Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Famciclovir treatment effects in kittens with upper respiratory
By Kopecny, Lucy et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2020·Department of Veterinary Medicine and Epidemiology, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Effects of famciclovir in cats with spontaneous acute upper respiratory tract disease.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 24 kittens with upper respiratory symptoms, like sneezing and nasal discharge, were treated with either doxycycline alone or doxycycline plus famciclovir for up to three weeks. Both treatments helped the kittens improve quickly, and there was no significant difference in recovery between the two groups. Most kittens had infections caused by feline calicivirus rather than feline herpesvirus, which was less common. While famciclovir didn’t show a clear advantage in this case, more studies are needed to see how well it works for cats specifically infected with feline herpesvirus.
People also search for: kitten upper respiratory infection treatment · famciclovir for cats · doxycycline for cat cold symptoms
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the effects of famciclovir administration in cats with spontaneously acquired acute upper respiratory tract disease. METHODS: Twenty-four kittens with clinical signs of acute upper respiratory tract disease were randomly allocated to receive doxycycline (5 mg/kg PO q12h) alone (group D; n = 12) or with famciclovir (90 mg/kg PO q12h; group DF; n = 12) for up to 3 weeks. Clinical disease severity was scored at study entry and daily thereafter. Oculo-oropharyngeal swabs collected at study entry and exit were assessed using quantitative PCR for nucleic acids of feline herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1), feline calicivirus (FCV),and. RESULTS: The median (range) age of cats was 1.5 (1-6) months in group D vs 1.6 (1-5) months in group DF (= 0.54). Pathogens detected in oculo-oropharyngeal swabs at study entry included FCV (n = 13/24; 54%),(n = 8/24; 33%), FHV-1 (n = 7/24; 29),(n = 7/24; 29%) and(n = 3/24; 12%). Median (range) duration of clinical signs was 11.5 (3-21) days in group DF and 11 (3-21) days in group D (= 0.75). Median (range) total disease score at the end of the study did not differ between groups (group D 1 [1-1] vs group DF 1 [1-3];= 0.08). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This study revealed no significant difference in response to therapy between cats treated with doxycycline alone or with famciclovir; cats improved rapidly in both groups. However, identification of FHV-1 DNA was relatively uncommon in this study and clinical trials focused on FHV-1-infected cats are warranted to better evaluate famciclovir efficacy.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31246133/