Lucky has Herpes Virus?

On Thursday, Dr. Mike diagnosed Lucky as having herpes virus. He gave us an eye ointment and L-Lysine. Unfortunately, this is one of the diseases I don't know anything about so I thought I could find some insight from you guys.

Actually, we were just discussing proper lysine supplementation. Lauren's Perla has a really bad case of herpes virus bothering her kitty's eye, and she saw an eye specialist. The recommended dose was 1,000mg of lysine daily, which is higher than most people use, and higher than most vets (currently) recommend. Our conclusion ( :lol3: ) in discussing it was that it's best to start at a lower dose, and if the eye or sneezing or whatever the symptoms are don't improve, then keep bumping up the dose to that point until they do. http://www.thecatsite.com/t/247989/...for-how-long-and-for-what-and-other-questions

Basically, it's estimated that 90% of cats are already exposed to the herpes virus. It is so very, very, very common. But it's during times of stress that it can flare up. Flowerbelle was so badly affected with it as a kitten when she was rescued that we believe she lost her hearing, her eye, and has sinus turbinate and potentially lung scarring from it. But how it affects kittens is VERY different than adult cats.

...but Lucky is FIV+? Am I remembering that correctly? I tried giving Chumley lysine, and it gave him explosive diarrhea. So that's something to watch out for - it can cause gastric upset (even in non-FIV+ kitties). And with the FIV, he may be more susceptible to herpes flare-ups - and they'll need to be treated more aggressively. If the lysine doesn't help, you'll have to work with the vet to find alternatives, though perhaps topical colloidal silver can help. You may want to PM Angel's Mommy or WhollyCat (???) about using colloidal silver internally - I know nothing about that. I know you don't want to use it long term, but I think short term it can be used internally, and it may help with this. :dk:

Here is some info on it:

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_herpes_viral_conjunctivitis.html

http://www.vetinfo.com/cherpes.html


Vibes for Lucky!

I would say, 500 to 1500 milligrams of L-Lysine a day, while, he is having a flareup, will bring the flareup under control. Then, you might want to give him, a daily dosage of L-Lysine for the rest of his life. I have NEVER had to give L-Lysine to any of my domestic cats. But, I do have to give it to my Foundation Savannah (F3). He gets between, 500 and 1500 milligrams of L-Lysine when he has a flareup. But, none, in between flareups.
 

Cat Person said:

I would say, 500 to 1500 milligrams of L-Lysine a day, while, he is having a flareup, will bring the flareup under control. Then, you might want to give him, a daily dosage of L-Lysine for the rest of his life. I have NEVER had to give L-Lysine to any of my domestic cats. But, I do have to give it to my Foundation Savannah (F3). He gets between, 500 and 1500 milligrams of L-Lysine when he has a flareup. But, none, in between flareups. 

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We have Lucky on 1000mg a day now I think. We give him two of the L-Lysine chewable treats a day (luckily he's a little piggy, because he gulps them up so fast :lol3. I think he may be having a flare up now, because he is sneezing and has eye issues more than usual. Poor baby! Thanks so much for your reply!

LDG said:

Actually, we were just discussing proper lysine supplementation. Lauren's Perla has a really bad case of herpes virus bothering her kitty's eye, and she saw an eye specialist. The recommended dose was 1,000mg of lysine daily, which is higher than most people use, and higher than most vets (currently) recommend. Our conclusion ( :lol3: ) in discussing it was that it's best to start at a lower dose, and if the eye or sneezing or whatever the symptoms are don't improve, then keep bumping up the dose to that point until they do. http://www.thecatsite.com/t/247989/...for-how-long-and-for-what-and-other-questions
Basically, it's estimated that 90% of cats are already exposed to the herpes virus. It is so very, very, very common. But it's during times of stress that it can flare up. Flowerbelle was so badly affected with it as a kitten when she was rescued that we believe she lost her hearing, her eye, and has sinus turbinate and potentially lung scarring from it. But how it affects kittens is VERY different than adult cats.
...but Lucky is FIV+? Am I remembering that correctly? I tried giving Chumley lysine, and it gave him explosive diarrhea. So that's something to watch out for - it can cause gastric upset (even in non-FIV+ kitties). And with the FIV, he may be more susceptible to herpes flare-ups - and they'll need to be treated more aggressively. If the lysine doesn't help, you'll have to work with the vet to find alternatives, though perhaps topical colloidal silver can help. You may want to PM Angel's Mommy or WhollyCat (???) about using colloidal silver internally - I know nothing about that. I know you don't want to use it long term, but I think short term it can be used internally, and it may help with this. :dk:
Here is some info on it:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_herpes_viral_conjunctivitis.html
http://www.vetinfo.com/cherpes.html
Vibes for Lucky!

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Thanks so much for the reply, Laurie! Lucky IS FIV+....OHHHHH that explains it. :lol3: After giving him his first dose, an hour later when I was driving home from the vet he had a diarrhea accident in his carrier. Poor guy. He needed a bath and I had to throw out the fabric carrier. I thought it was just nerves, but it was probably upsetting his tummy! And poor Lucky has never pooped on his visits to the vet, and he's been there several times!

I will call the vet about this right now! Dr. Mike was unaware of Lucky's FIV status - Dr. Sonia, at our other clinic, was the one to diagnose him and I don't think they have exchanged files. I will let Dr. Mike know and maybe he can find an alternative to the lysine if it keeps hurting his tummy. I don't know much about using collodial silver internally (I use it externally on myself for cat scratches - I'm like a walking scratching post :lol3 but I will research it ASAP!

Thanks sooo much for the vibes. They are needed!!!

Jen, you can TRY working up to the 1,000mg/day. Start small, see how he does on that, then slowly increase it. But we weren't able to give Chum ANY, it just did NOT agree with him at all.

My cat, Mattie, has the herpes virus too.  Ever since we rescued her, she has been on Lysine two times a day, 500 mg each time.  Her eye never really looks perfect.  The lysine keeps it controlled, but I have to wash her eye every day because of the gunk that builds up around it.  She is white too and that makes it worse.  Good luck with your cat.

Hi, Angel is a herpes kitty too. The vet told me to give him 250mg 2sx/day for maintenance. Then, when he has a flare up, (which for him means eye drops) he gets twice that amount by giving the whole

500mgs 2xs/day. 

As far as Colloidal Silver, I just found an information sheet on it, from when I was a buyer at our co-op. It is for people, but hopefully will be helpful anyway.

I scanned it here at work, & as soon as it comes to my email, I will try to post it for you all.

Okay, here it is, Just remember, this is an info sheet for people. Hopefully it will still be helpful.

Sorry for the condition. You can tell it's very old & used. LOL!
https://statich.thecatsite.com/b/b4/b4d539fc_ColloidalSilver.pdf

Angels mommy said:

Hi, Angel is a herpes kitty too. The vet told me to give him 250mg 2sx/day for maintenance. Then, when he has a flare up, (which for him means eye drops) he gets twice that amount by giving the whole
500mgs 2xs/day. 
As far as Colloidal Silver, I just found an information sheet on it, from when I was a buyer at our co-op. It is for people, but hopefully will be helpful anyway.
I scanned it here at work, & as soon as it comes to my email, I will try to post it for you all.

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Thanks so much! I'd love to know more about the collodial silver. Lucky is on an eye ointment now, which is supposed to soothe the ulcers in his eye from the herpes. Poor baby!

for Angel too!!!

blueyedgirl5946 said:

My cat, Mattie, has the herpes virus too.  Ever since we rescued her, she has been on Lysine two times a day, 500 mg each time.  Her eye never really looks perfect.  The lysine keeps it controlled, but I have to wash her eye every day because of the gunk that builds up around it.  She is white too and that makes it worse.  Good luck with your cat.

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for Mattie! Lucky's eye always has looked gunky too, so I assume he's always had the herpes. I've never seen his eye without a whole bunch of white and clear gunk in it. Hopefully the Lysine, collodial silver and eye ointment help!

Thanks so much Angels! Will read that now!

You are sooo welcome!!!   I hope Lucky is feeling better soon!!

Fortunately, I think either we caught Angel's early enough, or his case isn't that severe. Usually if he needs eye drops, it's not a yucky eye, I just notice

that "Third eye" showing more, & it will be pinker. At worse, a small speck of that reddish brown in the corner of the eyes. So sometimes it's hard to tell.