URIs in a mother can certainly be transmitted to the kittens after birth. It depends on the phase of infection the mother is in. If she is infectious when the kittens are born, certainly transmission is possible. If the infection is resolving, she will be less likely to transmit disease and will often have a good immune response that will be conferred to the young through her breast milk.
With respect to the URI being transmitted prior to birth. This is unlikely. URIs are generally passed from one cat to another through either inhalation or direct contact. Therefore, the young will not be born with URIs. (It could, however, be transmitted this way after birth as mother and young are in very close contact) The concern that I would have, however, is if the mother has a systemic infection (involving the blood stream) that could be transmitted to the young while in utero. If it clinically just looks like a URI (runny nose, sneeze, cough, runny eyes, pussy or purulent discharge) I would be less concerned, If, on the other hand, she has a high fever, is lethargic and not eating, I would be more concerned. Either way, I would recommend treating the mom with something that can be safely used during pregnancy. Good luck. Jenny On Sun, Apr 12, 2009 at 2:54 PM, Laurieskatz <[email protected]> wrote: > A friend just took in a pregnant cat yesterday (she was taken to a no kill > shelter this week). She thinks the cat might deliver today. > > She thinks she might have an URI. Does anyone know if the kittens will have > or contract the URI? > > Thanks, > > Laurie > > > > _______________________________________________ > Felvtalk mailing list > [email protected] > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org > _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list [email protected] http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
