Huge dental, sneezing, vetergesic and calicivirus

[CatWizard]

Hi! I'm new here but I'm looking for some advice for my cat! My kitten was diagnosed march last year with calicivirus. It was diagnosed after his gums were red and inflamed, after having a swab it came back positive for calici.
Anyway, he had a dental clean and put on interferon, the gums wernt as red and no longer inflamed, he had a few teeth out and another dental clean last year. We thought we were winning against the virus as just before Christmas his gums were looking excellent!

The beginning of this month he started eating funny so I had alook at him gums and they were red again. Took him to the vets for a swab and it turns out that the calici is still present and the interferon was keeping it at bay rather than getting rid of it completely. As it's been a year together with the vet I made the decison to have a full mouth extraction (if needed). He's a young cat and I'm pretty sure that the only thing keeping the virus present is the fact its being harboured in the gums and no sooner we get rid of them the virus will be eradicated.
Monday he (tippy) had his operation, they managed to save his lower canines and the front and top incisors, but the rest are gone.
Of course he's had a lot of drilling and has disolverable stitches.

Tuesday I noticed a long big of stitch sticking out his mouth, so I took him back to the vet and they trimmed it off and gave him a vetagestic injection. After we got him home he seemed a lot happier as he didn't have a free bit of stitch flying around.

Anyway, they gave me oral vetagestic on tuesday aswell as metacam. Hes normally really good and jumps up the table takes his meds and waits for a treat! But not with vetagestic. He HATES it. I managed to get it down him Tuesday night but he shook his head and flung a load out. Wednesday morning he was far to aware of what that smell was so I got maybe 0.1 down him (hes meant to have 0.3). I tried again at 1pm with wrapping him in a towel but again he shook his head and flung a load out and again that night. He's meant to have at least two a day three if possible.
I'm just wondering if even if he flicks it out does it still have any affect?

Also has started sneezing.. It started Wednesday morning and gradually got worse, hes sneezing a lot more today, I haven't managed to get any vetagestic down him at all today because he just freaked out and fell off the table. I'm wondering if the sneezing is related to the vetergesic?! It is really strong, I'm wondering if its given him a sore throat.

I should also mention my other cat Timmy had this same sneezing malarkey last week but we assumed it was just hayfeaver and gave him his allergy tablets which we thought.. Cleared it up. I'm now wondering if its a small cold which tippy has now caught. If so will it affect his recovery? And is there anything I can do to ease the sneezing.

I'm pretty sure he's not in pain.. But the stitches must be uncomfortable for him.
He's on 3kg mark of metacam once a day, is that enough to make most of the pain go? Really what I want to know if how important the vetagestic is, there's not much I can do about him shaking his head and flinging it out and I'm feeling as if its not helping the sneezing.
He's eating fine, and taking the metacam easy.

Thanks! Any advice would be great.
Cat x

[greenkitty]

I've got two cats with this same condition and I opted for total extractions straight off, neither of them had stitches (I was told the mouth heals quickly so stitches weren't necessary), my guys both had Metacam and Antirobe for a few days after and this seemed to work well.

It's possible the stress of the op and being at the vet has triggered a flare up, especially if your other cat has had a cold recently. If it's just a bit of sneezing I wouldn't worry to much but if he becomes lethargic, loses his appetite then taken him to the vet.

i would have thought Vetergesic and Metacam were both pain killers? I know they give Vetergesic before they come home but would have thought Metacam and Antirobe would be a better combination for home.

Have you seen Dr Addies website? There's some suggestion that FGS (I can't remember the long name of the condition!) is linked to sugars in food so a cereal free diet is the key, which is fine if your cat will eat cereal free food! It's worth a look.

[CatWizard]

I've got two cats with this same condition and I opted for total extractions straight off, neither of them had stitches (I was told the mouth heals quickly so stitches weren't necessary), my guys both had Metacam and Antirobe for a few days after and this seemed to work well.

It's possible the stress of the op and being at the vet has triggered a flare up, especially if your other cat has had a cold recently. If it's just a bit of sneezing I wouldn't worry to much but if he becomes lethargic, loses his appetite then taken him to the vet.

i would have thought Vetergesic and Metacam were both pain killers? I know they give Vetergesic before they come home but would have thought Metacam and Antirobe would be a better combination for home.

Have you seen Dr Addies website? There's some suggestion that FGS (I can't remember the long name of the condition!) is linked to sugars in food so a cereal free diet is the key, which is fine if your cat will eat cereal free food! It's worth a look.

Thank you for your reply!
He wasn't originally on vetergesic he was only put on it on Tuesday when I went to have the stray stitch taken out, before that he was just on metacam. Which is the highest dose he can have too.

Yeah vetergesic is a painkiller to but I think its released straight into the gums instead of into the body and released that way. But its really strong smelling and smells like acid!

He's still eating but he is asleep all day, but I think that might be because of stress and the fact that when he is awake he's sneezing or looks as if he needs to sneeze. I was worried about it being a flare up with the calicivirus, I thought maybe it might be manifesting itself as a cold through the absence of teeth.

Thats interesting about your cat not having stitches when they had a full mouth extraction! They told me that if food gets in it can become infected and end lead to an infection in the jaw bone? I feel as if it would have been a lot better without stitches as it must be uncomfortable! Bless him!

Oh I haven't seen Dr Addies website! I will go and have a look! Thank you very much! And thank you again for your reply!

[greenkitty]

Both mine were on Antirobe for a week before the op, it helped calm the gums down and they continued for about 10 days afterwards. When I took them back for their post op checks their gums looked so much better and there was no food stuck in the holes, in fact most of the holes were almost closed by this stage. I was amazed at how quickly they bounced back, if it had been me I'd have been grumbling about a sore mouth for weeks! Two years on they both have nice pink gums, I know there's a chance it will reoccur but with the teeth gone the sugars have nothing to attach to. My guys both have their canines and tiny front teeth left but everything else is gone. To remove the canines at the same time as the back teeth can affect the stability of the jaw so we said we'd cross that bridge when we come to it.

[Walesgang]

My cat Grey is the same.

He had all but his top canines removed last year.

He did amazingly well. His gums were fine by the time he went for post op check up. Like Julia, we kept him on meds for about a week after.

He also had a small growth removed from his nose at the same time, which he rubbed on the carrier on the way home and made bleed. That was by far the most traumatic part of the whole thing for us all.

Grey is a former farm cat.i am really proud of him. The vets is a huge trauma fir him.

Hope your cat is ok

[Cussypat1974]

None of the mentioned drugs will clear calcivirus from their systems. Nothing will, and they will always be prone to after-effects.
I have had FANTASTIC results with metronidazole liquid. It is an antimicrobial so deals with bacteria, yeasts, viruses and fungi. The cats don't like it, but it has a sweet taste (formulated for human kids) so is not bitter or vomit-inducing. It literally gave my Jimi an extre 4/5 years of life.