Has anyone's cat had a random viral infection?

[T4phage]

My cat is fully up to date with all vaccinations, but became ill on Monday afternoon and the vet kept her in on Tuesday as her temperature was very high. She had an anti inflammatory injection and IV fluids and I collected her on the evening.

She's been quiet, but more or less okay since and I'm hand feeding her soup and her favourite fishy things. She's having daily Metacam and seems comfortable.

I'm worried she's not drinking enough so I'm giving her some mineral water via mouth with a syringe.

I didn't know cats could get random viral infections. She has no sneezing, diarrhoea, vomiting etc. The high temperature was awful and she was staggering around. The vet said she was at risk of having a seizure.

Has this happened to anyone here? How long was the recovery?

Yes! One of mine did when he was about seven months old - he had a fever and barely at for three days, then one morning he just started asking for food as normal and has been fine ever since!

It was really odd but it properly freaked me out at the time.

It's unexpected. I think you get lulled into a false sense of security if they've had their vaccinations.

Yes Finlay did about 6 weeks ago - he was just very quiet sleeping a lot and not eating - I didn’t realise his temp was so high
Spent a night in vet hospital on IV antibiotics, blood tests didn’t really show anything apart from slightly raised liver enzymes so they couldn’t say where the infection was - had antibiotics for a week and anti inflammatory syrup and soon back to normal until his recent bladder issues a month or so later - vet not sure if there was any connection

Aww how’s she doing now OP? That sounds like a tough few days. None of mine have ever had one but I guess they are like us so pick up random infections and mask the not so bad ones?
just wanted to add a tip on water - my vet said that cats don’t like the taste/ smell of chlorine (which is in our tap water) but this disappears if you let the water stand for a few hours so suggested having a jug of water in the fridge for cats, which might hell your girl - although I suspect the mineral water also does the same as it isn’t treated with chlorine? To up my cats water I always add some to wet food too as she’s such a glutton that she will eat the wet food regardless of how much water is in it!

Well, she's still quiet, but eating bits and pieces. I gave her some baby rice with a Lick e Lix mixed in and she liked that. I'm syringing in 3mls of mineral water with a bit of honey added every hour. She's had her Metacam and is just sleeping. Her body position indicates she's comfortable though. Her ears are a bit warm, so I suspect her temperature is still up (until the Metacam kicks in). I might buy a baby thermometer today and try to take her temperature.

She's already a bit weak because of her asthma.

Here she is. She's such a little sweetie and is as good as gold. She's five years old and was a rescue under traumatic circumstances so I feel so protective of her.

Awww she’s gorgeous!! Sounds like you are taking such good care of her. Have you tried egg to get her eating - my cat is obsessed with egg and it’s good to hen they are poorly as it’s really gentle on their tummy and smelly so you can hide medicine in it. Hope she recovers quickly x

Yes, mine picked one up at the cattery. Had to have anti-biotics as secondary bacterial infections developed, but was OK after about a week.

I kept him hydrated by brushing water onto his muzzle - they instinctively lick it off.

I gave her some raw egg with a Lick e Lix added yesterday, but she seemed a bit dubious. Ate some anyway thank goodness.

She's actually pottering about outside at the moment. I think the fluids via syringe might be helping.

I'm pleased to hear other people's cats recovered from this. I'm afraid I get tunnel vision, metaphorically speaking and I thought as long as they were vaccinated then viruses weren't a problem for cats 🙈

@T4phage cats are vaccinated against certain diseases but they can still get things that are the equivalent to the common cold or stomach bugs, or run of the mill "illnesses" - being vaccinated is no guarantee unfortunately. A bit like how we can be vaccinated against flu but still get sick.

Yes, I never considered this, which is silly really as I've had cats for quite a while now. The others died of other things and I was just lucky with my other cats as they've been relatively healthy apart from digestive allergy and cystitis.