L-Lysine (for feline herpes)

furryfriends50

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i'm not sure if i got that right that two of the farm cats have feline herpes, but some people told me that i should give them l-lysine. does this really help? are the pills or whatever form L-Lysine comes inbig (i can not mix it into their food as the two are fed with the rest of the group of 24 other cats)?
 

nekochan

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Lysine would not hurt the other cats, you could just mix it into all their food.
I found a company that makes lysine in a treat form, it is a chewable treat. My cat Church does not like most treats but he actually likes the lysine chewables and he thinks they are a great treat! When I open the drawer where I keep them he comes running.
 

coaster

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I just buy powdered lysine at the health food store and mix it into wet food. It works pretty good for me, though it's one of those YMMV remedies.
 

violet

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Originally posted by furryfriends50:
i'm not sure if i got that right that two of the farm cats have feline herpes, but some people told me that i should give them l-lysine. does this really help?
On his web site Dr. Mike Richards explains how and why it does:

It works for herpes virus because the virus is an RNA based virus. Due to this, the virus has to fool the body into making DNA. L-lysine interferes with this process because it resembles the amino acid the body really needs for the conversion. This interferes with virus reproduction and in chronic cases of herpes virus it helps to inhibit the virus and allow the body to deal with it.
Link: http://www.vetinfo4cats.com/cherpes.html

(You'll find this quote if you scroll down to Herpes and IBD and Giardia)
 

snake_lady

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You can get the capsles and just sprinkle it on their food.... It will not harm the other kitties in any way.
 

carolina

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Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

You can get the capsles and just sprinkle it on their food.... It will not harm the other kitties in any way.
Yep, It will actually help to boost everybody's immune system - remember: Herpes is contagious, and chances are that the majority your cats are already carrying it... Having their defenses in order would not only help to prevent outbreaks, but also help to prevent infection on the other cats...
If you can't find the capsule, you can crush the pills and mix it to their wet food - the powder or capsule would be easier though.
 

kscatlady

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I'm giving my ferals lysine too because they were all exposed to URI. I crush it up with a rolling pin. I feed them dry food though, and the first time I tried to mix it in it all ended up at the bottom, so now I had a few spoonfuls of the lysine and a few spoonfuls of water, stir that altogether and it works well. I was afraid they wouldn't eat it, because they're so picky but they do. One little girl I have I can tell is getting sick, so I give her tuna with a little extra lysine in it.
 

coaster

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Does anybody know if the herpes virus develops a resistance to lysine? From the description of how it works (above) I'd say probably not. I'm wondering because I've been using it just as a treatment when one of my cats starts developing conjunctivitis. If it can be given continuously as a prophylactic, that's probably a better way to use it. But not if the virus develops a resistance.
 

kscatlady

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Originally Posted by coaster

Does anybody know if the herpes virus develops a resistance to lysine? From the description of how it works (above) I'd say probably not. I'm wondering because I've been using it just as a treatment when one of my cats starts developing conjunctivitis. If it can be given continuously as a prophylactic, that's probably a better way to use it. But not if the virus develops a resistance.
No, I'm sure it doesn't.
 

carolina

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Originally Posted by coaster

Does anybody know if the herpes virus develops a resistance to lysine? From the description of how it works (above) I'd say probably not. I'm wondering because I've been using it just as a treatment when one of my cats starts developing conjunctivitis. If it can be given continuously as a prophylactic, that's probably a better way to use it. But not if the virus develops a resistance.
I think it doesn't...
 
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furryfriends50

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i got some in a tablet form because that's all i could find at the only place in town that would sell things like that. never realized just how big the tablets are. abby (mother of the two with the problems) will eat it plain. she thinks it is a treat apparently, though she will also eat anything. jill wasn't so easily convinced, i disolved it in water and gave it to her that way. jack took it if i smeared wet food over it. i'll probably crush up a few every night and mix it into the wet food, after all it is rather cheap and if it will help, then i will use it.

thanks!
 

sharky

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Being an amino acid I would say a tolerance build up is unlikely
 

momofmany

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I buy the powdered form at iherb.com. The pills are way to big and too much of a nuisance to crush. And it's less expensive to buy the powder in bulk, particularly if you are giving it to multiple farm cats.
 
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