Expert: Jessica - 3/1/2010

Question
Hi Jessica, my wife has several cats many more than what we should have. I am disabled and receive no income and my wife barley gets us by. There is no state funded program that we can get any help from. We have cats dying on us weekly. They get some sort of infection that causes them to first start drooling, then they start losing weight and they get a really foul Oder to their breath, they quit taking care of themselves as far as hygiene then before you know it they die. It is really sad . I know they need to go to the vet but we cannot afford to live much less take a cat to a vet. Is there anything natural that we may give them to try to see if it will help at all? More or less it starts out kind of like they get a sore throat then the oder comes and it is so sad to watch them suffer. we have tried cephalexin on them but it dosen't work. any suggestions please help. Thanks  Sam

Answer
Hi Sam.  That's awful.  I really couldn't make a judgment as to what's going on.  A few possibilities that I'm thinking of are kidney failure, feline AIDS and calici virus.  These are all illnesses that cause sores in the mouth and foul breath.  Often when we see drooling, it's due to sores in the mouth.  

Kidney failure would seem a bit odd for all to have, UNLESS all the cats are getting into something toxic.  Antifreeze causes kidney failure and is attractive to cats because of its sweet taste.  Poisonous plants including lilies and many types of evergreen (juniper, yew) can cause kidney failure as well.  These cats really need to be hospitalized for a chance at survival.  Try to search any areas your cats visit well, to be sure they don't have access to potential toxins.

Feline AIDS is another disease that frequently causes very painful ulcers in the mouth.  The disease is spread through bite wounds.  Among peaceful households, it's rarely spread.  However, if your cats aren't neutered and are mating, or if they roam outdoors, AIDS is a good possibility.  Like human AIDS, there is no cure.  Also like human AIDS, it causes the body to be unable to fight infections, so antibiotics are required frequently for these cats.  Sometimes they will help a little for the mouth sores, but many times, this is just a sign of end-stage AIDS.  

Calici virus is a highly contagious virus, and this would explain why so many of your cats are getting sick.  It causes sores in the mouth, throat, lungs, and sometimes in the eyes and nose.  Cats with these ulcers will drool, refuse food and have a fishy smell to their breath.  They grow weaker and weaker as they refuse food, and the disease is considered life-threatening because of this.  Most cats will recover as long as you get some food into them somehow.  The best way is to use a needleless syringe to feed them some chicken baby food, a minimum of two jars a day.  They will also need some water - at least 8 ounces each day.  Cats usually recover in a week or two.  It's a good idea to give the cat an antibiotic during this time, as the sores tend to become infected.  If the sores in the lungs become infected, pneumonia is the result.  Cephalexin is okay to use.  Just be sure you're dosing it correctly at 10mg per pound of body weight.  You can also give the cats a pet multi-vitamin that contains vitamin C, and supplement them with lysine, an amino acid that helps build antibodies against viruses.  Give them 500mg of lysine each day, ground up and mixed into their food.  Aside from this, it's just waiting for their body to fight the virus.

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that no more cats get sick.

Best of luck.

Jessica