Rescued baby with a long way to go

My name is Princess.  Just 2 weeks ago my new mom rescued me from the NY kitty death row and saved me by a matter of hours!  She is kind of old so her nice daughter and son-in-law traveled from MA to NY in the midst of an ice storm and while they were at the NYC ACC getting me, they saved a cat also within hours of his life being taken!   I came home with I guess you would say herpes virus and on antibiotics.  My mommy thought I would not make it.  I was breathing mouth opened, sticky eyes, 105 temp blocked and runny nose, lethargic and sort of skinny too.  Mom slept in her chair for 3 days with me in my new pink blanket.   One day she put me on L Lysine and within a day or two I did a great turn around.  I still sneeze with a stuffy nose but wow, I am a wild streak running around the apt. now.  

Only problem is my new sister is 10 yrs old, has arthritis and is of a feral mom and acts feral herself.   She is now very sick with my herpes virus and the same symptoms.   So my mom now has her to care for and she is tricky as she is not the friendliest though she loves mom.  Mom has just a day or two ago started her on L Lysine which she "thinks" may be helping a bit to keep her from worsening too much.   Mom watches our food and water intake and our litter work pretty closely as she says that can be a main concern.  We are all struggling here but thank goodness our human mom loves us so much.   We wonder how long we can stay on the L Lysine without it causing any problems, anyone have any idea??       Meow and thank you!      Mia and Princess (and mom)

Hi

That's great that you came all the way from MA to visit NYC ACC.  I'm in NYC too and even though we have made grreat progress on animals being euthanized in NYC, we still euthanize way too many.

L-lysine is usually given long term often for life. So there are no long term negative effects, quite the opposite.  I hope all your babies do well!

Thanks Stephen,

I will no longer go on that place and look.  It is too upsetting.  It is sad and I guess I can understand but.....after my son-in-law actually taking the day off from work (loss of $), gas, tolls, horrid driving weather, they couldn't help meet them part way with the kitten and cat for transport and charged plenty when all they were going to do was euthanize anyway.   I'm not sorry, not at all.  My daughter's cat of choice is a 5 yo which they said she may not want as it does not like its back touched.   Well long story short, it didn't take her long to find out the kitty is stone deaf, ergo, please don't touch me from behind folks, it frightens me!  Oh that cat loves and follows her everywhere.   It was a ball of knots so she had it immediately shaved down.   Beautiful boy, his name is Shakespeare!    But anyway, Stephen, that L Lysine is a wonder thing from what I am seeing.....take care!  Dot or whatever.......

Hey there,

Well i'm happy for all of you.  ACC is a touch place to visit, the good news is that most of the no kill shelters, including mine, pull a lot of cats from ACC to reduce city wide euthansia.  NYC is actually trying to become a no-kill city and its make great progress.  Check out this org that is helping to lead the way, http://www.animalalliancenyc.org/

L-lysine can be very helpful with herpes as it reduces the virus's ability to replicate.

Good luck with everything!

If they have herpes they are more than likely going to have flare ups from time to time.  Lysine can be given long term without any problems.  I have had my cat on it for about 5 or 6 years I think.

Thank you.....I have been using the paste.  Tried the chews and my two cats won't have anything to do with it.   They are finicky and don't suck up much canned stuff either.  Right now my big girl, 19 lb and 10 yrs is eating the kitten's dry food but am letting her as she is so sick with this herpes so want her to eat and drink, pee and poop.    But I have trouble finding the paste and am just about running out.  I have been giving the paste watered down a little, in a syringe.  That way I know they get it all.   So....I finally realized the human kind is the same thing and now I can buy capsules, empty and mix in a little warm water, suck into the syringe and get it to them that way!   Geez what we have to do.    If the cap is 500, I can use and throw away half as at the price for human form it is so much cheaper too.....like 8 bucks a hundred.

Hi... You can actually get the powedered kind of Lysine from Amazon for a pound, this is what I use:   once you are out of the capsuled ones you might want to consider it, since I found it to be cheaper.

I give 1/8 teaspoon twice a day for my herpes cat... when he has a flare up 1/4 teaspoon twice a day. 

You also may want to look into bovine lactoferrin - which I would say is THE supplement that made a huge difference. I give the lactoferrin 1/2 capsule twice a day daily. Here's a thread made by @LDG  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/267703/stubborn-herpes-infection-add-lactoferrin-in-addition-to-lysine

Congratulations on your new addition and I'm glad she's doing better!  Your situation is very similar to what happened when we adopted Hannah.  We had a 10 yo at home already, adopted a 7 mo old kitten from the pound, she was very ill, got better, then the resident cat got sick. Hannah also has feline herpes.   The stress of the new kitty is probably what caused your older kitty to get sick.  If your older kitty doesn't get well soon, I'd get her to the vet for antibiotics. 

Switching to a grain-free diet will also help your herpes girl and feeding mainly canned food (grain-free) will also be good for her.  You can give the lysine for life.  I use the powdered variety.

Thanks so much for your ideas and advice.  In 10 yrs this cat has never been sick so it freaks me out...

Thanks Stephanietx.  My baby girl is still sniffling a bit but so much better.  Just a few doses of the lysine and turned it around.   Now it's the 10 yo.   I have never seen her sick in all her 10 years so it freaks me out.  I live in a small2 1/2 room senior apt. so it's no way could really separate them when Princess was sick.   Now of course I look at Mia and feel just awful like I should have known better!  I picked up a bottle of 100 caps today at the vitamin shoppe near home.  Next door was Petco and for a small jar of powder they wanted 24.95!!  They must think folks are stupid or something.....geez!

Anyway, Mia stayed under my bed yesterday for like12 hours, from 9 in the morning to 9 at night and she will act out,growl and bite if you scare her.  I just knew I had to get her out so I could make sure she took in water, a little food and the lysine again.  Thank goodness she finally came out!   Then I even washed her face, she hopped on my lap and we both took a nice nap!   Got her to drink lots of water this morning, gave her the lysine, she took a tad of food and now she's back under my bed till this evening.   I want to taste the lysine when I open the capsule because I am going to have to syringe feed it to her.  I had tried the paste on her canned food and she would not touch it!  I have been using syringe to make sure she is getting it.  Just hope it does not taste too bitter or anything.....we'll see later.....anyways thanks for the input, whatever.

With the gel L Lysine my adult cat is on 2 ml paste (equivalent1000 mg) dose a day split in to 2,  1 ml paste (500 mg)  AM and 1 ml PM when his herpes virus flares up and I half it a few weeks after he settles and maintain him on 1 ml a day, again split in 2 doses.  This is because it is metabolised by the body not stored.

What do you mean when you say not stored?  Are you saying the powdered form works differently?  The paste is good but a container or tube does not last long and is expensive, isn't it??  Thanks....

whatever said:

 
What do you mean when you say not stored?  Are you saying the powdered form works differently?  The paste is good but a container or tube does not last long and is expensive, isn't it??  Thanks....

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Oh no, sorry I wasn't clear there: it isn't stored by the body so you have to split the dose you give your cat through the day.  If you are prescribed to use 1ml daily you would give 1/2 ml am 1/2 ml pm, or 2ml daily would be 1ml am 1ml pm. It just ensures that your cat has levels of L Lysine in his /her body 24 hours to block the virus.   For storage of the product just follow whatever it says on your packet or dispenser. My gel should be kept cool and I store in the top of my refridgerator door.

Do you find the gel more expensive than powder or do you not have kitty stay on it that long anyway?   I will be trying the powder in a few drops of water through syringe for the first time tonight.   A tube of gel just does not last very long.

I would get your older kitty to the vet for a check up.  She may need an antibiotic.

I use the powder.  IMO it is a lot cheaper than the gel.  I have 2 cats on it.  I use a vet product called Viralys.  But I know other people use the human stuff.  Definitely split the dose into twice daily dosing.