WHAT? YOUR CATS HAVE HERPES?

Yes, so it seems. Most likely so do yours, if you own any, since 80-90% of domestic cats have this virus, usually without any symptoms. A cattery claiming to not have cats with herpes (ocular feline herpesvirus-1 infection) probably is either very lucky, ignorant, or not telling the truth. A cattery without herpes is an unusual cattery. And in general, cats with herpes are about as healthy, happy, and long lived as cats without herpes, so there is no reason to avoid buying a cat because it may have herpes. So hopefully if you are a prospective buyer of our kittens this information will not discourage you from buying our kittens!

The feline ocular herpes virus is like the similar human herpes simplex virus type I (which causes cold sores on the lip and only rarely has serious complications) in that it permanently infests the trigeminal nerve supplying part of the face, and as with HSV-1 infected people cats infected with the feline the virus usually is hiding and not causing symptoms once the initial infection has quieted down. If the cat is under stress or has a weakened immune system, there is a greater chance that the cat will start shedding the virus and will experience symptoms of infection. Overcrowding, transporting, surgery, steroid injection, pregnancy, lactation, and inbreeding are some of the things that can encourage a previously infected cat to again shed virus.

Humans do not catch herpes from cats, and cats do not catch herpes from humans, since human herpes viruses do not affect cats and cat herpes virus does not affect humans; similarly, people will not catch AIDS from a cat with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), the cat version of human immunodeficiency virus ("AIDS virus"). Most viruses infect only one species or a few related species, and we just are too different from cats for most cat viruses to be able to infect us. There of course are rare exceptions, of which the most dangerous is rabies; that is why it is important to vaccinate cats against rabies, and in some areas rabies vaccination of the cat is a legal requirement for owning a cat.

There are several things that may be seen in a cat initially suffering from the feline ocular herpes virus, especially runny eyes, red and swollen eye membranes, sticking of eyelids, runny nose, and sneezing. The initial infection typically is in a young or newborn cat, so breeders are likely to have to deal with infected young cats and kittens before selling them. With chronic infection, there might be dried brown secretions in the medial canthus (inner corner of eye) and persistent eye discharge. Often the weakened tissue (eye, sinus, etc) currently damaged by the virus will become overgrown with bacteria, mycoplasma, or chlamydia that ordinarily might cause fewer or no problems; then there might be more serious eye or upper respiratory problems from this "opportunistic secondary infection," such as and chronic sinus infection.

None of our cats actually have had laboratory tests for confirming the presence of herpes, but based on the symptoms they have shown and the fact that almost all cats have this virus, the veterinarian has quite reasonably diagnosed the cattery as having herpes infected cats.

Jadzia may have had herpes since early in life; I took her to the vet over a year ago because I was concerned she sometimes had a discharge in the medial canthus of her eyes. Her former vet (from before our move from MD to PA) guessed it might be an allergy, but in retrospect herpes is a likely explanation.

Kurzon and Ezri both developed a brown nasal discharge plus sneezing starting around the time Ezri arrived, which also was shortly after Kurzon went to a cat show; very likely this was due to herpes. Possibly Ezri brought the virus with her, or possibly Kurzon got infected at a cat show. Cat exhibitors at cat shows generally are nervous about people touching their cats after touching other cats, and usually will ask people to not touch their cats in order to protect the cats from infection. The common exceptions are cat show judges, who must wash their hands before handling each cat they evaluate in the show ring, and people buying kittens at shows, who of course can touch the kittens they buy. Kurzon recovered after a few days. Ezri, however, was sneezing on and off for weeks and sometimes had runny eyes. Probably Ezri's immune system was not up to par because she had not gotten enough milk as a young kitten and still was underweight (her mother stopped feeding the litter unusually early); however even though she had been tested by her breeder for FIV and FLV, deadly cat viruses that can cause a feline immune deficiency, before being sold, I had the vet retest her (see below) to make sure she did not have these diseases; fortunately she was OK. Otherwise it would have been necessary to test all the other cats for FIV or FLV, and tragically but out of necessity to permanently separate or euthanize the FIV or FLV infected cats.

About three weeks after Jadzia delivered her second litter, I noticed that all three of the baby kittens had sticky eyes (total of four eyes among three kittens) that I had to carefully open with my fingers in order for the kittens to be able to see; I gently cleaned the crusts and discharges with Baby Wipes, taking care to not touch the eyeballs and to wash my hands after touching each kitten. I also noticed Stripy had a swollen, red eye and that Ezri had runny eyes and was sneezing as badly as ever. I had allowed Ezri to nurse on Jadzia because Ezri was still underweight and I thought some queen's (mama cat's) milk could do her some good.. However, this proved to be a mistake since it meant that Ezri was sneezing on the new litter and leaving her secretions on Jadzia's nipples. And of course it also is possible the infection came from Jadzia, who had just experienced the stress of delivery, was nursing, and was often licking her babies' faces.

After I realized there was a problem, I separated Ezri and Stripy from Jadzia, Kurzon, and the babies and called the vet.

The vet had me bring over Stripy and Ezri, noted with concern that both had gums that were red and swollen, and confirmed that Ezri did not have FIV or FLV. Then he sent us home with the following prescriptions; note these are mostly antibacterial agents for treating secondary infection and do not fight herpes virus, which is controlled by the cat's immune system and normally not by drugs:

--All five infected kittens: oxytetracycline+polymixin B eye ointment, one tube per kitten, treat both eyes 3-4 times daily for three weeks.

--Ezri, oral interferon A once a day for two weeks. This is a hormone to stimulate white blood cells so they attack infection better; the vet agreed Ezri had been sick for too long and that her immune system may not have been working well enough, so he decided interferon was called for.

--Ezri, antibiotic (Baytril and Afrin) saline nasal spray to help clean up her sinuses.

--Ezri, eyewash to help clear up eye infection, three week treatment.

--Stripy, two 100 mg Cefatabs a day (powerful penicillin-like antibiotic), two week treatment.

--Ezri, half a Cefatab twice a day, two week treatment.

--Babies, 0.1 ml of an oral cefalosporin product (Cefa-Drops=Cefadroxil) daily for two weeks.

--Stripy and Ezri also shared twice daily a snack of wet cat food with a crushed 500 mg tablet of L-lysine (amino acid sold in pharmacies and health food stores), which may help fight herpes infection.

The cats' eye discharges and sticky eyes stopped within about a day of starting the therapy, and Stripy's swollen eye returned to normal within a few days. Ezri has stopped sneezing, and her eyes and nose no longer are running. In general things are looking very promising. However, the therapy could not be ended till the scheduled time, since the suspected secondary infection could return otherwise. Also, the vet was concerned about the possibility of a chlamydial infection of the eyes, a growth of bacterial-like organisms that needs three weeks of eye ointment to be eradicated.

The timing of the outbreak was unfortunate, since it occurred a week before I was to pick up three month old Lela, Jadzia's half sister, as future breeding stock for the Cattery (intended as Kurzon's third wife after Jadzia and eventually Ezri; Stripy, Kurzon's daughter, will be bred to another breeder's cat instead of being bred to Kurzon). I discussed with the breeder and the vet my concerns that Lela could get infected and whether it still was OK to pick her up as scheduled. Even though she almost certainly will get herpes sooner or later from the other cats without lasting damage, it is possible that she would be more fragile due to the stress of being weaned and relocated, and also it is possible the other cats could give her a secondary infection they would be less likely to give her later on.

The conclusion was that it was OK to bring Lela over, but that she should be temporarily separated from all of the other cats. The arrangement is that until this quarantine is ended, she is occupying the smaller of the lynxes' two connected rooms, with the connecting door nailed shut and the lynxes confined to the larger of their two rooms, with about 2/3 their original space (still about 5x more space than the law requires). This is the most suitable room for Lela since no other available room offered isolation from the other cats, ability to see at least some other cats, and a window. Soon I will have more wire mesh doors installed in the house so there are more choices for humane and safe quartering of wegies temporarily being separated from other wegies; meanwhile, this is the best choice. So Lela does not get too lonely, I am sleeping next to her in my sleeping bag, instead of upstairs on a mattress. Stripy and Ezri can say hello to her through the wire mesh door to the room. The lynxes seem to be behaving normally, except they now are leaving droppings on the floor and cat tree by the connecting door, and sometimes scratch on the connecting door. In a few days the lynxes will have their room back and Lela can mingle with the seven other wegies, and I can sleep in my bedroom again. Ah, the trials of being a breeder.

(Written January 2, 2000).

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