Kitten distemper - advice please!

[horsegirl7]

So, for the last year and a half I have been running a small kitten rescue. I have taken in and successfully rehomed over 60 kittens so far. I have a lovely metal cat house for them and it has worked really well.

However, three weeks ago I took in three 8 week old kittens. The next day a couple had diarrhea, which wasn’t too worrisome as others have had that for a day or so with the change of food. They got worse though, and a few days later quickly went downhill. One died and the other two were put down. The vet said it was distemper. That was bad enough, but I had had them in with four other kittens in the cat house. Dumbest move ever. Two died last week - one kitten has shown no symptoms and is pretty for sure out of the woods. The other kitten is sick but rapidly recovering, we think she will make it.

From now on I am definitely doing a quarantine. The kittens came with the disease so shots wouldn’t have made a difference. I didn’t know much about distemper before - it is truly awful.

I don’t know when it is safe to take in kittens again. I am thinking next spring. I will completely bleach the cat house and have thrown away the scratching posts, rugs etc. I am also wondering how long the one kitten will be contagious after she is recovered.

If any one has any advice I would really appreciate it! I don’t want to stop taking in kittens, but it certainly has to be safe for them.

[Horsegal984]

This is a great article which should answer most of your questions. I’m glad the one is recovering, distemper has a worse prognosis than canine parvo.

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1983

[LauraKY]

Here you go:

Cleaning and disinfection

Panleukopenia is very durable in the environment, and is reliably inactivated only by bleach* or potassium peroxymonosulfate**
Most quaternary ammonium disinfectants (e.g. Triple Two, Parvosol, Roccal) do not reliably kill panleukopenia virus
Alcohol hand sanitizers do not kill panleukopenia virus
Use and change gloves or wash hands well with soap and water after handling suspect cases
Thoroughly scrub with soap or detergent prior to disinfection
Routinely use a disinfectant proven effective against FPLV daily at least during known high risk periods, preferably use at all times (you never know)
Eliminate swapping of cages and carriers without thorough cleaning between cats
Make sure surfaces are either non-porous and cleanable, or disposable. Eliminate plastic litter pans, carriers and other supplies if at all possible
For wood, plastic and other porous material that can’t be eliminated, disinfect with potassium peroxymonosulfate
Clean and disinfect ALL areas of the shelters. Remember door knobs, telephones, vehicles, carriers and other equipment
Known heavily contaminated areas should be cleaned, then disinfected, and left to dry without rinsing. Repeat after 24 hours before reopening to incoming cats.

• Notes on bleach: Bleach must be applied to a clean surface to be effective. 5% household bleach should be freshly diluted at 1:32 (1/2 cup per gallon). Correct dilution is very important: too weak is ineffective, too strong is overly corrosive and irritating to cats and humans. Spray bottles should be non-see-through plastic, as bleach is inactivated by light. Bleach solution should be made up fresh using newly purchased bleach, as solution becomes inactivated with storage.

** Potassium peroxymonosulfate is marketed as Trifectant or Virkon-S and can be obtained from many animal supply outlets.

http://www.sheltermedicine.com/node/51

[AzulBlue]

Bless your heart for the rescue work that you do. Sorry you had to learn about distemper the hard way. Sounds like isolation for any new comers is a good idea. I hope you can get everything disinfected, and resume rescue work asap. :yes:

Thanks for all you do for the kittehs :o

[horsegirl7]

Thank-you for your help! I will make sure it gets completely disinfected once the little kitten (Jasmine) is recovered and out of there. She is doing much better today thankfully. She is eating and drinking and the diarrhea is getting better.

What I don’t know is when it is safe to adopt her out. I have heard they can shed the virus for up to six weeks. I don’t want any other kittens made sick in a new home so I will have to chat with the vet about that.