respiratory issues

luthorienne

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My husband and I have a ten year old spayed female cat. She's a longhair, and
an indoor cat. When we got her from a farm, she was ill, and the vet told us
then that she would have this viral chronic respiratory illness off and on all
her life, and that there was nothing we could do for her beyond giving her
supportive care through her illnesses. Since then, about every eighteen months,
she develops what, in a human, I would call a chest cold. She's a little more
subdued while she has it, and she coughs or sneezes occasionally, and when she
purrs -- but apparently only when she purrs -- she becomes short of breath.
There's no discharge from her nose or eyes. Through it all, she eats and drinks
and eliminates normally. Usually it takes her two to four weeks to throw it off,
and I notice as she gets older, it's taking longer. The only real change in her
behaviour is that she doesn't snuggle with us as much while she's sick,
presumably because of the purring thing -- she wants attention, but in brief,
concentrated bursts, which we're happy to provide. We try to expose her to warm,
humid air when she's ill, we keep her warm and quiet, and I've started giving
her a vitamin supplement every day to try to give her a bit of a boost. My
husband and I don't have any money, so extensive veterinary care isn't an option
right now. We've just tried to give her a calm, happy, comfortable place to be
in, and to stress her out as little as humanly possible. Is there anything you
can suggest that we might do that would help her to get well, or at least to
feel better?
 
 

ritz

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Thank you for taking care of this cat.

The chronic 'cold' sounds a little like herpes.  You can give her l-lysine, it's an amino acid that boosts her immune system.  Start out with around 250 mg a day, and see how she does.

What is the vitamin supplement you're giving her?
 

mrsgreenjeens

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I was thinking Herpes also.  During one of her episodes, she could probably have up to 1000 mg per day.  I think that's what most people give while their cats are having the sneezing, watery eye issues.  Usually split between am and pm.  You can buy L-Lysine pretty much anywhere, even Walmart, but try to get it in it's purest form (without lots of additives)

Here is a thread that discusses it a little bit, and you'll see that some people give 250 mg as a maintenance dosage and 500 during a flare-up, and others give 500 as maintaince, and 1000 for a flare-up, so it's not a critical thing.  You might want to start at 250, though, just to see how she tolerates it.

'http://www.thecatsite.com/t/239337/where-do-you-buy-your-l-lysine
 
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luthorienne

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We give her Feli-Vite II once a day.  She thinks it's dessert.

Is there any downside to giving her L-Lysine?  That is, can it hurt her?
 

mrsgreenjeens

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We give her Feli-Vite II once a day.  She thinks it's dessert.

Is there any downside to giving her L-Lysine?  That is, can it hurt her?
I've not heard of any side effects from giving L-Lysine.  Giving her the Felo-Vite II is good too, since it's added vitamins,  and I don't see any reason why you couldn't do both of these things, but, of course, I'm not a Vet
 
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