COVID-19 in Cats
This is a long read - but entirely worth it
On May 18, I was notified that one of my kittens (Mika) was ill. She had been home for about 5 weeks by this point. I told her parents to take her to the vet ASAP. On May 19, they took her to the vet. She was diagnosed with "parasitic pneumonia" from an x-ray and bloodwork (elevated white blood cells only) - but no fecal. I told her parents there was absolutely no way. The doctor ignored me and started her on Ivermectin and antibiotics.
By May 21, her condition had deteriorated to the point of where she was oxygen dependent. She was admitted to a veterinary ER. She couldn't be off of oxygen for longer than 2 minutes at a time or she would crash. The ER vet accepted the primary vet diagnosis of parasitic pneumonia.
May 23, I found out that the ER vet had her on 3 different antibiotics and 2 different dewormers and her condition continued to worsen. I spoke to the ER vet directly and pointed out that Mika's Mom had had COVID right before Mika got sick and requested a COVID test. He essentially said there was no way that she had COVID (specifically, that cats can't get it) and ran a FIP test, which came back negative. He continued to insist that it was parasitic pneumonia, and suggested to Mika's parents that they prepare themselves for the worst - because she was not responding to anything that they threw at this diagnosis.
May 24, We decided to take a shot in the dark and start GS. In order to do that, Mika's parents had to create a homemade oxygen tent (because we couldn't start the black market shots in the hospital). There was no improvement at all. The assumption was that if it was COVID or FIP either one, that since they are both forms of coronavirus - the GS would hopefully help. I was able to get meds to them and she got her first shot that day at roughly 2pm. 4 hours later, she got up and ate on her own for the first time in a week.
May 25, Mika got up and wanted to move around. Went to the litter box on her own. I suggested that her parents continue the antibiotics, just in case.
May 27, Mika continued to improve - was up to 15 minutes out of the oxygen at a time. But was having issues with her digestive tract. I assumed that the antibiotics (there were 4 different antibiotics at this point) were destroying her gut health. I sent her parents probiotics and suggested they stop the antibiotics.
May 28 - 31st - Continued to improve and her gut health was getting better with the probiotics.
June 1 - Mika is "completely normal". No more oxygen dependency and gut health is getting there. Her parents wanted to stop the meds because they are painful (and we were not sure that it was COVID or FIP), so I gave them these 3 options:
"Option 1: Assume she has COVID. Stop the meds when you can watch her VERY CLOSELY and then watch her VERY closely for several weeks. You'd be watching for signs of relapse. Lethargy/not eating/etc. Then you have to restart the medicine from day one and at a higher dose.
Option 2: Assume she has FIP. Continue the meds for the full 84 days, knowing the emotional toll that is going to take - but also knowing that she has a 99% chance of being fully recovered at the end of it.
Option 3: We email Dr Pedersen (the feline coronavirus God) @ UC Davis, give him all the details and wait for a response. Before pulling the trigger on any option."
They chose option 3. I emailed Dr Pedersen and his initial advice was to continue a ton of words and information. Then he emailed a second time and essentially said that they had very little data about COVID in cats and it would be a good science experiment, if we stopped the shots and waited to see if she relapsed. The assumption is that if she relapsed - it was FIP or that COVID requires a longer treatment too. And if she didnt relapse, the assumption is that it was COVID.
I took the info back to her parents and they ultimately decided to experiment and she received her last shot on June 17th.
Today is July 1st - 14 days later. I have been told that if she was going to relapse, it would likely happen pretty quickly. So far, she has been great. Running, playing, eating good, and using the litter box without issue. We will continue to monitor.
Since Mike has stopped her shots, I know of 2 other folks that have had vets (in 2 separate states) refuse to do a COVID test because "cats can't get COVID". They would have allowed Mika to die, rather than perform a COVID test. It's ridiculous. And this test is readily available on Antech.
My friend and mentor (Sue Case) found this link and sent it to me last night so it is FINALLY getting some traction but it's slow going:
If you have a cat/kitten that is unresponsive to antibiotics/meds - and has symptoms like COVID-19 in humans, (up to and including pneumonia), I highly recommend pushing for a COVID-19 test. It doesn't hurt them at all to check that additional box on the Antech order form. The last pic below is of Mika on the day she went home - healthy and happy and beautiful. The rest of the pics are from her being oxygen dependent and very very sick.
Dr Pedersen has now given me the contact information of a vet at Cornell that is studying COVID-19 in cats. I'm going to reach out to him and send him everything that I have.
I'll update this page as soon as I get additional information.