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Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (view source)
Revision as of 14:24, 27 August 2010
, 14:24, 27 August 2010→Treatment
==Treatment==
==Treatment==
Supportive care and management of secondary infections
are essential in the sick FIV-positive cat. The
nature and extent of any secondary infections should be
established so that appropriate treatment can be provided.
Often, much longer courses of antibiotics are needed
in these immunosuppressed patients and the response to
therapy is frequently much slower and less successful.
Antibiotics should be broad spectrum and the treatment
protocol should include antibiotics against anaerobes. In
FIV-infected cats with chronic inflammatory conditions
such as gingivitis/stomatitis the combined use of antibiotics
with cautious use of corticosteroids may help to
reduce the severity of clinical disease.
Cats should not be fed raw meat and should be
discouraged from hunting due to the increased risk of
Toxoplasma gondii infection.
Preventive medicine is particularly important in the
potentially immunosuppressed cat, as infection with
other viruses is likely to be more life-threatening and
refractory to treatment than in the otherwise healthy
individual. Vaccination, particularly against herpesvirus,
calicivirus and panleukopenia, is recommended and it
may be worthwhile considering the use of killed vaccines,
where available, to minimise the potential risk of
an attenuated virus strain causing disease in an immunosuppressed
patient. Vaccine boosters should be given
according to manufacturers' instructions and, in any cats
moving to a high risk situation such as a veterinary hospital
or cattery, it may be advisable to give an additional
booster unless the cat has received one in the previous
six months. Vaccination for feline leukaemia virus
should be considered according to the risk of exposure
to this virus. Flea treatment is advisable to minimise the
risk of H felis transmission. Routine worm treatment is
also recommended.
Agents such as the reverse transcriptase inhibitor AZT
(3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine) and the immunostimulator
interleukin-2 have been used in a small number of
clinical trials involving FIV-infected cats with chronic
gingivitis/stomatitis. Improvements in clinical and laboratory
findings were reported in a proportion of these cats
treated orally or subcutaneously with AZT at a dose of 5
mg/kg three times daily (Hartmann and others 1992, Hart
and Nolte 1995, Hartmann and others 1995). Since
anaemia is a potential adverse effect of this agent, haematology
should be assessed regularly in cats receiving this
treatment. It should be noted that neither AZT nor interleukin-
2 are licensed for veterinary use.
Evening primrose oil, at a suggested dose rate of
one 550 mg capsule daily, has also been used with
beneficial effects, particularly in asymptomatic or
mildly affected FIV-positive cats. Reported improvements
have included increased bodyweight, haematocrit
and neutrophil count.
==Control==
==Control==