Answer: In general, FVR is more serious condition then FCV disease. In both, signs appear within ten days of being infected.
Feline Viral Rhinotrachetis FVR virus attacks the nasal chambers and the conjunctiva, producing profuse discharges and sneezing, as well as the trachea, sometime resulting in a harsh cough. Increased salivation is also seen and there is a rise in temperature accompanied by depression and a loss of appetite.
The discharges from the eye and nose are at first very liquid; later they become thicker and purulent as secondary bacterial infection develops. This may cause the eye lids to become gummed together and the nostrils blocked, causing difficulty in breathing. Inflammation and ulceration of the cornea in the eye (ulceration keratitis) and of the tongue (ulcerative glossitis) can occur.
Pregnant queen may abort and therefore (as with FIE) they should not be vaccinated with live vaccines.
Some important usually appears after a week and most signs disappear after three to four weeks, though during this period the combination of pain in the mouth and throat, the loss of the senses of taste and small and the overwhelming feeling of wretchedness make it difficult to persuade cats to eat or drink. Deaths are usually due to dehydration or the development of pneumonia, particularly in kittens are elderly cats, though, fortunately, overall the mortality is slow.
In some recovered cats, known as ‘snufflers’ the infection and inflammation of the nasal chamber persists or recurs, and they show sneezing and snuffling and occasionally a runny nose. In few, the bacterial infection spared to the sinuses (cavities within the skull bones), blocking then with thick, sticky discharges and causing pain and swelling between the eyes.
Feline Calicivirus Disease Whereas there is only on strain of FVR virus, there are many different strains of FCV, which very in their virulence. Some of them produce a disease as severe as FVR while others cause signs so mild as to be undetectable. A characteristic feature is ulceration of the tongue and sometimes also of the palate and nostrils. At times, the paws are eroded. Oculo-nasal discharges (e.g. from eyes and nose), if they occur, are less profuse and most cats are much less depressed. Although in some kittens the disease can prove fatal, in general the signs disappear within ten days or so.
