Outbreak closes Greenhill cattery.

Byline: Ben Fuchs The Register-Guard

A deadly affliction has struck the Greenhill Humane Society's cattery, devastating the feline population and causing officials to temporarily shut down the Eugene organization's cat adoption program.

About 50 to 60 cats, almost all of them kittens between 5 and 15 weeks old, have contracted the quick-striking illness in the past six weeks, Greenhill Executive Director Johnni Prince said. The majority of the cats have died, prompting a 21-day closure, she said.

An unusual combination of a Bordatella bacterial infection and the feline calicivirus is affecting the cats, Prince said. All the affected cats had been vaccinated against certain strains of calicivirus, but a new, particularly aggressive strain of the virus has taken hold, Prince said.

The new strain weakens the cats' immune systems, allowing opportunistic infections to take hold more easily in their inflamed lungs. That combination of factors then invites pneumonia, the final cause of death for most of the cats, said resident volunteer veterinarian Kim Longley.

No cats will be accepted and none of the cats already at Greenhill will be available for adoption during the cattery's three-week closure, which will run through Dec. 7. All other activities at the center, including the adoption and delivery of other animals, are unaffected.

Virologists from Oregon State University's School of Veterinary Medicine, meanwhile, have been called on to help find a cure for the strain.

The cattery at Greenhill is severely overpopulated, with the center taking in about 300 cats per month, or three times the normal amount, since early summer.

That's when budget cuts forced the Lane County Animal Regulation Authority to stop accepting any cats at its facility.

The increase at Greenhill is a prime reason for the high number of felines showing symptoms of the illness, Prince said. "The more cats you have packed into a small space, the easier it's passed back and forth," she said.

In addition to those afflicted with the deadly bacteria-virus combination, 88 noninfected cats are showing common upper respiratory symptoms, Prince said.

The rash of cats showing calicivirus-type symptoms dumbfounded Greenhill workers at first, and the combination went undiagnosed until three weeks into the outbreak.

The sickness was particularly difficult to diagnose because most cats only displayed common upper-respiratory problems typical to calicivirus until the emergence of more serious symptoms, and by that time it was usually too late to save the cats, Prince said.

Many died within 48 hours of the first appearance of the final symptoms, which include mouth ulcers and drooling.

"It strikes so quickly that it usually affects them before we can make the decision about euthanasia," Prince said.

Longley, who helped diagnose the illness, conferred with OSU virologists, who came up with an antisense compound intended to prevent the reproduction of calicivirus cells. If successful, the compound will allow Longley and others at Greenhill to effectively treat the bacterial infection with antibiotics.

Twelve kittens were part of an initial "therapeutic trial," with some of them already showing signs of improvement, Longley said.

"We are making headway with our antibiotics and we are helping some cats," she said. "So far the early results have been very promising."

The center is looking for additional foster families to accommodate the normal inflow of cats and kittens and is asking local veterinarians to donate time or medical supplies to help with the overburdened cattery, Prince said.