Infection again?

Oh no, so sorry Hobbes and Calvin are sneezing.... And poor Hobbes he sure has been through so much in his young life. I guess I would increase the L-Lysine too. Since I volunteer at a shelter, my cats are always kept on 250 m. Lysine too. Just last week Perkins started terrible bouts of sneezing as well and then Pipsqueak. I bumped them up to 500 mg. of Lysine and in two days they were totally over it. I always try to disinfect myself after the shelter and I do worry about them. Anyway, I know what you mean about not wanting to constantly put Hobbes on antibiotics and hopefully the increase in the dosage of Lysine will do it's job. I would call the vet too tomorrow. Sending healthy vibes to your boys tonight

Keep the l-lysine at 500 mg. daily

to Calvin and Hobbes

I'd bump the lysine up to 500mg twice a day. Five hundred mg a day is the maintenance dose for herpes and 1000mg a day is the flare up dose. Also, if he does indeed have herpes, steroids are a big no-no, except as a last resort, as they weaken the immune system. Also, limiting grains in the diet will help, too. There is a test by IDEXX that you can have that will accurately diagnose FHV. It's the IDEXX Real PCR-URD test and it tests samples of nasal or eye dishcharge and/or nasal drainage. http://www.idexx.com/view/xhtml/en_u...-pcr.jsf#Tests There is a document you can print off and take with you to your vet as well. http://www.idexx.com/pubwebresources...-urd-panel.pdf

Since this is a possible reoccurrance, you may also be dealing with a secondary infection. You can have a culture and sensitivity test done of the discharge. This will help determine what type (if any) of infection you're dealing with and the sensitivity test will tell the vet which antibiotic(s) will most effectively treat the infection.

However, I think starting with the simple thing, upping the Lysine, might be a good starting point. Is your weather changing or have you had high winds and/or weather systems move through? Are the allergens bad in your area? You could "just" be dealing with airborne allergies.

Hannah, our herpes girl, has sneezes daily, especially if the weather is changing or something like that. We give her an antihistamine daily as well as evening primrose oil. The EPO has really help clear up the lingering sneezes.

Actually 500 mg daily is the therapeutic dose for herpes.

Check with vet before increasing to 1000 mg.

In the early years of Tolly's herpes illness he always had flare-ups in spring and late fall. Even now after all these years I will notice a little speck shedding from his eye at this time of year and in November, but after 10 years on the l-lysine, he never has full blown flare-ups any more.

Tolly is on a maintenance dose of 500 mg every other day, but I increase that to 500 mg daily at times of stress, or if I do see that tell tale speck in the corner of his eye.

How is little Hobbes today?

What are you feeding him? Is he on a special diet?

Also, you might want to try the Evening Primrose Oil.

I think their diet sounds just fine. We're the same over here though so I'm biased - they do get rice in some of their food. Chum is allergic to a lot of things - we don't know the list. But he's doing fine on the food they get now.

I think it's also just the season. Billly is sneezing up a storm, and Ming Loy's eyes are a little runny - and these coincide with my having a runny nose and eyes, so I know it's just the "Spring" thing.

Flowerbelle has herpes but seems to have grown out of the flare-ups. It really hasn't been an issue since she was around 2.

!!!!

I second the above. 1000 mg. can bring on digestive upset and with Hobbes past diahrea probs. I wouldn't go that much on the Lysine. Perkins and Pipsqueak both seem to have herpes flare-ups from time to time and it has gotten more so with Spring in the air. Hopefully that is all you are dealing with too.

I was asking about what he was eating because I couldn't remember if he had to eat special food because of all the stuff he's been through recently. I think what he's eating is fine.

Glad to hear they are doing better!

Hobbes and Calvin

Wow poor babies I am happy they are feeling better - I sure it is stressful for you too!

I have the impression that vets in northern areas of the US are starting to change their views of whether to administer Revolution monthly throughout the year.

As I understand it, up until a few years ago, heartworm wasn't considered a major issue in cats unless you lived down south and/or your cats lived outside, so lots of vets would say use Revolution from, oh, April through the first frost. After further research into the incidence of heartworm in nothern climates, more vets are starting to recommend administering it monthly throughout the year.

I notice either younger vets, or vets who really keep current with protocols, seem to lean toward using it year round. Now, Revolution isn't the cheapest thing around - so some clients might be hesitant to use it for their indoor cats just from the budget side of things. My vet never 'pushed' winter applications, but when I mentioned a Cornell study, she was very aware of it and seemed awfully pleased that I'd be open to doing Revolution during the winter.

My cats are inside cats but I've started doing Revolution monthly. A friend's young cat has tested positive for heartworm, even though she's an indoor cat. Those darn mosquitos can get in. I'd definitely bring it up to the vet and get their take on the pro's and con's.

BTW, check the Revolution site and ask the vet if there's a discount if you buy in volume, if you go forward. For mine, it's buy twelve doses, get two free (you pay for 10).

Glad the babies are feeling better.