Implications of taking on kitten recovered from cat flu

Kittenonthekeys

Thank you for relating your 'cat flu' experiences - It's great to see that there are such loving and caring owners - respect to you all.
Well, our kitten has been with us almost a week now and she really couldn't be more perfect!
It's like she's always been here - she's fitted in seamlessly and is a real lady - so well behaved, clean laid back and intelligent. One of those very 'easy' cats; we struck lucky.
She's brought us so much joy in such a short space of time.
We've insured her with Pet Plan on one of the Lifetime policies and she's being spayed/microchipped in a couple of weeks time, and the RSPCA gave us a voucher for these so we wouldn't have to pay.
Everyone concerned has been fantastic.
I only hope her two siblings make a full recovery as our kitten has - both are still in the cattery and getting there slowly but quite poorly from that same cat flu.
Clint_S - I can understand how you must have felt when you'd been led to believe that you were adopting a healthy cat from the RSPCA. They let you down badly and really should have either been upfront about it, or at least contributed towards your vets bills. But despite that, your lovely cat became a treasured member of your family (loved the bit about blowing raspberries on his tummy!) and has now reached the fantastic age of 16!!! You should be giving yourself a huge pat on the back!

Slinky

charliewocka wrote: »

My cat had Cat Flu when she was a tiny kitten - she was abandoned with the rest of her litter in a carboard box in my parents house and I took her on expecting her to die. But she is healthy as anything now! She has had a nasty knock from a car and a pinned and plated leg but you would never know!


She has a tiny amount of runny eye but no other symptoms. Be prepared that if you have pet insurance, they don't necessarily exclude just a condition but any symptom relating to that condition. As example I have is with my dogs - when overseas I had pet insurance with Allianz. One had a dicky tummy as a pup and I took him to the vets (change of food). I was slapped with an exclusion against 'any gastro-entereal' symptom or issue'. I argued with the underwriters about this saying they surely couldn't impose such a blanket clause given what it was a result of and managed to get it lifted after a year. He also has allergies to harvest mites and needs steroids to get him through summer occasionally and there was a blanket ban on any skin condition. My other dog has hip dysplasia and while Allianz were fantastic, when we moved to the UK any insurance company refused to cover any muscular-skeletal condition regardless of cause or type. So it just hasn't been worth it and I self insure, using a credit card reserved for emergencies. We couldn't do a direct transfer to Allianz in the UK due to different insurance regulations and so a new policy would have had to be set up which would have excluded all conditions/symptoms (even with Allianz themselves!).

Having phoned PetPlan today to update something, I noticed they said in their recorded info that their policies are underwritten by Allianz.

charliewocka

Slinky wrote: »

Having phoned PetPlan today to update something, I noticed they said in their recorded info that their policies are underwritten by Allianz.

Not sure of the specifics, I was insured by Allianz and wanted to transfer my policy to the UK and remain insured by them but wasn't possible on the same coverage I'm a huge fan of insurance (not because I work in the industry ) and want to try to mitigate risk where possible but it just isn't financially viable for me to have it with my lot.


Pain as one of the mutts had his cruciate repaired in September and looks like the other one is starting to go as well :eek:

MallyGirl

my cat came to us at 7 months from the RSPCA having recovered from cat flu - she was being fostered with dogs whilst ill so she didn't infect the others. I insure her but she is very nervy and has fits when we put her in a box (but at no other time) so she no longer has vaccinations as I can't get her to the vet. Home visits at £150 a time just weren't viable. Our insurance obviously doesn't cover her for anything that would be prevented by the jabs she doesn't have but is still there for everything else. There is a note about this on her file.
She is now 7 years old and is completely healthy. I don't remember getting any dire warnings about exclusions etc when we got her - but we don't use a cattery.
I always insure - when our other cat had a massive seizure but there was a chance he might make it we opted for the night in intensive care @£500 a night without worry. We were away on holiday so there was no way we could look after him ourselves as we couldn't get back in time.

gettingready

Still no photo?

Thread not valid without a photo...

eilidhcatriona

I can't give any advice on the cat flu situation but I just wanted to respond to this...

gettingready wrote: »

Pls do not go with any "new" insurer - if you can afford it, go with PetPlan which is the best for Pet Insurance.

Lots of people went with "Animal Friends" when they started pet insurance and got badly burnt financially.

When you look at reviews, look at the ones from people who actually claimed with particular insurers not just the ones who took the insurance up and were happy with the sales team "polite, friendly" as often they discover the true value (or lack of it) when they need to claim.

Photo of the kitty please - we know you are gonna take THIS one xx

I've used Animal Friends for several years and have nothing but good to say about them - we've had to claim twice, both were very easy and a surprisingly quick process, and no argument from AF on the claim. When I had to claim just over a year ago following the death of one of our cats, not only was the claim process easy and quick, the staff I spoke to on the phone and by email were very nice and understanding of how we felt at the time. They also sent a very nice letter saying sorry for our loss - perhaps not an essential part of being a good insurer, but I appreciated the personal touch.


Oh, and I will back up the requests for photos of the kitten!!

Kittenonthekeys

Pic of kitten - hope you can see it ok

TiddlyPom

I've had a cat who had cat flu as a kitten. He lived to the ripe age of 14 when we had to say goodbye last year because of kidney issues. The only lasting effect of the cat flu was that he sometimes had rather snotty sneezes as the vet said he had scar tissue in his nostrils.
Don't let it put you off.
By the way, I self insure my cats.

Shoshannah

Congratulations on your new addition!

This is such an interesting subject, and generally I would echo previous posters' experiences in that a previous diagnosis of cat 'flu is not necessarily an indication that you're going to have problems in the future (though some cats do, unfortunately).

Remember that when we talk about 'cat 'flu', we're not talking about one specific bug. Cat 'flu is caused by several different bugs, either alone or in combination. The most common are feline herpesvirus (FHV1), feline calicivirus (FCV) and feline 'chlamydia' (caused by the bacterium Chlamydophila felis; not relation to human chlamydia!). There are others, but these are the big three.

Standard 'flu vaccines cover FHV1 and FCV. Vaccination against chlamydia is also possible but not performed commonly.

The first thing to understand is that we don't vaccinate cats against 'flu to STOP THEM GETTING IT. That's not possible with these types of infections, and the companies that make the vaccines won't tell you that they can stop infection. Vaccination against the 'flu viruses (FHV1 and FCV) reduces the chance of infection, makes the symptoms less severe, and reduces shedding of the virus - but it won't stop them getting ill.

Why?

FHV1 vaccination is just not good enough to 100% prevent infection. That's just the current limitations of veterinary medical science. Maybe the future will bring better vaccines, I don't know - but for now they're the best we've got. As for FCV, there are so many strains out there, not to mention the fact that the virus mutates frequently and easily, that the vaccine cannot possibly protect against all of them. It'll stop infection by certain strains of FCV, but not others.

This is worth bearing in mind when we talk about catteries and their guests being 'safe' from catching the 'flu just because they're vaccinated.

Before we all start panicking about ever letting our cats breathe Earth air again for fear of them catching the 'flu, know this: many (if not most) cats in the UK are carriers of FHV1. It's hard to know exactly how many, as different studies have found different numbers, but at least 1/3 and perhaps as many as 9 in 10 cats in the UK are positive for the virus. Mine is, as was the cat I had before him. Like herpesviruses in people (think cold sores), they remain inactive in the body until a time of stress, then flare up to cause symptoms. Cats are generally NOT infectious in between flare ups, when the virus is inactive. They ARE when it flares - and unfortunately stressful events like visits to the cattery can trigger such a flare-up.

Symptoms of FHV1 vary between cats. Some show no outward signs during a flare-up. Others might have a bit of a runny eye, or a bit of mild sneezing. Others are very poorly with a fever, stop eating or get really bunged up and dehydrated. Some cats have one or two flare-ups in their whole life; others suffer a few times a year. A minority have chronic symptoms which rumble on permanently. There is no hard-and-fast rule.

Contrast this with FCV, which generally cats catch once, recover, and never catch that strain again (though they can still contract other strains, just like we never suffer just one cold in our lives). Once they've cleared the infection, they are usually not infectious any more.

You'll notice I italicised 'usually' there. That's because a percentage of cats with FCV don't clear the virus completely, despite feeling and looking fine. These cats carry the virus in their throat for very long periods - weeks or even months - and are infectious to other cats (though you'd have no idea without swabbing their throats). Unlike FHV-1, once it's gone it won't come back (although if the cat is exposed to a new strain they will become reinfected).

So, cats that go outdoors, visit catteries or the vets or even have owners who might contact another cat and bring in bugs on their clothes, are at risk of contracting cat 'flu and indeed many are already healthy carriers, even if they're vaccinated.

The viruses are so common and, with some exceptions, rarely serious - it pays to be aware of them and their implications, but it's not something I worry about in my own cat. I vaccinate him yearly against both FHV1 and FCV because he does go into a cattery and he needs to be up to date with his requirements, but I doubt the FHV1 part makes much difference for him or the other cats because he already carries FHV1. A good cattery takes measures to reduce the spread of respiratory viruses as much as they can; but nobody can guarantee certain immunity.