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L-Lysine questions

post #1 of 9
5/21/08 at 5:42pm
Thread Starter 
Hi all,

One of my kitties came down with the sneezes today and I took him to the vet who gave him antibiotics. I've heard a lot about L-lysine, will it help him if he's already sick and can I give it to him in his water? He refuses to eat canned food, only dry. Or is there another way I can give it to him?

Also, how much should I give him? I was thinking of giving it to my other cats as well who do eat canned. Thanks for any input!
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post #2 of 9
5/22/08 at 4:46am
Hello -
I used to give Seven L-Lysine (suggested by the vet) because she had feline herpes. She sneezed a LOT and was quite congested when I first got her. Giving her a half tablet of crushed L-Lysine (found in the grocery store or pharmacy with the other supplements and vitamins) mixed with wet food REALLY improved her health. She went from constant sneezing to being sneeze-free with the L-Lysine. I really don't know if L-Lysine always helps with sneezing (like if your cat has general allergies?)

I wouldn't suggest sprinkling the crushed L-Lysine on dry food, I tried that, and it didn't work since Seven was able to eat around it, and most of it just fell to the bottom of her dish. I don't know how it dissolves in water either... if it doesn't dissolve, it may just sink. BTW, my vet told me it also has a salty taste to it.

Perhaps it would work if you dampened a small amount of dry food with water and sprinkled the crushed L-Lysine over that...

Hope you kitty gets better soon!

P.S. - if you end up getting the L-Lysine, I would suggest also getting a pill crusher - it is very handy for cutting pills in half and crushing them.
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post #3 of 9
5/22/08 at 5:50am
My Fiona has herpes virus. When she was unwell the vet gave me antib + lysine in a gel type form.

I had stopped giving her lysine everyday as I just found she ate around the bits of pill i had crushed. and the vets lysine is too expensive for everyday. But it got her over the hump when she was sickest.

Also, if you get pill form just be aware that human lysine can have ethyol gylcol (i think thats how you spell it) it is poisionous to cats....i was able to find some without it though, just read the labels.

Lots of people here have experiance with lysine and herpes kitties so you'll get lots of support!
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post #4 of 9
5/22/08 at 7:23am
Hi - I just started giving my kitty Lysine a few months ago so I'm still waiting to see the results. He is a chronic sufferer of URI's so I should be able to tell in a few months if it is helping. The Lysine I have is a powder. It comes with a little scoop, and I give him 1 scoop 2x a time - am & pm. It does dissolve very well in water and in milk. Hope this helps.
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post #5 of 9
5/22/08 at 7:52am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the input, I was thinking of buying the powder form--has anyone purchased it online? I found a site that sells a brand called NOW l-lysine, I don't know if this is a good brand or not.
If I do add it to the water, any idea how much I should use? They have a Drinkwell fountain and I guess I would have to add a lot to give them 250 mg a day.
My baby seems to be about the same today--still sneezing but drinking and eating --and VERY annoyed that he's been isolated in a separate room to minimize exposing my other cats. I feel so guilty, he looks at me as if to say "what did I do wrong?"
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post #6 of 9
5/22/08 at 5:44pm
I would also think it would be filtered out of the water?

You can try treats? They have "pill pockets", not sure if your cat would eat these. you could put the powder inside the little pocket of yummy treat, close it up and they eat it in one gobble.

Did your vet tell you to seperate your cat? I would feel bad too I'd miss my babies being together. I am a total softy.
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post #7 of 9
5/22/08 at 6:30pm
my Pixel has herpes. i do 2 things - i feed Royal Canin Special 33 [has lysine added] & i put it in her fountain [she uses the drinkwell pretty much exclusively]. i add 1 cap [500 mg] per 8 ounces of water. i also don't use the filters in the fountain.
the other cats use the freshflow fountains - i think they're scared of the drinkwell!
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post #8 of 9
5/22/08 at 7:18pm
Blue Spa - also has l-lysine in it as well it cost about the same as the Royal Canin Special 33 both can be obtained at Pet Smart.

Regular store cat foods Meow Mix inside formula also has l-lysine -{I read cat food labels all last month thanks to this site and a cat food debate}

I have a herpes kitty - before switching cat food I had to give l-lysine to her in warmed kitten replacement milk - and get her to drink it from a dropper - there was no guarantee she would get it in her little body if left to her own devices.

Ferocious has a Ferocious attitude going - she will eat any thing carpet fibers, threads, plastic, hair, bugs ect. . . .. I mean she will eat any thing but the one thing I need her to eat {Grrrr}



I find it much easier when it is already added to the dry food - All my cats eat the dry food and it doesn't hurt them to have the l-lysine either.

Every sense I have been giving her the l-lysine she has not required a trip to the vet - Before she was going monthly for antibiotics because she kept getting secondary URI.

I will be honest I am unsure if it is the l-lysine itself that is responsible for the improvement or the fact I switch to more premium cat foods that have more protein and less "fillers"


I have autoimmune issues and I have noticed many of the things that help me also help Ferocious and diet is important to the immune system.

Hope there is some thing useful in these words some where
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post #9 of 9
5/23/08 at 6:41am
Thread Starter 
Thanks again for all the advice, I bought some l-lysine caplets as I couldn't find the powder in store but I ordered some online (way cheaper than the pills--about 2 cents per 500 mg vs 9 cents). I gave him 1/2 a caplet (250 mg) in some tuna juice since he won't eat canned. I will add it to the fountain, I don't use the filter either.

He isn't sneezing much anymore but he appears to have a sore throat as he's drinking more than usual and he was having trouble eating his usual large kibbles . I gave him some of my other cat's food (she's on a hypoallergenic diet) which has much smaller pieces and he had no problem eating that. I'm just so worried about him as he's my baby and he's never been sick before

The vet didn't suggest I separate them but I just took in a mother and kittens as fosters the day he started sneezing and I'm paranoid about spreading anything to them. Even though they are separated I just want to minimize the chance of airborne spreading. If I had known he was going to get sick I probably wouldn't have taken them in right now
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