Cats with Herpes Virus

Hi,

I am looking for more info on cats with herpes. If you have cat with this can you let me know your experiences? Like...have your other cats gotten it? Have you given them L-Lysine? How are they doing with it? Any problems? What kind of problems are possible?

When he was adopted, the vet told me that Shermie may have this b/c he had brown eye and nose goobers. They used to be kinda big/gross but lately there's just a little speck sometimes. he recommended L-Lysine to feed to Sherm, so I did that for a while then Sherm started not being interested in his food (or water) when I put that in even though it's supposed to be odorless and tasteless. Anyway, just looking for some personal experiences. The vet said it was no cause for worry so I haven't been.

As for Luna, she never had eye goobers until Sherm was around for a while but now she does a very little bit, but hers are green rather than brown. And she's been to the vet since and he says she's healthy so again, not worried, just curious.

My Meeko has Herpes.
I give her L-Lysine and it works ok.
There are times she gets real bad though.
I have never had any problems wit it at all.

I am suprised that the color of the discharge is okay with your vet. I thought that any color other than a clear or yellowy is a sign its an infection? I could be misinformed.

Fiona has herpes. My other two haven't gotten it. I give lysine in powder sprinkled over the food. Mine has a fishy taste to it. I got it from dr's foster and smith (which is like an internet pet supply company)

How long has he not eaten? If he is not drinking water thats a HUGE issue. They can get dehydrated in just a day without water. Again, suprised your vet is okay with this.

The main concern is that they can get recurring upper respitory infections which need antibiotics from your vet. Fiona has only had one once in the four years I've had her. She had a lesion on her eye from not having an infection taken care of when she was younger, some cats can lose their eye to that. But they caught hers in time. I adopted her in pretty rough shape but she turned out to be a honey of a cat.

One of my cats has Herpes. He doesn't have symptoms very often, but about once a year, his eyes get all goopy and gross from it. I give him steroid eyedrops from my vet. I'm not at home right now so I can't tell you what the name of it is, I'll check when I get home. It clears up in a day or two after giving him the drops.

None of my other cats have gotten it, most of them have their 4 in 1 shot (which covers Herpes--rhinotracheitis). Keeping your house and litter box clean prevents it from spreading as well. If Luna hasn't had her 4 in 1 vaccine yet, she should get it. If she really is healthy and already had her vaccine, she should be fine.

I brought in a feral that apparantly had it, even one of the cats who was already vaccinated will have an occasional outbreak. I've been adding the Lysine to their drinking water. With so many cats I have a 3 qt. automatic water jug, and that dilutes the Lysine to where they can't taste it. They've been on it since March, and there hasn't been an outbreak after the third week.

Bugsy has it - his eyes get irritated quite often, but L-Lysine has helped A LOT in keeping URIs at bay - he hasn't had an URI since I put him on 500 mg of it /day. I get it powder and add it to his food. In addition I also add some to their water, as it is beneficial to all kitties. This is the one I get: http://www.iherb.com/Now-Foods-L-Lys...454-g/653?at=0. For one cat it should last pretty much a whole year.
When I first brought him home, he had an URI, and Lucky caught it, but she fought it off pretty quickly, and hasn't had since. I don't think she caught herpes, and neither has Hope.
If you want to buy tha L-Lysine, here is a $5.00 coupon: VES097

I just picked it up in pill form. Hoping it will stem the herpes outbreak in the foster cat house. Its gotten into my personal cats :-(

Hannah has feline herpes and I give her lysine everyday. It's helped. What's helped more has been to switch to a grain free diet and add more raw food to her diet. We also try to keep the stress level down in our home and stick to a routine as flare ups are mostly caused by stress. Depending on your other kitties' health and age, it's highly unlikely that they'll show any signs of "catching" FHV. However, if they already have it, but it's dormant, a flare up in one cat can trigger a flare up in another cat. FHV is most commonly found in kitties who have a rough start in life and lack proper nutrition and health care. It's found in kitties who are born and raised in very loving and healthy homes, too.

Most herpes kitties exhibit the same symptoms as an URI (there are other symptoms as well). Ask the vet to actually test the kitty using the Real PCR URD test from IDEXX labs, which is extremely accurate in correctly diagnosing feline herpes as well as several other feline diseases. It's quick, relatively inexpensive, and doesn't take but a few minutes to obtain a test sample. Don't just go on the vet's guess. Don't put yourself through the pain of "thinking" your kitty has FHV; know for sure. For some reason, most vets are out of the loop on this newer test and continue to just guess at diagnosing FHV. (I'll get off my soap box now!)

For more help and support from those who are loving kitties with FHV, join the Yahoo group at http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/f...guid=353539644

For whatever it's worth, the brown eye and nose goobers are most likely just dried up stuff and may be caused by allergies. Hannah has airborne allergens and somedays is sneezy and has weepy eyes which eventually turn into brown gunk. It does not mean she's having a herpes flare up. It simply means she's responding to the allergens in the air. I've had to learn to tell the difference. Nasal and eye discharge that is clear (prior to drying) is allergies. Discharge that is any other color (green, yellow, reddish) indicates something else like an URI or a flare up of her herpes.

Thanks everyone for your advice!

I may try the L-Lysine that's fish flavored, but Shermie is a really picky eater and really only eats dry food. He doesn't even like treats or catnip! He's only 2 and Luna's 6 and they both seem active and healthy. As I don't have much money, I may wait on the vet visit as the JUST went in like a month ago and were given a clean bill of health.

Originally Posted by miao_kitty

Thanks everyone for your advice!

I may try the L-Lysine that's fish flavored, but Shermie is a really picky eater and really only eats dry food. He doesn't even like treats or catnip! He's only 2 and Luna's 6 and they both seem active and healthy. As I don't have much money, I may wait on the vet visit as the JUST went in like a month ago and were given a clean bill of health.

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That's why I get mine in powder form; I just add it to their water - 500mg/cup.... For Bugsy I also add it to his food. Lucky is finicky to an extreme, and she has no problems in drinking the l-lysine water...
I forgot - the powder lasts A LOT - for you, over 1 year... For me it lasts less because I add it to their water fountain, and it takes quite a bit every time I change the water...