I am new to this forum and am in need of some advice. Last Saturday, I adopted a kitten from Animal Control who was visibly sick. I asked if she had been checked out for major illnesses, to which they replied yes, and just figured she was underweight due to being spayed too young (she was only two months and it is common in my city to spay them this young) and that she probably had a URI. Unfortunately, after two expensive vet trips and only three days with her, I had to have her put to sleep because she had Feline Distemper.
I have a five year old cat living in my home (Neo) who has had his vaccinations and my vet has told me that he should be fine. I kept the two animals separate and also washed my hands after handling the kitten, but, was not aware that I could expose my older cat to this on my clothing. I had never heard of this disease before and have been reading up on it. I cannot believe that I have to worry about this being in my house for up to a year.
My question is do any of you know how likely the chances of secondary exposure would be? My brother has an eight year old cat who they don't take to the vet to get shots (although I believe she had shots about five years ago but that was the only time) and now he doesn't want to let me in their house for fear that I could bring the virus in on my shoes. My kitten was only with me for three and a half days and she did not puke, pee or poop on my floor. The only thing I would worry about is a few pieces of cat litter on the carpet (of course I vaccumed that up) but she wasn't too active so it would only be a few spots.
As I stated, I know that the virus can live up to a year and that most disinfectants won't kill it (although I cleaned as much as I could with bleach and water) but could I contaminate my brother's cat simply because the virus is in my house? Or if he came over, could he bring it back to his cat? I thought that the cat had to come in contact with the virus for it to spread this way, but am not totally sure. Why is it they say only bleach will kill this virus in your home but soap and water will kill it on your hands? Any help you guys could give me would be greatly appreciated.
Need Advice re: Feline Distemper
Re: Need Advice re: Feline Distemper
Did the vet actually confirm distemper with appropriate testing? Was she also tested for FELV/FIV? It's important that the vet confirmed this so that you know exactly what virus you're dealing with.
When was YOUR cat last vaccinated? If over a year ago, I would strongly suggest vaccinating him again for FVRCP.
If your brother's cat has a lax vaccination history, I strongly advise he get his kitty vaccinated immediately. No need to question this, his vet can explain to him how imperative this is. Your situation is just one example of why vaccinations are so important. Once he gets his cat vaccinated IMMEDIATELY (I strongly suggest kitty is also tested for FELV/FIV and vaccinated accordingly), then he is afforded better protection. This also applies to your cat.
In older cats or those cats who may be ill or have an underlying hidden illness, or especially those with lax or no vaccination history, they are highly susceptible to contracting any virus or bacterial infection. Immunocompromised cats are especially at risk.
Most viruses can be eradicated from your skin by thorough handwashing with an antibacterial soap and water. Some viruses do not live long outside of the host, but distemper is an exception. The reason you were advised to use a solution of bleach and water on porous surfaces etc is because the virus can live on these surfaces and beyond. Be sure to disinfect with the bleach/water solution all floors, countertops, dishes, wash bedding with bleach in the washing machine and dry thoroughly, disinfect all cat carriers, and pay special attention to metal or plastic doors on them. Disinfecting them completely with bleach and rinsing with hot water and allowed to air-dry is usually effective. Throw away all toys or other items the kitten came into contact with. Wash any clothing you intend to keep with a bleach solution in the washing machine, or throw away any clothes you used that you don't need to keep. Toss your shoes in the washing machine with bleach if you can. Yes, viruses can be transferred off of clothing so these items should always be kept in an isolation room, and washed accordingly or tossed altogether. I would try to clean the carpet areas with a heavy-duty carpet cleaner and hot water and repeat several times, or ask your vet for a proper disinfectant recommendation for your carpet.
Tell your brother he needs to vaccinate his cat immediately. If you have no items of clothing that came into contact with the kitten, there shouldn't be any reason you cannot visit in his home. Do make sure your shoes are thoroughly cleaned in the washing machine if possible, or wear other shoes that were not in contact. Do make sure you have taken all disinfection measures in your home before your brother visits, AND that he has vaccinated his cat and allowed at least 2-three weeks for the vaccination to achieve immunity/effectiveness.
Was the distemper isolated at the shelter and do they have a quarantine measure in place? If your vet confirmed distemper, he needs to notify the shelter immediately so they can isolate and contain the virus, and monitor all pets who may have been kept in that area or in contact with infected areas/items.
I'm so sorry for your loss, I'm sure kitten knew how much you loved her and did your best for her....(((HUGS)))
When was YOUR cat last vaccinated? If over a year ago, I would strongly suggest vaccinating him again for FVRCP.
If your brother's cat has a lax vaccination history, I strongly advise he get his kitty vaccinated immediately. No need to question this, his vet can explain to him how imperative this is. Your situation is just one example of why vaccinations are so important. Once he gets his cat vaccinated IMMEDIATELY (I strongly suggest kitty is also tested for FELV/FIV and vaccinated accordingly), then he is afforded better protection. This also applies to your cat.
In older cats or those cats who may be ill or have an underlying hidden illness, or especially those with lax or no vaccination history, they are highly susceptible to contracting any virus or bacterial infection. Immunocompromised cats are especially at risk.
Most viruses can be eradicated from your skin by thorough handwashing with an antibacterial soap and water. Some viruses do not live long outside of the host, but distemper is an exception. The reason you were advised to use a solution of bleach and water on porous surfaces etc is because the virus can live on these surfaces and beyond. Be sure to disinfect with the bleach/water solution all floors, countertops, dishes, wash bedding with bleach in the washing machine and dry thoroughly, disinfect all cat carriers, and pay special attention to metal or plastic doors on them. Disinfecting them completely with bleach and rinsing with hot water and allowed to air-dry is usually effective. Throw away all toys or other items the kitten came into contact with. Wash any clothing you intend to keep with a bleach solution in the washing machine, or throw away any clothes you used that you don't need to keep. Toss your shoes in the washing machine with bleach if you can. Yes, viruses can be transferred off of clothing so these items should always be kept in an isolation room, and washed accordingly or tossed altogether. I would try to clean the carpet areas with a heavy-duty carpet cleaner and hot water and repeat several times, or ask your vet for a proper disinfectant recommendation for your carpet.
Tell your brother he needs to vaccinate his cat immediately. If you have no items of clothing that came into contact with the kitten, there shouldn't be any reason you cannot visit in his home. Do make sure your shoes are thoroughly cleaned in the washing machine if possible, or wear other shoes that were not in contact. Do make sure you have taken all disinfection measures in your home before your brother visits, AND that he has vaccinated his cat and allowed at least 2-three weeks for the vaccination to achieve immunity/effectiveness.
Was the distemper isolated at the shelter and do they have a quarantine measure in place? If your vet confirmed distemper, he needs to notify the shelter immediately so they can isolate and contain the virus, and monitor all pets who may have been kept in that area or in contact with infected areas/items.
I'm so sorry for your loss, I'm sure kitten knew how much you loved her and did your best for her....(((HUGS)))
..........Traci
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Neo'sMommy
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:49 am
Re: Need Advice re: Feline Distemper
Thank you so much for your help. The vet did test and confirm the kitten had distemper. My older cat is up to date on his vaccines (just had them in July) as I know how important it is to prevent these things.
I have thrown out almost everything the kitten came in contact with (carrier, her bed, food bowls, even the bags of kitten food I had got her) and have bleached my bathroom floor. I have a carpet cleaner coming out tomorrow to clean my carpet as well but I had planned on just having them do my bedroom as it would be about $550 to clean the whole house and I have already spent over $500 on this situation. She did not leave the bedroom but I did walk on the carpet and then walk throughout the house. I had no idea this was going as I got her Saturday afternoon and then took her to the vet at Petsmart on Sunday because they were the only one open and she was not eating. The vet said it was just a URI and that gave me some antibiotics and special food. By Tuesday morning, she was doing much worse and I immediately took her to my usual vet, who confirmed the distemper and put her to sleep. Besides the fact that this was just awful to have to go through, I am just freaking out that I will be dealing with this for a year.
I just can't understand how this could be sooooo contangious and the shelter hadn't tested her for it before letting me adopt her. I called them and notified them of the situation and they were very nonchalant, which really aggravated me. I asked the guy if he knew how serious this was and he said yes but was pretty uncaring about it. Just sorry and thanks for calling.
As far as my brother's cat, the only way they will get her shots done is if I pay for them and I am broke after this situation. I just can't believe that I could bring this virus out on my shoe (especially since my kitten didn't even have any accidents on the floor). I feel like I am in the middle ages and I have "Plague" on my front door. I thought you could only get it from clothing if I was wearing a shirt and handled the sick kitten and then handled another cat (which I did with my cat because I had no idea this was going on). I also thought that if the virus was in an environment, the unvaccinated cat would have to come in contact with that enviroment to contract it. I am in utter shock that a person could walk on a carpet and possibly bring this home to their pet.
How far can it go I wonder? If I had a shirt that I wore while handling the kitten on the floor, could the virus go to the floor? This is just a nightmare because if anyone who has been to my house has a cat who gets sick, I will feel so guilty.
I have thrown out almost everything the kitten came in contact with (carrier, her bed, food bowls, even the bags of kitten food I had got her) and have bleached my bathroom floor. I have a carpet cleaner coming out tomorrow to clean my carpet as well but I had planned on just having them do my bedroom as it would be about $550 to clean the whole house and I have already spent over $500 on this situation. She did not leave the bedroom but I did walk on the carpet and then walk throughout the house. I had no idea this was going as I got her Saturday afternoon and then took her to the vet at Petsmart on Sunday because they were the only one open and she was not eating. The vet said it was just a URI and that gave me some antibiotics and special food. By Tuesday morning, she was doing much worse and I immediately took her to my usual vet, who confirmed the distemper and put her to sleep. Besides the fact that this was just awful to have to go through, I am just freaking out that I will be dealing with this for a year.
I just can't understand how this could be sooooo contangious and the shelter hadn't tested her for it before letting me adopt her. I called them and notified them of the situation and they were very nonchalant, which really aggravated me. I asked the guy if he knew how serious this was and he said yes but was pretty uncaring about it. Just sorry and thanks for calling.
As far as my brother's cat, the only way they will get her shots done is if I pay for them and I am broke after this situation. I just can't believe that I could bring this virus out on my shoe (especially since my kitten didn't even have any accidents on the floor). I feel like I am in the middle ages and I have "Plague" on my front door. I thought you could only get it from clothing if I was wearing a shirt and handled the sick kitten and then handled another cat (which I did with my cat because I had no idea this was going on). I also thought that if the virus was in an environment, the unvaccinated cat would have to come in contact with that enviroment to contract it. I am in utter shock that a person could walk on a carpet and possibly bring this home to their pet.
How far can it go I wonder? If I had a shirt that I wore while handling the kitten on the floor, could the virus go to the floor? This is just a nightmare because if anyone who has been to my house has a cat who gets sick, I will feel so guilty.
Re: Need Advice re: Feline Distemper
First, call your vet, and tell your vet to make the call to the animal shelter, he has the clout to be an authoritive here. And, it's also HIS obligation to do so. You might not have talked to a person in charge, and that would be a fatal mistake because distemper can shut a shelter down within hours, for quarantine, which can last for weeks due to the disinfection measures needed to eradicate the virus. If the shelter doesn't take precautions, then they are negligable, and other pets are at risk. Those owners who already adopted need to be aware. Again, call your vet and request HE call the shelter. Petsmart should also be contacted by your vet, so they can take measures to be proactive in disinfection if necessary, etc.
Second, we always advise you immediately take a newly adopted pet to your own primary vet for a complete exam. One must NEVER rely on a shelter vet or word of mouth via the shelter for the true health status of the pet.
Try to relax a bit. You've disninfected your home. You've used a bleach and water solution, you've thrown away anything you knew was in contact. Your cat is up-to-date on his vaccinations. Youre getting your carpets cleaned, although the solution they use is probably not appropriate for viruses. Even so, I assume they will be steam-cleaned, allowed to dry thoroughly before you or your pets are allowed access to it. Please do though, open all windows for proper ventilation and don't keep any room contained without proper ventilation. Call your vet and ask him if the carpet cleaning is a sufficient approach. You have to be very careful about wet or moist items/articles/environment, since the virus can live in a moist environment.
Unfortunately, yes, contact to contact can keep the virus present. However, it appears the contact area was limited, so this should lessen your apprehension. As long as you take proper disinfection measures as stated earlier, and discuss this with your vet, your worry should be lessened.
As for your brother, why isn't he being responsible and getting necessary vaccinations and health care for his own cat? Responsible ownership involves responsibility for necessary funding to cover veterinary health care. The vaccine doesn't cost that much, isn't it worth every penny to ensure his protection? As stated earlier, this is an example of why vaccines are crucial! The moment his cat is properly vaccinated, will afford him protection, combine that with at least 2-3 weeks no contact from you or your home and it should be sufficient. Your brother should probably also consider an annual distemper vaccine as well, one year from now.
BTW, should you decide to adopt another kitten or cat, please, take him/her IMMEDIATELY to your own vet for a comprehensive exam, testing, vaccinations where appropriate BEFORE bringing home to the resident cat(s). If an appointment cannot be made immediately due to a weekend, after hours or a holiday, then please, isolate the pet in another closed room with NO contact with the resident pet until that pet has been completely examined by a vet. URI's can and do spread to other cats, and unvaccinated, immunocompromised cats can aquire these infections quite rapidly. Treat the URI patient in isolation, and once healed, there is little risk of spreading to another cat (providing the same disinfection measures are done and the resident cat is prior-vaccinated and healthy).
ALL of the feline viral diseases are readily transmittable to other cats, but distemper is the worst, in that the virus spreads quickly, airborne as well as direct contact, isolation is crucial to contain it, eradicate it. Again, it's vitally important the shelter is properly notified of a distemper patient aquired from their shelter, and Petsmart needs to be notified as well.
Second, we always advise you immediately take a newly adopted pet to your own primary vet for a complete exam. One must NEVER rely on a shelter vet or word of mouth via the shelter for the true health status of the pet.
Try to relax a bit. You've disninfected your home. You've used a bleach and water solution, you've thrown away anything you knew was in contact. Your cat is up-to-date on his vaccinations. Youre getting your carpets cleaned, although the solution they use is probably not appropriate for viruses. Even so, I assume they will be steam-cleaned, allowed to dry thoroughly before you or your pets are allowed access to it. Please do though, open all windows for proper ventilation and don't keep any room contained without proper ventilation. Call your vet and ask him if the carpet cleaning is a sufficient approach. You have to be very careful about wet or moist items/articles/environment, since the virus can live in a moist environment.
Unfortunately, yes, contact to contact can keep the virus present. However, it appears the contact area was limited, so this should lessen your apprehension. As long as you take proper disinfection measures as stated earlier, and discuss this with your vet, your worry should be lessened.
As for your brother, why isn't he being responsible and getting necessary vaccinations and health care for his own cat? Responsible ownership involves responsibility for necessary funding to cover veterinary health care. The vaccine doesn't cost that much, isn't it worth every penny to ensure his protection? As stated earlier, this is an example of why vaccines are crucial! The moment his cat is properly vaccinated, will afford him protection, combine that with at least 2-3 weeks no contact from you or your home and it should be sufficient. Your brother should probably also consider an annual distemper vaccine as well, one year from now.
BTW, should you decide to adopt another kitten or cat, please, take him/her IMMEDIATELY to your own vet for a comprehensive exam, testing, vaccinations where appropriate BEFORE bringing home to the resident cat(s). If an appointment cannot be made immediately due to a weekend, after hours or a holiday, then please, isolate the pet in another closed room with NO contact with the resident pet until that pet has been completely examined by a vet. URI's can and do spread to other cats, and unvaccinated, immunocompromised cats can aquire these infections quite rapidly. Treat the URI patient in isolation, and once healed, there is little risk of spreading to another cat (providing the same disinfection measures are done and the resident cat is prior-vaccinated and healthy).
ALL of the feline viral diseases are readily transmittable to other cats, but distemper is the worst, in that the virus spreads quickly, airborne as well as direct contact, isolation is crucial to contain it, eradicate it. Again, it's vitally important the shelter is properly notified of a distemper patient aquired from their shelter, and Petsmart needs to be notified as well.
..........Traci
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Neo'sMommy
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:49 am
Re: Need Advice re: Feline Distemper
Thank you again, Traci, for all your input. Basically, I have already done everything you said so I guess I am in good shape. All I can do now is wait. And I just spoke to my brother and told him he HAD to get his cat to the vet for her shots and that I would reimburse him for it if need be. Hopefully they can get her in this weekend.
Btw, I completely agree with you about being a responsible pet owner. I would pay any amount to keep my Neo healthy and cannot understand how anyone else could not feel the same about their pet. There are a lot of cat owners in this part of the country (I live in FL) who don't take them to get their shots, don't get they fixed and just let them run around outside. Neo is strictly an indoor cat and only gets the best food (thankfully one of the few that wasn't on the contaminated list); if we are out of spring water, I'll drink tap so that he gets the spring water. My boyfriend and I are a bit obsessed with our cat, LOL. He is spoiled rotten.
Thanks again for all the advice and take care.
Btw, I completely agree with you about being a responsible pet owner. I would pay any amount to keep my Neo healthy and cannot understand how anyone else could not feel the same about their pet. There are a lot of cat owners in this part of the country (I live in FL) who don't take them to get their shots, don't get they fixed and just let them run around outside. Neo is strictly an indoor cat and only gets the best food (thankfully one of the few that wasn't on the contaminated list); if we are out of spring water, I'll drink tap so that he gets the spring water. My boyfriend and I are a bit obsessed with our cat, LOL. He is spoiled rotten.
Thanks again for all the advice and take care.
Re: Need Advice re: Feline Distemper
I'm glad I can help. Try not to worry too much, as long as you're confident you disinfected everything properly, your kitty is up-to-date on vaccinations etc. You might want to continue a rigourous cleaning schedule each week for several weeks to speed up the process of elimination.
I didn't mean to infer you had any part on your brother's irresponsibility and I think it's wonderful you take on some of the costs if it benefits the cat(s).. that is truly admirable but at some point, I hope you can convince him to be responsible. Especially now. Please do followup on him, if he can't get kitty in this weekend, maybe you can? It's too important, kitty really needs her vaccination!
I didn't mean to infer you had any part on your brother's irresponsibility and I think it's wonderful you take on some of the costs if it benefits the cat(s).. that is truly admirable but at some point, I hope you can convince him to be responsible. Especially now. Please do followup on him, if he can't get kitty in this weekend, maybe you can? It's too important, kitty really needs her vaccination!
..........Traci