Expert: Jessica - 5/15/2010

Question
2 of my 4 cats have had intermittant diarhhoea for several weeks, both have their 3rd eyes showing alot and one also has runny eyes. Apart from these symptoms they do not seem ill, both are lively and playful but i took them to my vet who asked for 3 days of their faeces to be sampled. These were negative for everything tested. Now the vet wants to do lots of expensive blood tests although she did say they may have the torovirus. Since reading up about the torovirus i'm sure this is what they have. Would this have shown up in the faeces samples? Also one cat needs neuturing - would it be safe now or would he have to wait til all symptoms have gone? Angie

Answer
Hi Angie.  Torovirus would not have shown up on the fecal testing.  Generally, you would need to run a very precise test, preferably on blood serum, called a "Reverse Transcript Polymerase Chain Reaction" (RT-PCR) test in order to pick up torovirus in a cat.  I don't know whether this might be included in your vet's plans at all, but as torovirus is usually pretty mild and self-limiting, I would suppose not.  I would recommend running a feline leukemia and feline AIDS test if those are suggested, however, since they can be common causes of persistent diarrhea.

Most of the time, we like our cats to be in tip-top shape before undergoing any type of surgery, because it will make recovery that much easier on them.  That said, as long as the cat's body condition is not suffering, most vets won't see much of a reason not to proceed with a neuter on a cat who has a little intermittent diarrhea.  The type of disease we are most concerned about with surgeries are respiratory problems, since these pose a serious risk that the cat may stop breathing when he undergoes anesthesia.  If the one needing neutering is also the one with the runny eyes, I'd suggest waiting, and your vet probably will, as well, as this can indicate respiratory problems brewing.  Any hint of a sneeze or eye discharge will usually be enough for most vets, and I would say appropriately so, to reschedule the surgery for a later date.  If this is, indeed, torovirus you're dealing with, it may potentially be a couple of months you're looking at before he's feeling up to par.  Try to keep him indoors and away from the lady cats!

Best of luck with your cats!

Jessica