Chronic rhinitis in a litten

RE: Chronic rhinitis in a litten

shanley barber — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 20:17:34 GMT

Thank you all, I will be neutering her soon, so a swab as well as a look for polyps is a great idea. Thanks all.

RE: Chronic rhinitis in a litten

Stephen Courtney — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 21:46:49 GMT

I think it is also worth looking carefully for nasopharyngeal polyps, having just discovered one in a cat with snuffles over the last 2 months, and no other evidence of the polyp externally.

I assume a neutering is imminent? look then, ideally with some sort of endoscopy available, I'd suggest radiographs and nasal flush as well.

RE: Chronic rhinitis in a litten

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 19:06:01 GMT

[quote user="Kate Richardson"]At a recent dentistry course a protocol of interferon was discussed using even smaller doses orally for longer periods, this was for juvenile gingivitis if I recall- will dig out the protocol if you are interested.[/quote]There is a thread on this somewhere but in my (extensive!) experience the success is limited. The dose is 50,000 iu diluted Virbagen Omega orally daily for at least 3 months but it only partially alleviates symptoms, if at all, and as FCV gingivo-stomatitis is a multi-factorial disease then dental hygiene is a major part of the therapy. However Shanley's kitten sounds as though it has FHV so oral therapy is of no use.

I've just seen an RSPCA rescue cat with mild symptoms of epiphera/watery coryza/sneezing. It is clinically well and is obviously a FHV carrier (I did recommend viral PCR to be sure but said I thought it would be a waste of money). I have not advised treatment with anything just observe the symptoms and treat with antibiotics if there is an obvious secondary bacterial infection +/- symptomatic treatment with Bisolvon/steam inhalants if congested.

RE: Chronic rhinitis in a litten

Kate Richardson — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 12:26:50 GMT

Hi Shanley, if the kitten has chronic rhinitis now, you are unlikely to resolve the issue regardless of what you do, so it will be most likely a case of managing the symptoms with antibiotics as needed (I like doxycycline for these, but amxoyclav is another good choice). Interferon, as Mr Modest above suggests- I have little experience of using it, so I'll bow to his experience there At a recent dentistry course a protocol of interferon was discussed using even smaller doses orally for longer periods, this was for juvenile gingivitis if I recall- will dig out the protocol if you are interested.

I would also consider swabbing for resp PCRs- good to know what you have there, but mainly to see if the kitten is FHV positive as if it is I would think about using famcyclovir as well.

Otherwise steam therapy, and avoiding irritants eg smoking

RE: Chronic rhinitis in a litten

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 08:58:55 GMT

[quote user="shanley barber"] is anyone using interferon these days? [/quote]Funny you should mention it but yes, I modestly say I probably have more experience of this than anyone else.

It works well in acute cases if given promptly but you're probably not going to 'cure' chronic case as it is probably already in carrier state and there may be a chronic secondary bacterial infection, although hopefully you can alleviate some of the worst symptoms. Sounds more like FHV than FCV but the protocol is the same. Whether or not you do viral PCR to prove it is up to you and what the client can afford

The protocol I use is 2.5mU/kg Virbagen Omega sub cut once daily for 3 days. Whether longer term treatment would help is debatable but it becomes prohibitively expensive by this route and you may be able to get away with doses as low as 1mU/kg if funds are limited. The acute cases I've treated with this protocol have cleared within 3 days with no antibiotics and not recurred but I don't expect as good a result in chronic cases. Your's is sort of chronic/acute so I would give it a try if the owners can afford it.