Allergy or cold?

My 12 year old neutered male cat has had slightly swollen eyes with a clear discharge for the last week off and on. Just when I think he's better, he gets it again. He's also been sneezing off and on. He's using the litterbox normally, eating and drinking also.No diet changes. His 'third eyelid' also shows at times.He is let out of the house daily, with supervision. Could it be a virus? Should I be cleaning his eyes with something? Any suggestions would be appreciated. His housemate is fine.

It sounds like it could be feline herpes virus. There are lots of threads on here about it if you want to type it into the search button up top you will find lots more info. If that's what it is, L-lysine can be very helpful. It's available on amazon.com, pharmacies, health food stores or L-lysine cat treats at some pet stores. I have used a brand of treats called Pet's Best. The powder can be mixed right into their food.

If he gets worse take him to the vet because you don't want to wait until he stops eating and it gets more serious. If he develops a secondary infection he may need antibiotics.

I hope the lysine clears things up quickly for him.

If you have a vet I would at least give them a call and ask if needs to be checked out.  It is possible for a him to act completely normal even though he has a URI.  I have had this happen with 2 kittens.  Also with your baby being a senior I would be even more cautious.

One thing you could try at home to help with the congestion is to turn your bathroom into a steam room and sit in their with your cat for about 15-20 minutes 2 or 3 times a day.  I did this with my babies while they were on meds for their URI's. You just run your shower on hot until the bathroom is steamy and then hang out in their with your baby.  Stay in there with him to make sure he does not try to play with the hot water.

Thanks for your help! I did call my vet, he said it most likely is a URI, but with a clear discharge he didn't want to prescribe antibiotics. I am supposed to stop and get a ''supplement" to give him. I'll post later what it is. He has 0 nasal discharge (yet), so I'm thank full for that, my husband does take him in the bathroom when he showers, so that's been done once today! I was wondering if I should go ahead and give him lysine, it wouldn't hurt would it?
 

No ,it won't hurt him to give him the l-lysine either way. In fact, I bet that is the supplement your vet wants you to pick up.

It was Lysine. He's had 2 doses now, it doesn't say how long to give, can you cut back once his symptoms get better? I have to put it on his paw and he hates it! He refuses to eat any kind of wet food, and refuses it on his dry. Half of it is flung onto the floor, so it's difficult to know how much he's getting! Any suggestions? Thanks!

Half of it is flung onto the floor,

Click to expand...

My cats did the same thing.  Vets act like that is a foolproof trick but cats can wipe their paw against a chair or fling the lysine paste off.  They don't feel obliged to lick it off in my experience.  Anyways, we fed the paste to the one cat who liked it and ordered this powder....


They all like it sprinkled on their food.  We've always sprinkled it on wet or raw but I don't see why you couldn't sprinkle it on kibble. 

We do cut back a bit when they don't have symptoms.

Is there a special treat like a little piece of meat that he will eat it on? I have used a brand of cat treats called Pet's Best L-lysine treats. They are available on amazon.com. and some pet stores too. My cats love them and they have 250 mg per treat. I also think the powder will work with dry food. You can cut back after his symptoms improve. Some people use a small dose everyday as maintenance and some just use for flare-ups.

Thanks so much for that "treat" idea, he LOVES treats. I will order some. The vet charged me almost $40 for a canister of Lysine paste, that seems a little high.He is better now, it only took 3 days of the paste and he is better! Thanks for all your help.
 

I use human L-Lysine tablets. They're 500 mg so I use a pill splitter to cut in half, then crush in a small mortar and pestle. Mix with their wet food. I'm dosing each of the cats with 250 mg morning and 250 mg dinner time. They don't seem to notice it at all. My understanding is that a split dose is better, rather than 500 mg all at once.