It’s more important than ever to vaccinate against this virus.

By Karen Commings

Rhinotracheitis. Panleukopenia. Calicivirus. Although these words may sound like names of dinosaurs, they describe entities on the opposite end of the size scale — microscopic organisms that cause a variety of disease signs and test your cat’s immune system. Vaccines prime the immune system to respond to viral antigens and prepare it to wage war against future virus attacks, helping your cat to fight off infection.

Calicivirus is not a single entity, but a population of variable viruses.

Feline calicivirus (FCV) infection primarily affects your cat’s upper respiratory tract and causes runny eyes, stuffed-up nose and sneezing. Cats living in shelters or colonies are more susceptible to calicivirus infections than indoor cats in single-cat environments. The calicivirus, however, changes at such a rate…

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