We have two adult cats (4 & 5 years old) and recently adopted a kitten from a shelter. He developed an URI within a day of coming home, and our vet believes, because of the way his eyes are affected, that he has FHV. We've been treating him with oral antibiotics, antibiotic eye ointment, and Enisyl-F for about 3 weeks, but his eyes are still pink-rimmed and runny (though they do show improvement often, it never lasts more than a day or so before looking bad again). My husband is ready to give up on him (especially after he learned the Enisyl-F would be a life-long thing). He's mostly concerned about our other cats contracting the virus. We've kept the kitten separated from the other cats, but he's going stir-crazy being in a small bedroom all the time. Does anyone have any experience with this type of thing? How worried should we be about how this would impact our other cats? (I've read that most cats have already been exposed to it, and that it generally doesn't affect older cats as badly as kittens). Sorry this is so long. Any feedback would be GREATLY appreciated!! Thanks.
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Questions about Feline Herpes Virus
- Thread starter snowycow
- Start Date
Oh dear! What memories this brings back. We were going through this last year at this time. Remember that stress just aggravates the herpes and can cause a flare up, so if you've only had your kitty for a short time, he could still be a little unsettled and this might be causing *some* of the lingering problems. Try getting a Comfort Zone w/ Feliway plug in and putting it in his room to help him chill out a bit. We also had a vaporizer going in Hannah's room because the dry air can irritate eyes.
It took us about 6 weeks for our little girl to get well enough to be introduced to the rest of the house. Even then, she wasn't 100% well, but she was over the major stuff. She still had a few runny eye days and sneezes, but she wasn't contagious anymore. In addition to the liquid antibiotic she was on (I think she was on 3 different kinds), the vet finally had us use eye drops not only in her eyes, but also 1 drop in each nostril twice daily. (I don't remember the name of the drops, but it was the same thing my DH had been using for his eyes. Something like Tobramycin I think. ) She didn't like the drop in her nose, but it really helped clear up her infection.
Instead of the Enisyl, you can go to the store and get L-Lysine tablets (which is what Enisyl is), 500 mg. Just crush one up twice a day in some wet food for your kitty. (I use two spoons to crush the tablets.) I give my girl 1-500mg tablet a day unless her eyes are really watery, then she gets 2, 1 tablet in the morning and 1 tablet in the evening. You get a really huge amount for very little money and it's alot cheaper than buying the tube of stuff from the vet!
Stephanie
It took us about 6 weeks for our little girl to get well enough to be introduced to the rest of the house. Even then, she wasn't 100% well, but she was over the major stuff. She still had a few runny eye days and sneezes, but she wasn't contagious anymore. In addition to the liquid antibiotic she was on (I think she was on 3 different kinds), the vet finally had us use eye drops not only in her eyes, but also 1 drop in each nostril twice daily. (I don't remember the name of the drops, but it was the same thing my DH had been using for his eyes. Something like Tobramycin I think. ) She didn't like the drop in her nose, but it really helped clear up her infection.
Instead of the Enisyl, you can go to the store and get L-Lysine tablets (which is what Enisyl is), 500 mg. Just crush one up twice a day in some wet food for your kitty. (I use two spoons to crush the tablets.) I give my girl 1-500mg tablet a day unless her eyes are really watery, then she gets 2, 1 tablet in the morning and 1 tablet in the evening. You get a really huge amount for very little money and it's alot cheaper than buying the tube of stuff from the vet!
Stephanie
