The vet said Meeko has the herpe virus

mews2much

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When she was 3 months old she got very sick and almost died.
It was after I picked her but before she lived with me.
She had severe anemia and weighed 1 pound at the time.
We went over to my Dads and took her to Er.
Ever since then she has hated vets and gets runny eyes.
She has brown stuff coming out of her eyes now.
The vet said its herpes.
I think she has had it since she was a kitten.
What can I do for it?
She is 8.5 now.
 

sharky

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99% of cats have this virus ( some never show symtoms)... one vet said find him a cat who does not ... you deal with the flare ups ..
 

rang_27

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I give Jordan L-Lysine on a regular basis. It can be given daily, but I would ask your vet. My vet said Jordan get 1000 mg a day, but I believe that 500 mg a day is a more normal dose. Jordan has F.H. & is on pred that is the reason for the higher dose. He went through a period of a couple bad flare ups in a short period of time.
 

abbycats

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I give Frankie L-Lysine. He usually does 1 or 2 rounds of antibiotics a year also. I buy the L-Lysine from the vet it's called Enisyl-F
 

fifi1puss

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Fiona has it. I had her on Lysine for the first year I had her. She still had drippy eyes and would sneeze etc. So it doesn't "cure" the herpes. I was told it helps boost their immune system so that they have a barrier against other infections and it can give them a boost when getting over a flare up.

She has been okay without it, but I know many people who keep their kitties on it and thats good too.
It also improves coat texture so it can be a benefit for the other kitties too.


Fiona has only been on anti-bi's once since I have had her (2 yrs). But she still gets the sniffles and her eyes will water. I just clean them everyday and keep an eye on her breathing. I have come to know when she is really unwell and to take her to the vet.

other than that i massage her head and nose, try to get things moving, she seems to enjoy it alot.
The change of seasons seem to be the worst for her.

When I first got her this site was an incredible help. Many people have extensive experiance with Feline Herpes kitties. Good luck to you and Meeko!
 

sarahp

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Interesting... Smudge has brown liquid coming out of her eyes recently, and often has a build up of goopy stuff. Last week there was a fair bit of fluid form one of her eyes in particular, but there hasn't been so much this week. She has eye problems at the best of time, so I thought nothing of it.

She also sneezes on a semi-regular basis. I wonder if she has feline herpes? I think a vet visit is in order.

I hope Meeko is ok, and thanks for the post, it might help my kitty!
 
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mews2much

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Thanks,
Meeko was very sick last Jan with a fever just below 105.
She would not even eat and would just lay there.
The vet gave her Clavamox and some shots to help her get better.
It took four days for her to eat without me forcing her.
Coco my old cat got sick after that because she catches things easy.
She did not get a high fever like Meeko did but got a bad cold.
She ate though but needed antibiotics then the other 2 cats got it but they did not need a vet.
 
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mews2much

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Sara that is how Meekos eyes get. Its not all the time but it happens alot.
She sneezes also.
I think I am going to join the herpes group.
 

straymagnet

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My cat, Panda, had feline herpes. I got her when she was 4 weeks old (didn't know she was that young, but a whole litter was going to be put to sleep and a co-worker begged me to take one so it was a spur of the moment cat rescue grab on a lunch break - long story). She was sickly looking and sneezy with one eye swollen shut when I got her. I thought I'd just soak the eye open with some boric acid and she'd be fine - wrong! My vet said her eye was ulcerated, she wasn't even fully weened, and she had a bad respiratory infection. I had to feed her special food every two hours off the end of a popsicle stick for a couple of weeks - she stayed in a crate under my desk thanks to my tolerant boss. Anyway, I ended up having to take her to a veterinary opthamologist (who knew there were such things?!) and $500 later we managed to save her eye and she started to thrive. This was all the result of feline herpes which she probably had from birth. Even though she recovered and went on to be mostly happy and healthy, she would periodically get goopy eyes. The vet gave me some drops to help with them when she had flare ups, but they weren't really a cure, just a relief for her. This was a lifelong problem for her (she died from an unrelated incident when she was 8), but it really didn't seem to cause her too much distress. She would frequently sneeze, especially when she was eating and we joked about the walls by her food dish being covered with cat snot. I guess what I'm trying to say is that even if your kitty has herpes flare-ups, she can still have a normal, happy life. I'd just see if the vet has anything to help alleviate symptoms during flare ups and maybe try some of the supplements recommended by others on the board.
 

abbycats

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I know about the cat snot on the walls! My little guy blows big boogers when his acts up! For the nasty boogers and the flare ups he actually is a pudgy happy little guy....
 
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mews2much

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I dont want to make anyone sick but when Coco had one of her very bad colds she had green and yellow that was real thick.
She would sneeze it all over the place.
That bad vet I got rid of said her when she sneezed.
I dumped them 3 years ago before they were shut down.
Meeko is 8.5 already and this has been off and on since she was 3 months but it has gotten worse now.
She has alot of the brown stuff.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Rang_27

I give Jordan L-Lysine on a regular basis. It can be given daily, but I would ask your vet. My vet said Jordan get 1000 mg a day, but I believe that 500 mg a day is a more normal dose. Jordan has F.H. & is on pred that is the reason for the higher dose. He went through a period of a couple bad flare ups in a short period of time.
Pixel has herpes. i put lysine in her water [she prefers the drinkwell, so it's pretty easy] plus her kibble has lysine, as well. during a flare-up, i give her extra in baby food [have to syringe it, 'cause she won't just eat it
]. other than the runny eyes, she does just fine most of the time.
i get this: lysine & open the capsules. my local Drug Emporium carries it.
 

stephanietx

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Has Meeko been tested for Herpes? There's a new, very accurate test that can determine if your kitty definitely has the virus. It also tests for several other things as well. It's the PCR URD test. The vet takes a swab of the nose, sends it off, and you have results in about 3 days. Takes all of a couple of minutes to get the sample, unless you have a problem kitty that doesn't like going to the vet.

Hannah has airborne allergies as well as Herpes. She can fling the snot when she sneezes, let me tell you! It goes everywhere and is some pretty funky looking colors!
Now, though, she's on Claritin, 1/2 tablet once a day. We use the generic variety and give her 1/4 tablet 2x daily. She's also on Missing Link supplement, partially raw diet, no grain foods, and Lysine. I give her 250mg 2x a day.
 

rang_27

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Originally Posted by laureen227

Pixel has herpes. i put lysine in her water [she prefers the drinkwell, so it's pretty easy] plus her kibble has lysine, as well. during a flare-up, i give her extra in baby food [have to syringe it, 'cause she won't just eat it
]. other than the runny eyes, she does just fine most of the time.
i get this: lysine & open the capsules. my local Drug Emporium carries it.
Jordan is such a food hound that all I have to do is wrap a 500 mg L-Lysine pill in one of those Green Pill Pockets & he gobbles it right down. When Jordan has a mild flare up he has constant clear mucus in his eyse. When he has a bad flare up, he runs a fever of around 105, drools, won't eat or drink, and just sleeps 24/7. I usually have to force feed and sub-q him when he had a really bad flare up.
 
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mews2much

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Meeko has not had that test.
She is insane when she goes to the vet.
She had to have gas just for the vet to look at her last time.
 

stephanietx

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The next time you have to have her anesthetized, ask them to do the test. That way you'll know for sure.
 
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