preparing oral interferon

Re: preparing oral interferon

Martin Atkinson — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:39:42 GMT

This just happens to be one of my pet subjects and I've just had an article on it publishd in the British Veterinary Dental Association journal Summer 2010, and earlier on interferon usage in all feline viral disease, in Vet Times, so (anyone) message me and I will send copies of the articles to you by email. Because this is a multi-factorial syndrome there is no one answer and oral interferon will do little on its own in severe lymphocytic-plasmocytic gingivo stomatitis. However I have had success using it orally in less severe cases of uncomplicated calicivirus gingivitiis in young cats so in answer to the OP: dilute 10mega units of Virbagen Omega into 200ml (or 5 in 100) sterile saline which will give a solution of 50,000 units per ml. Divide this into 10-20ml alloquots which can be frozen for up to a year until ready for use. Give 1ml of this solution daily directly into the mouth daily, (it will be too dilute if given with food) and continue indefinitely. Once un-frozen the solution should not be re-frozen and used within 3 weeks and avoid contaminating the remaining unused solution. It acts locally in the mouth so there is no question over inactivation by digestion. The problem with FIV+ve cats is that the immune mediated disease makes it much more resiliant to treatment, even though interferon has some immuno-modulatory action, so it doesn't work as well and additional dental work and intra-lesional treatment and or injectable interferon may also be necessary. I have also had good success treating chronic herpetic conjunctivitis and injecting kittens with FHV flu, if caught very early on, it can clear symptoms within 3 days and IMO reduce the likelihood of progressing to carrier state. Also some success in ameliorating some of the symptoms of FIV/FeLV infection notably anaemia. Fascinating stuff and I'm happy to share my experience.

Re: preparing oral interferon

Helen B — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:17:10 GMT

hi everyone,

we use virbac interferon, and dilute 1 mil units in 100ml saline to give 100,000 units per day. we freeze 9 x 10ml and dispense 10ml for the owner to use up intially and continue the course.For an adult animal. How long a course does everyone use? and does any have any experience of this in FIV positive cats? We have a rescue centre with a "no kill " policy who have built a special isolation area for fiv positive cats which are in good gen health at the time of rescue.

hel

Re: preparing oral interferon

Hannah Wynne Richards — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:16:29 GMT

How can oral interferon be cheaper ? I would have expected you to need much because of partial digestion

Wynne

Re: preparing oral interferon

Rob Davis — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:47:09 GMT

[quote user="Alex Allen"]Do you have the Virbac Interferon Handbook?[/quote]

Sorry to gatecrash, but I would be interested in a copy of this. I have used virbagen omega intra-lesionally in at cat with FCGS, though given that we were doing a total caudal extraction at the same time, it is difficult to assess how much difference the interferon made (the cat is currently doing well).

Re: preparing oral interferon

Alex Allen — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 20:52:18 GMT

Please contact me at Virbac Technical Services - there are many different ways interferons can be used and some are inappropriate for Feline Herpes Virus infections. Virbagen Omega is a type I interferon and can be used as an antiviral, immunomodulator and as an anti tumoural drug.

Oral solutions will do very little against the virus directly and an ocular preparation of IFN is required to have any antiviral effect (dilution as stated above - concentration to be used is 500,000 IU/ml). Studies are limited and data has been sourced from in vitro, in vivo and case reports from the field.

Ocular therapy is not without risk as ophthalmologists have warned against intensive medicating as this may stress the cat to the point of negating any beneficial effects of the medication - speak to a ophthalmologist for the most current thinking on treating these long term FHV keratitis cases. If the condition does not respond within 10-14ds with ocular Virbagen Omega I would advise it is stopped as the benefits should start to be apparent within a few days.

If there is chronic inflammatory component involved (chronic rhinitis etc) then this is a whole new ball game! Chronic rhinitis is a similar to FCGS in that we know very little about the underlying pathogenesis other than it is multifactorial, probably genetically influenced and difficult to treat. Oral Virbagen Omega can be used in these cases - again with varied results and often with other medications.

Do you have the Virbac Interferon Handbook?

Alex Allen - Technical Adviser, Virbac UK, 01359 243 243.

Re: preparing oral interferon

Jillian Hall — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 20:22:42 GMT

Because all the protocols are based on anecdotal evidence I don't think there's any absolute right or wrong. I've always use 1 ml Interferon in 100ml bag saline for oral solution. However for herpes kittens with primarily ocular signs I'm using 1 ml in 19ml saline. I've had some good results with interferon for gingivostomatitis in calici cats but I've not got a massive amount of experience using it for URT cases.

Re: preparing oral interferon

Bob Russell — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 17:59:55 GMT

Dr Williams from Cambridge University is recommending Famvir (human genital herpes antiviral) for feline herpesvirus - dose (I think please check) 125mg 1/8th tablet daily per kitten (1/4 per cat) continuing for 2 weeks after symptoms cease.Don't think it works for calicivirus.

We have tried Virbagen but had poor results (a long time ago).

He did a webinar last week via CEVA.. His website is www.davidlwilliams.org.uk - his email address is there if you want to check. He was quite enthusiastic about it! Not particularly cheap - about £4-6 per tablet from on-line pharmacy

If you try it and get on well please let us know!!!