Corona Virus any experinece off would be grateful to hear about

[Desley (booktigger)]

IT would be interesting to know when she was tested, as she could have shed it by now.

[Liz]

Her titres are low but our vet has it noted she is a carrier so she gets special treatment -  she was in the isolation ward after her spey so she was not a potential risk to any thing else - here she is our baby gorgeous and having lost her Mum and siblings she was staying with us regardless

I think we are very lucky as we have had 2 with FIV - Hissy Holly and Sailor and again everyone else is negative - I get everything tested when they need any ops just to make sure we know at that window time - our vets really love us sometimes!

[LilyandGary]

My first kitten Hamish came into rescue with his brother suffering from severe cat flu. I adopted Hamish and his brother was adopted elsewhere. Hamish was diagnosed with FIP aged 5 months (? due to the stress of his vacc according to vets) and was pts a few days later as he was so ill. His titre level was off the scale. Hamish`s brother also developed FIP at roughly the same age.

I stopped taking in any more fosters and had my own adult male Angus tested after 3 months. His titre level was 0. I have not had a problem since.

[Canterbury_cats (Sharon)]

i dont know when she was tested, but the brother died a few months back. She has been boared at the vets for a few days as the owner wanted some time to think abot things. One thing the owner has young kiddies and could not guarantee keeping her indoors all the time. 

[Millys Mum]

When was she tested sharon? If he died "much earlier" i assume some time ago, in which case it would be worth retesting her now and hopefully she will have shaken it off, if she hasnt it doesnt mean she will have a short life and die.
If the VN says its not infectious why did they test the sibling? 

Many cats carry fcov and as desley says we never know but i think when we do know care should be taken, i lost george to fip which is an experience less people should go through 

[Lottie (Team Svartalfheim's)]

Wow that's impressive in a house with a FCoV carrier Liz! Were they negative in that the corona reading was v low (which apparently counts as negative) or were they actually zero titres?

[Liz]

We have Beijing here who will be 2 in May - her Mother Gem and her 3 siblings, Star, Cairo and Shanhai all died from FIP - Beijing is a Corona carrier - she was speyed at 11 months and I was a right basket case during that day, she is doing well, no illness's to date and survived 5 days 30 foot up a tree in sub zero temps at Christmas last year and has shown no ill effects except she has grounded her self with the inside crew

We had al our lot tested after Gem was diagnosed and sadly died 4 months after coming to us and all were negative and I do have a multi household - more multi than most - cats do adapt to being inside it can take a bit of time but it can work - we have ferals who are grounded and never look to go out some having been outside for years 0- they seem to like the food and all the home comforts!

[Gillian Harvey]

Its  the infection thing thats the problem we have..The vet nurse said she shows no symptoms but they did test the brother who had died and as she was small as well. 

So have they actually tested her as well then?

[Lottie (Team Svartalfheim's)]

I was told by the vet nurse that it was no infectious!!

 

Dr Addie (who is the goddess of knowledge when it comes to FCoV) says on her website "FCoV is a very contagious virus, infecting nearly all cats who encounter it. The major source of infection is the faeces of infected cats, and uninfected cats become infected by sharing litter trays with infected cats. The second major route of infection is the unintentional exposure of uninfected cats to tiny particles of infected faeces on people’s shoes or clothing, hands, poop scoops, etc. The infected cat likely swallows the virus when grooming, or when particles of faeces contaminate their food."

[Canterbury_cats (Sharon)]

I was told by the vet nurse that it was no infectious!! So its all abit confusing.. This cat does go out so not sure what advice they gave the owner when diagnosed.. It is only just 6months old, so may off been too young to go outside.. Its  the infection thing thats the problem we have..The vet nurse said she shows no symptoms but they did test the brother who had died and as she was small as well. 

[Lottie (Team Svartalfheim's)]

I was speaking to my vet a while back about FCoV as I had a kitten enquiry from someone who already had a cat who was a known corona carrier and he said that around 90+% of cats in a multicat household will test positive for it and that it is very infectious and that if you have several cats in a house that share litter trays and one cat tests positive for it it is pretty much guaranteed that they will all have it but that unless it mutates into FIP (which is rare) most of the time it causes no problems at all.
Apparently some cats will spontaneously clear themselves of FCoV over time although if they live in a multicat household it is much less likely as if one is shedding it then they usually reinfect the others via the litter tray and then the cycle continues of reinfection.

[Desley (booktigger)]

This is a very tricky one, especially if you consider that very few cats coming into rescue, or indeed owned by people, will have been tested, so this situation probably happens a lot, but no one ever knows. Good luck

[Canterbury_cats (Sharon)]

Thanks all.I have passed onto our Welfare peeps.. But the worrying thing is that we just do not have the capacity to take on a cat that we have to keep in care for months or so to retest. Nor do i expect many other branches do..  We have never had a cat in our care (in a pen that is)  for six months... that is a long time to confine a cat do you not think..!

Most of our fosterers have cats of their own and only 2 have no cats at all. Both at the moment fosterering needy cats as well.

So that is going to be the issue i think.. and as Jacksprat said keep stress low as well.. Blackberry has been an outside cat i think so maybe making her a cats that has to be indoors only will be a challenge.  All things to consider, but we are going to speak to another vet tomorrow.

[madkittyrescue]

Hey Sharon,

I've put quite a bit of info on past posts on Corona Virus in the past - don't have time to sit and type out just now but you could probably locate on a search - If you have any questions feel free to give me a shout as we've had a lot of experience in recent years with this. xx

[Kay and Penny]

the   problem with Corona virus is that one of the main triggers for mutation into FIP is stress

which makes rehoming and multicat households hazardous

[Gillian Harvey]

Corona is infectious and (rarely) can mutate into FIP.  Some cats remain carriers for life, but others, like the Siamese you mentioned, will not. I think on Dr Addie's site about FIP,  a cat who has consistently high titres at each test over the course of a year can be considered a carrier - heres the site http://dr-addie.com/ . If the titres go down to zero or below a certain level (can't remember exactly) then there is no risk to other cats of catching corona. Corona itself will usually just cause mild sneezing and sometimes persistent diarrhea, although rarely neurological symptoms, like with Gwynnie when she had back leg paralysis - although we are still not sure that it was down to corona.

I didnt retest Gwynnie after she was really poorly and had high titres though, but she's been completely well for 2, nearly 3, years now.

[Canterbury_cats (Sharon)]

I have had a call re a 6month female cat who has been diagnosed with Corona Virus.  There was originally two but the brother died much early in life. Both came from a back street breeder from a very dodgy location we know about in our area.

Blackberry has been at the vets in and out and the owner has now decided she can no longer deal with her. The bill is currently in the 1000 mark.  The vets have asked if any rescue (i.e us) would be willing to take her on? Otherwise its PTS.

She remains unspayed but at the moment in good health and you would not really know she was a carrier. This is a new situation for us and not something we have knowledge off. I thought it was very infectious but the vet nurse tells me that is not, but it can mutate to FIP which is the end of the road. I am presuming she needs to be an indoor cat.

A few months or yrs ago we got to know about a young siamese with this (i think so anyhow) who went to to Siamese rescue and after 6 months was tested again and was clear. So does that mean that in time she "may" get an immunity to this?

Anyhow.. at the moment we are reasearching the virus and do not as yet have a plan. But the vets have agreed to give the cat some so we can see if we can do anything. 

Any help or advise much appreciated.