Feline infectious respiratory complex may represent a major problem in cat shelters (cattery) since the disease occurs most often in young kittens, before weaning - usually around age 4 to 8 weeks, when the maternal immunity decreases. The source of infection is often the mother cat, which carries the virus and the latent infection has been reactivated during lactation. Therefore, the vaccinations of the mother-cat should be carried out prior to mating. This study was conducted during September 2013 - December 2015 and took place in the Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Iasi. The research involved a total of 94 cats which were presented to the clinic with suspicion of an infectious disease, of which 76 had respiratory infections and 18 cats were suspected for other infectious diseases. Following the physical examination and establishing the diagnosis, the cats were subjected to a local and general therapy, and according to the severity of symptoms several schemes of therapy were applied. One of the protocols included Virbagen Omega product, a recombinant omega interferon for cats. Antibiotic therapy has been used for the treatment of the secondary bacterial infections, while for viral infections, there was no specific treatment. The animals remain virus carrier and eliminator after passing through the disease. Therapy with interferon may be expensive and lengthy, without guaranteeing advantages. In the shelters with healthy cats, the immunoprophylaxis was applied, according to the schedule recommended by the manufacturer

Apostol, Ștefan

Constantin, Pavli

Daraban, Florentina

Oana, Tanase

Velescu, Elena

Tanase, Irina-Oana

Pavli, Constantin

ALSE Repository

432  DIAGNOSIS AND THERAPY IN FELINE CALICIVIROSIS Oana TANASE, Ștefan APOSTOL, Florentina DARABAN, Constantin PAVLI, Elena VELESCU The University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Iasi, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine E-mail: tanase_oana@yahoo.com  Abstract Feline infectious respiratory complex may represent a major problem in cat shelters (cattery) since the disease occurs most often in young kittens, before weaning - usually around age 4 to 8 weeks, when the maternal immunity decreases. The source of infection is often the mother cat, which carries the virus and the latent infection has been reactivated during lactation. Therefore, the vaccinations of the mother-cat should be carried out prior to mating. This study was conducted during September 2013 - December 2015 and took place in the Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Iasi. The research involved a total of 94 cats which were presented to the clinic with suspicion of an infectious disease, of which 76 had respiratory infections and 18 cats were suspected for other infectious diseases. Following the physical examination and establishing the diagnosis, the cats were subjected to a local and general therapy, and according to the severity of symptoms several schemes of therapy were applied. One of the protocols included Virbagen Omega product, a recombinant omega interferon for cats. Antibiotic therapy has been used for the treatment of the secondary bacterial infections, while for viral infections, there was no specific treatment. The animals remain virus carrier and eliminator after passing through the disease. Therapy with interferon may be expensive and lengthy, without guaranteeing advantages. In the shelters with healthy cats, the immunoprophylaxis was applied, according to the schedule recommended by the manufacturer. Key words: ulcers, conjunctivitis, management of FCV infections,Virbagen Omega  Introduction Respiratory pathology remains one of the most important areas of feline medicine. The upper respiratory tract diseases represents an important and recurring problem for veterinarians and cat owners, while the feline herpesvirus and calicivirus have been described to be the primary causes of infection (Daraban, 2014). Feline calicivirosis is widely spread in the feline population (most commonly in cats) and reported in many countries (Perianu, 2005), but without implications for human respiratory pathology. The disease is characterized by inflammation of the upper respiratory tract mucosa and caused by a virus of the family Caliciviridae, genus Calicivirus (Addie D. et al., 2008). The feline calicivirus presents a moderate resistance in the external environment. The virus may persist for more than a month on dry surfaces, at room temperature, and even more at lower temperatures (Bennett D. et al., 1989). It is resistant to a pH between 3 and 9, as well to the usual disinfectants action (Perianu, 2012). The feline calicivirus importance is provided by the high incidence, by the ease which the virus is transmitted and that the disease is often associated with feline herpesvirosis or bacterial infections of the respiratory system (Daraban et al., 2012). The fact that more and more people choose the cat as companion motivates the choice of this study and namely to highlight the impact of upper respiratory tract infections on the cat health, of both those from houses and those living in settlements or in shelters (Daraban et al., 2012; Coyne et al., 2007). Given the disease severity and contagiousness, another goal was to underline the necessity of the general and specific prophylactic measures, therefore the vaccination with live attenuated is the most important measure of the disease control (Foley et., 2004). Not least, another objective was to highlight the necessity for an appropriate treatment, sustained and uninterrupted in cats who have contacted the disease in order to not aggravate the lesions and to the worsening of the animal health (Tanase et al., 2015). Passing through the disease does not confer to cats a satisfactory immunity especially in cases when infections are produced by antigenically different strains (Patel et al., 2009). 433  Sept. 2013 – Dec.2013 Ian. 2014 – dec. 2015 Ian. 2015 – dec. 2015  Total cases Cats with upper respiratory tract infections Cats with other conditions 2 9 7 11 21 18 30 40 30 20 10 0 44 46 50 Material and methods This study was conducted during September 2013 - December 2015 and took place in the Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Iasi. The research involved a total of 94 cats which were presented to the clinic with suspicion of an infectious disease, of which 76 had respiratory infections and 18 cats were suspected with other infectious diseases. Following the physical examination and establishing the diagnosis, the cats were subjected to a local and general therapy, and according to the severity of symptoms several schemes of therapy were applied. One of the protocols included Virbagen Omega product, a recombinant omega interferon for cats (Veir et al., 2006).  Results and discussions Following the study conducted during 2013- December 2015 in the Clinic of Infectious Diseases and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Iasi, it was observed that during September 2013- December 2013 period out of 18 cats presented for a physical examination, 11 cats manifested respiratory symptoms, which represents 61.11%, whereas 7 cats had other conditions. During 2014, the total number of cats examined was 30, of which 21 cats, representing 70% of cats had respiratory infections, and 9 cats, 30%, had other conditions (table 1 and figure 1).  Table 1. The frequency of upper respiratory tract infections in cats during September 2013-December 2015  Period  Total cases Cats with upper respiratory tract infections Cats with other conditions No. % No. % Sept. 2013 – Dec.2013 18 11 61,11 7 38.89 Ian. 2014 – Dec. 2014 30 21 70 9 30 Ian. 2015 – Dec. 2015 46 44 95,65 2 4.35 Total 94 76 80.85 18 19.15    Fig. 1. Distribution of respiratory infections in cats over the study period 434  Total 1 year 1-8 years >8 years From Table 1 and Figure 1 it is noted that the largest number of examined cats was in 2015 with a total of 46, of which 44 were with respiratory infections, representing 95.65% and only 2 cats presented other conditions.  Table 2. The frequency of upper respiratory tract infections in cats depending on age during September 2013-December 2015    Period  Cases with respiratory infections Age < 1 year Age between 1-8 years Age > 8 years  No.  %  No.  %  No.  % Sept. 2013– Dec. 2013 18 10 55.55 2 11.11 6 33.34 Ian. 2014 – Dec. 2014 30 17 56.66 4 13.34 9 30 Ian. 2015 – Dec. 2015 46 25 54.36 6 13.04 15 32.60 Total 94 52 55.31 12 12.76 30 31.93  From analysis of Table 2 and Figure 2 it appears that the prevalence of upper respiratory tract infections is higher among cats in the first year of life, representing 55.31% out of the total cases diagnosed with the feline respiratory complex, then follows the cats over 8 years, with a prevalence of 31.93%. This data is in accordance with the values reported by Dinnage et al., (2009).  Fig. 2. Distribution of respiratory infections by cat’s age  After performing the physical examination of the animals presented at consultation, there were identified the following clinical signs: the degradation of general condition, weakening syndrome, conjunctivitis, nasal and conjunctivitis, abundant discharge, similar to those described by the literature (figure 3) (Gourkow et al., 2013). The cats showed hyperthermia, the body temperature ranged between 39.6 o C - 42,4oC, respiratory rate of 20-25 beats per minute and a heart rate of 126-130 beats per minute. 435  A B   Fig. 3. Clinical aspects of infectious rhinitis A - Conjunctivitis, with modified conjunctival discharge B – Nasal discharge and crusts   The cats with age between 1 to 8 years showed proliferative and ulcerated lesions on the hard palate, tongue (figure 4) and gums (figure 5), clinically express by dysphagia, lack of appetite and weight loss.    Fig. 4. Lingual ulcerative lesions Fig. 5. Stomatitis lesions   The suspected diagnosis based on the clinical signs was feline calicivirosis (Daraban et al., 2013). According to the severity of symptoms, the cats received an appropriate treatment, deciding to apply 3 different treatment plans (table 3). 436  Table 3. The structure of the treatment plans Product Plan 1 Plan  2 Plan 3 Antibiotic Clamoxyl Linco-spectin Amoxy Kel Expectorant Pneumoguard Pneumoseptol Pneumoguard Vitamins Vitamin C, B1, B6 Vitamin C Vitamins C, B1, B6 Topic - Glicerină boraxată, albastru de metilen Virbagen Omega Ointment / eyewash Cavasan Tobrex Sensivit Rehydration 5% dextrose, sodium chloride solution Duphalyte, sodium chloride solution 5% dextrose, sodium chloride solution   Plan 1. It was performed a grooming of the ocular and nasal regions with a sodium chloride solution. It was applied the antibiotherapy, using as antibiotic the amoxycilin (Clamoxyl L.A. 200mg) 12.5 mg/kg bw daily, sc. To encourage the respiration and the fluidization of bronchial secretions, there was administrated Pneumoguard in dosis of 0.5/ml per animal, s.c. The rehydration was achieved with sodium chloride solution and 5% dextrose solution given intravenously in a dose of 10 ml / kg / day. The treatment was supplemented with vitamin C 1ml+ vitamin B1 1ml + B6 1ml, given intravenously. For the ocular lesions, a solution Cavasan was used (Chloramphenicol 20 mg + Vitamin A). After 5 days of treatment, the cats treated according to the Plan 1 were cured. In their treatment it was not necessary a therapy for the oral cavity since the cats didn`t present oral lesions. Plan 2. The antibiotic used to the Plan 2 was Lincospectin in doses of 1 ml/5 kg / day IM. For home, it was recommended the feeding with dietary supplement Viyo. The cats treated according to the Plan 2 received vitamin C and Pneumoseprol for the fluidization of bronchial secretions. For the ocular lesions, an ointment was used (Tobradex). The rehydration was achieved with Duphalyte 50 ml/5 kg and sodium chloride solution. The cats included in group 2 showed oral lesions such as ulcers on the tongue and on the hard palate. In their case, the treatment was supplemented with local application of methylene blue and Glycerine borax, twice per day. The disease evolution was favorable and after 7 days from the treatment beginning the cats were cured. Plan 3. The animals treated according to the Plan 3 showed lesions of ulcerative and proliferative chronic gingivitis and stomatitis; the diagnosis was a chronic evolution of feline calicivirosis. The treatment of choice for these lesions was consisting in Virbagen Omega, recombined interferon-omega for cats. The plan treatment was conducted according to the following protocol: 1billion UI/kg/ day sc. Day 0 (D0 – the first day of treatment) – 1 billion UI is locally administered by infiltration at the limit between the normal and affected tissue (figure 6). During days D1, D3, D5, D7, D9, D32, D34, D36 and D38 the interferon was administrated sc. During D15 and D30 the interferon was locally applied. Simultaneously to the interferon therapy, a therapy with antibiotics was applied. Additionally, there may be uses steroid anti-inflammatory substances with caution. Rehydration should not be missing from the treatment plan. 437   Fig. 6. Day 0: Locally administration of Virbagen Omega  The treatment with Virbagen Omega leads to symptoms improvement (figure 7), although is lengthy and expensive.  Fig. 7. Symptoms improvement after administration of Virbagen Omega   Conclusions Following the study carried out during 2013 – December 2015 in the Clinic of Infectious Diseases and preventive medicine of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, several observations were made: 1. During September 2013- December 2013 period, out of 18 cats presented for a physical examination, 11 cats manifested respiratory symptoms, which represents 61.11%, whereas 7 cats had other conditions. 2. During 2014, the total number of cats examined was 30, of which 21 cats, representing 70% of cats had respiratory infections, and 9 cats, 30%, had other conditions. 3. The largest number of examined cats was in 2015 with a total of 46, of which 44 were with respiratory infections, representing 95.65% and only 2 cats presented other conditions. 438  4. The prevalence of upper respiratory tract infections is higher among cats in the first year of life, representing 55.31% out of the total cases diagnosed with the feline respiratory complex, then follows the cats over 8 years, with a prevalence of 31.93%. 5. The treatment schemes applied were established according to cat’s symptoms, therefore in the case of Plan 1 the healing occurred after 5 days, while in the case of Plan 2 after 7 days. 6. The animals with ulcerative stomatitis showed ameliorated conditions after the treatment with Virbagen Omega, although the treatment is lengthy and expensive.  Bibliography 1. Addie D., Poulet H., Golder M.C., McDonald M., Brunet S., Thibault J.C., Hosie M.J., 2008 - Ability of antibodies to two new caliciviral vaccine strains to neutralise feline calicivirus isolates from the UK. Veterinary Record 163, pp.355-357. 2. Bennett D., Gaskell R.M., Mills A., Knowles J., Carter S., McArdle F., 1989 - Detection of feline calicivirus antigens in the joints of infected cats. Vet. Rec., 124 (13), pp. 329-332. 3. Coyne K.P., Gaskell R.M., Dawson S., Porter C.J., Radford A.D., 2007 - Evolutionary mechanisms of persistence and diversification of a calicivirus within endemically infected natural host populations. Journal of Virology 81 (4), pp.1961-1971. 4. Daraban Gabriela, 2014 - Cercetări privind caliciviroza felinelor. Teză de doctorat. Universitatea de Științe Agricole și Medicină Veterinară "Ion Ionescu de la Brad" Iași. 5. Daraban Gabriela, Tănase Oana, Solcan Carmen,Velescu Elena, 2012 – Epidemiological, clinical and pathological investigations from an feline infectious coryza outbreak. Lucrări științifice Seria Medicină Veterinară, Editura "Ion Ionescu de la Brad" Iași, Vol. 55 (3-4), pp. 525- 528, 6. Daraban Gabriela, Solcan Carmen, Tănase Oana, Dimitriu Simona, Băisan A.,Velescu Elena, 2012 – Observations regarding cases of feline calicivirus infection in indoor cats. Lucrări științifice Seria Medicină Veterinară, Editura "Ion Ionescu de la Brad" Iași, Vol. 55 (3-4), pp. 529- 532. 7. Daraban Gabriela, Zamfir Lenuţa, Turcitu M., Vuţă V., Bărboi Gh., Nicolae Şt., Velescu Elena, 2013 – Izolarea şi identificarea calicivirusului felin la pisici. Revista Română de Medicină Veterinară, Asociaţia Generală a Medicilor Veterinari din România, Vol. 23, nr. 4, pp. 97-106. 8. Dinnage Julie D., Scarlett Janet M., Richards J.R., 2009 – Descriptive epidemiology of feline upper respiratory tract disease in an animal shelter. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 11, pp. 816-825. 9. Foley J.E., Bannasch M.J., 2004 – Infectious diseases of dogs and cats. In: Miller L.S., Zawitowski S.(eds), Shelter Medicine for Veterinarians and Staff. Ames: Blackwell Publishing, pp.235-284. 10. Gourkow Nadine, Lawson J.H., Hamon Sara, Philips C.J.C., 2013 – Descriptive epidemiology of upper respiratory disease and associated risk factors in cats in an animal shelter in coastal western Canada. Can. Vet. J. 54, pp.132-138. 11. Patel J.R., Heldens J.G.M., 2009 – Review of companion animal viral diseases and immunoprophylaxis. Vaccine 27, pp.491-504. 12. Perianu T., Nicolae Șt., Carp-Cărare M., Velescu Elena, Alexandru N., Spătaru T., Tanase Irina Oana, 2005 - Boli infecțioase ale animalelor. Viroze, Volumul II, Ed. Universitas Iași. 13. Perianu T., Tanase Irina – Oana și col., 2012 - Tratat de Boli Infecțioase ale Animalelor. Viroze și boli prionice. Ed. Universitas Iași. 14. Tanase Irina Oana, Daraban Florentina, 2015 – Boli infecțioase ale animalelor. Îndrumător de lucrări practice. Editura "Ion Ionescu de la Brad" Iași. 15. Veir Julia K., Lappin M.R., Dow S.W., 2006 – Evaluation of novel immunotherapy for treatment of chronic rhinitis in cats. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 8, pp.400-411. 

Diagnosis and therapy in feline calicivirosis

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Diagnosis and therapy in feline calicivirosis

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