Threats from the Outside--One Reason to Keep Vaccinations Current

Special thank you to Beth Pasek for writing this guest post. It's an important topic that sadly we are learning about because of sweet Atlas, her beautiful kitty. ~Jennifer Jasensky

Beth Pasek
Owner The Finicky Feline and Fido, LLC
Cat Rescue Foster Home Volunteer

Oh...a while back I was starting to write a Cat On My Sleeve post about being in rescue and was going to use the story of an owner-surrendered Siamese cat. I started that story and never got to finish it. As the days passed since that cat was euthanized, life took an odd twist for this cat foster person. You see, that little Siamese cat was surrendered for boarding at a local clinic. As he was to be boarded, he needed to be vaccinated. The owner’s health failed to improve and the Siamese cat was surrendered to the shelter. Shortly after that, he got sick while being sheltered and then went to be treated at a leading clinic in our area where he stayed for 2 weeks of hospitalization. After several weeks of treatment for a bloody nose, sneezing, and not eating, they thought him well enough to go to foster care to finish his recovery. Unfortunately within a few days he died of unknown causes.

His story was going to be about a broken heart, as it was clear the owner doted on this little one. He was snugly, friendly, outgoing, and curious, and with recovery should have made a wonderful companion. The clinic never did have a firm diagnosis for what was wrong with him, but it ranged from an upper respiratory infection with nosebleeds to a fungal infection. Two days later the foster cat basically crashed and become lethargic, not eating and was taken back to the clinic. There he was seen by a vet tech and was sent back with me to syringe feed in hopes he would come back around. The next morning he was vomiting up what was being syringed and taken to the the clinic again. This time he was euthanized, the shelter simply was not willing to pay for more tests or treatments. The vet said there must be another disease process going on and it simply eluded all their care and testing.
About 10 days later my sugar cat Atlas turned up one morning with a bloody nose and not eating. Recognizing a possible connection, I whisked Atlas off to the vet that day. As the exam progressed, the need for sedation and X-rays became evident to determine what was causing the nosebleeds. I told Dr. Nappier at the Westlake Animal Hospital about the foster Siamese cat and that the other clinic had never found the diagnosis. Dr. Nappier acknowledged the information, but said it wasn’t likely related. Atlas was given an antibiotic shot and sent home.

The next morning Atlas appeared much worse and we did a follow-up that then rendered the suspicion of acute Pancreatitis. The vet did some bloodwork to confirm the diagnosis. Atlas also had an EKG as he had developed a heart arrhythmia and potassium supplements were also started. So more fluids and directions of how to treat this new diagnosis.

By the third day Atlas was severely ill. Dr. Nappier called me that morning and began asking about that little foster Siamese cat. The reason being that Atlas’s white blood cell count should have been high for pancreatitis. It was not high, it was nearly nonexistent. Pancreatitis was not the right diagnosis. Was the Siamese fully vaccinated against Panleukopenia? With a few phone calls to the shelter, the vet learned he had been vaccinated on intake at the boarding facility before being transferred to the shelter. But, this particular vaccine needs a booster 3-4 weeks later and it is unknown if the Siamese cat ever got that booster. It also needs to be administered before an animal is boarded. It needs several weeks for the animals immune response to develop, otherwise the pet is at risk for getting Panleukopenia.

Attie's bloody bedding

I cancelled some client appointments and rushed home to get Atlas back to see Dr. Nappier. When I found Atlas he was laying in a pool of liquid stench. A runny pool of water-like diarrhea like I have never seen before. The use of a quick canine test for Parvo confirmed Dr. Nappier’s suspicion. The diagnosis--Panleukopenia, otherwise known as Feline Distemper. All the symptoms finally fit--a highly unusual case.

With a confirmed diagnosis, I contacted Venita at Diabetic Cats in Need to let her know and to tell her I was going to put Atlas to sleep. I simply do not have the money to cover the thousands of dollars needed for a 24/7 treatment facility that a deadly disease like this requires. And given what would be an unlikely recovery, it would an unwise use of DCIN funds. As far as I knew, and even Venita thought, this diagnosis was a death sentence. After what seemed like a 4-way whirlwind conversation among Dr. Nappier, the local internal medicine specialist, Venita, and me, we decided to give Atlas one more chance. Dr. Nappier believed we caught this just as clinical signs were breaking and he strongly advocated to not euthanize, but to try the Tamiflu protocol. We’d know in a few days if it would work. While there are some downsides to not going to a 24/7 facility, Venita approved the treatment plan.

I am in rescue and I know how vital vaccinations are for my cats, but this situation left one serious question. If Atlas was vaccinated, how did he get this? A detailed review of his case file revealed the initial dosing was done incorrectly at the shelter and that darn 2nd booster was missed. Atlas has seen 3 different vets in the past 2 years and not one caught this error. And the likelihood of him coming into contact with this deadly virus as a house cat is pretty slim. Dr. Nappier said "he would have to come in contact with a stray." Atlas never had direct contact with any stray cats and even the foster Siamese kitty was in an isolated foster room. I sanitized the foster room with a 10:1 bleach solution after the cat died. But, Panleukopenia is transmissible if it gets on a handler's shoes, clothes, or hands. No one knew what disease process that little foster cat had, and so for several days I did not know that I should follow the protocol for a highly contagious disease. Clinics and shelters are not supposed to release animals like this undisclosed. This also opened the door to not only Atlas getting sick, but also any feline clients I was caring for.

There are varying degrees of angst about getting cats vaccinated. Shots that can cause cancer (vaccination sarcomas) being one of them. But as I watched Atlas struggle to get through a virus that kills, I have to wonder why an owner would opt out of using some of the new vaccines? The FVRC (covers Rhinotracheitis and Calici) is available as a new nasal-administered vaccine. There also is a nasal version that includes Panleukopenia, but the injectable vaccine is more effective.

As I've discussed with Venita, it took a perfect storm of missteps for Atlas to catch this horrible virus. And I do realize, as I discussed at length with Dr. Nappier, the probabilities for this exact situation to happen are/were darn near impossible. I am sort of feeling like I need to create a timeline to show how the near impossible happened. So this Cat On My Sleeve post is a little long. Keep in mind the internal medicine specialist said she hasn't seen an adult case of feline distemper in 20 years of practice. The vet insists that is due to the incredible efficacy of the vaccine, Panleukopenia has been nearly eradicated in adult cats. It is pretty much relegated these days to feral colonies, catteries, boarding facilities, and shelters.

As far as breaking the news to my pet sitting clients it went surprisingly well, except for one client. The news for her was devastating, as she has neglected getting any type of vaccinations for a senior cat in her home. She thought he was too old to handle getting his annuals. While my vet does insist that even a kittenhood series of the feline distemper would protect him and if he received annuals up until 5 years ago, he will be fine. I of course can't say such things to my client. All I can tell her is to check with her own vet. It is up to her and her vet if they want to take any kind of preventative action.

Attie released from acute care
and monitoring

So Attie's life was at risk through a series of unimaginable missteps, not as an intentional choice to not vaccinate, as I do advocate strongly that pets be vaccinated according to the new feline protocols every other year or every three years. And with the advent of the ultranasal vaccine series for FVRCP, I see little to no reason not to. I know my business brings me into contact with many pets who may or may not be properly vaccinated and in the pet sitting world we're often called to pet sit because owners don't want to put pets through the additional vaccinations that boarding requires or the potential diseases that can come with boarding.

Just because your pets are kept at home, they don’t live in an isolation ward and anyone can potentially bring a deadly disease into your house. It might be a friend, neighbor, your kids that contacted the stray cat outside, or even your pet sitter from another animal on his/her route. So if you made your mind up a few years ago about not keeping your pets' core vaccinations up to date, maybe check with your vet again about the new advances and protocol changes. Think about that little foster Siamese cat that died and about my Atlas, how unlikely the scenario. A week ago Atlas rested in a cage in an isolation unit at Westlake Animal Hospital fighting for his life. Diabetic Cats in Need is very kindly raising funds to help pay for his care. Concerns about vaccination sarcoma, the fact that a cat is elderly, or this scenario, you do have a choice and newer options are available.

I am so glad to report that Atlas has been released from acute care and monitoring. His DCIN blog page, which describes some of his treatment and includes a chip-in widget to help DCIN cover the few thousands of dollars it paid for his care, is here.~Venita