity of outbreaks. This lysine thing works out well for you cuz they can put the powder in turkey baby food. Hey, you’re getting a treat, but you’re really getting medicine. When your humans buy lysine, they should check the label to make sure it doesn’t contain propylene glycol. That glycol stuff is safe for dogs, but not cats. Good nutrition also contributes to good immunity.

While the antibiotics don’t treat the virus, they fight the bacterial infections that accompany outbreaks. Dr. Bob also says Azithromax and doxycycline are effective in combating these respiratory infections. Studies have shown recently that kitties with reoccurring sinus infection may need to stay on Azithromax for six months to kill the bacteria really dead.

A new oral antiviral medication, famcyclovir, appears to be safe and effective. A newer drug, cidofovir (that human docs give to AIDS patients) looks promising. A new paper published in the February 2008 American Journal of Veterinary Research says twice-daily applications of cidofovir significantly decreased the amount of viral shedding and the severity of outbreaks. Woohoo. That’s great news for herpes kitties like you. And it doesn’t burn the eyes like other antivirals.

Studies of synthetic facial pheromones such as those found in Comfort Zone with Feliway reduce stress, thereby reducing outbreaks.

When you start with the snotty nose, your humans need you make sure you’re eating. Kitties with “colds” may stop chowing down cuz they either can’t smell the food or they may develop mouth sores. Your people can tempt you with chicken broth and baby food. If you stop eating, they need to get you to the vet. He may fit you with a stylish feeding tube sticking out of your nose or stomach for a little while.

Bogie, hopefully your humans will give you another chance and take you to the vet for some help. Once you’re feeling better, I bet you can make up for that little biting indiscretion with the purrs and head butts your family expect. With some understanding and some TLC, you may be able to say to your new mom, “Louise, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

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Einstein says thanks for the info to Michael R. Lappin, DVM, PhD, a researcher with the Department of Clinical Sciences at Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; Robert Munger, DVM, DACVO with the Animal Ophthalmology Clinic, Dallas, TX; Drew D. Weigner, DVM, ABVP of the Atlanta-area clinic, The Cat Doctor; and Michael Stone DVM, Diplomate ACVIM at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University for sharing their research and wisdom with him.