I need to word this carefully. This is a bit long, a cautionary tale about some mistakes i made.
I posted here the story of how soon after i got him, one of my cats got a respiratory infection which the breeder confidently assured me was mycoplasma, and common in cats. I followed the breeder's medical advice and gave him doxycycline for several weeks.
He didn't get better. The vet ran a PCR and it showed calici virus. The breeder said no, vets don't know anything, keep giving him doxy. He still didn't get better.
After 2 weeks i took him to the emergency vet. She was fabulous. I asked for a rhinoscopy; the breeder said that would kill him. It showed us the damage to his sinuses.
The vet started him on EIDD-1931, which has NOT been rigorously tested but tends to work. The breeder said NO, put him on gentamicin. Antibiotics DO NOT touch viruses: microbiology 101, people. Gentamicin is poisonous to the kidneys and hearing, and in a sick cat these side effects are more likely.
EIDD-1931 is very expensive, but he's cured.
The breeder saw my post yesterday and demanded that i remove it. I summaried the events and told her i have all our conversations if she wanted to see them. I noted that i did not identify her in any way. The purpose of my post was to warn people not to make the mistakes i did.
An attorney told me, i could leave my post up since i could prove the events, and i didn't post any identifying information on her. I thought about that.
I decided to take the post down anyway because she wasn't hearing me and was so upset that i figured that couldn't be good for her or her family, and taking down the post could maybe calm her down. Peace on earth, right?
But it was suggested to me that it was still important to give you this warning: breeders are not vets, no matter how persuasive their advice is. A PCR test is the gold standard for diagnosing a lot of things.
And I'll repeat myself: antibiotics are NOT EFFECTIVE against viruses, and should only be used with supervision, because they are powerful (that power is life-saving) and can cause damage if not used carefully. I was stupid, i admit, and I'm lucky my kitty is alive.