Feline herpes?

I have heard both dry eye and runny eyes when they have FH.  Anyones cat have the dry eye, with nthe brownish red crustys and it not be herpes? I am debating trying L-Lysine. When your cats are not having an outbreak, do they have any symptoms? Zane has the crsutys in just one eye and sneezes occasionally.  Could it be another virus?  He had the stuff in the other eye, but didnt last. 

The vet wants me to pick up an ointment for his eye. What will that do? If the sneezing is related, isnt it more then just an eye infection? 

i have one cat who is symptomatic more often than not.  piglet really shows symptoms in her eye; it is runny and teary at times.  that dries into the reddish brown crusties.  depending what eye ointment they're recommending, it may help.  i've used terramycin before and it helps while i'm using it, but i don't know how much it really helps overall.  i give piglet l-lysine as often as she'll take it.  if we can get her to take 250mg daily for at least a couple of weeks, her symptoms seem to go away.  if piglet starts getting extra runny eyes or sneezing a bit, we bump it up to 500mg.  

i've always used l-lysine made for cats.  we're currently using pet naturals of vermont l-lysine treats.  in the past, we tried syringes of duralactin with l-lysine added but it was way too costly.  viralys makes a stinky powder that all of our other cats would lick right off a spoon... not piglet, of course.  if your cats like stinky things (like old, dead, dried fish stinky) try viralys' l-lysine powder.

I have a kitty who always has brown crusties.  They're just eye boogers or "sleepy" like you and I get in our eyes.  What you're seeing my just be airborne allergies since the weather is changing from winter to spring.  I give all my kitties Lysine twice daily.  Hannah, my herpes kitty, is pretty much symptomatic all the time.  My other two have the occasional itchy eye and sneeze, but not often.

My Zoey is a herpes kitty, she gets the red/brown crusties. Most of the time she doesn't show symptoms. I give her l-lysine if she's sneezing, if her eyes start to look bad (or I see the third eye lid pop up) and at stressful times like when she has a vet trip. I also give it to Luna when I give it to Zoey to be safe.

Thanks, he has had it pretty much from the start. I noticed it last year and when i took him in to be fixed i asked them. Thats when they said it was "dry eye". But the started to read about it being a symptom of feline herpes.

As long as his eyes aren't weeping, he's not sneezing, not congested, or he's not rubbing his eyes excessively,  I wouldn't be too concerned about it. 

stephanietx said:

 
As long as his eyes aren't weeping, he's not sneezing, not congested, or he's not rubbing his eyes excessively,  I wouldn't be too concerned about it. 

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yes he does sneeze, and keeps getting the runny eye, that turns to crusties and he did sound congested the other day. 

He could have airborne allergies.  Does this happen year-round or only when the seasons change?

stephanietx said:

 
He could have airborne allergies.  Does this happen year-round or only when the seasons change?

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See i don't know, we just took him in, in Nov. he is 9 1/2 months old. I asked the vet in Feb when i took him in to be fixed. But don't remember when it started.

If you got him from a shelter, he has most likely been exposed to herpes and he may have caught it if he was malnourished and stressed.  It's very common and the severity of it can be from just being a carrier to having symptoms all the time.  My herpes girl is on the mild-moderate side. Her only real manifestation is lots of sneezing.  All. The. Time. 

Its been two weeks on L-Lysine. No improvement.  My dd was taking pictures tonight for a school project so i decided to use one to show you his eyes. As It really showed up here more then in person. 

Here's a good thread on treating FHV:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/267703/stubborn-herpes-infection-add-lactoferrin-in-addition-to-lysine

Many of us have used lactoferrin in conjunction with lysine or on its own for FHV.

@momof3b1g  that's about what my samantha's eyes look like.  she's white and the reddish brown crusties show up on her very well.  your cat's eyes don't seem too weepy right now, so the lysine may have been helping a bit.  how much l-lysine were you giving her?  my old vet advised 500mg/daily.  if that didn't help a lot or at all, you could consider a slight allergy.  one of the most common irritants to cats that most people don't consider is the litter.  if you're using scented or dusty litter, try changing it for a week or two and see if it makes a difference.  my samantha is not very symptomatic for herpes, but she most likely has it because piglet has it.  samantha almost never gets a weepy, wet eye - her eyes are always normal, but she gets those crusties.  it doesn't seem to bother her.  samantha actually likes it when i clean the corners of her eyes.  i usually just use a tissue over my finger and rub them off.  

stephgas said:

 
@momof3b1g  that's about what my samantha's eyes look like.  she's white and the reddish brown crusties show up on her very well.  your cat's eyes don't seem too weepy right now, so the lysine may have been helping a bit.  how much l-lysine were you giving her?  my old vet advised 500mg/daily.  if that didn't help a lot or at all, you could consider a slight allergy.  one of the most common irritants to cats that most people don't consider is the litter.  if you're using scented or dusty litter, try changing it for a week or two and see if it makes a difference.  my samantha is not very symptomatic for herpes, but she most likely has it because piglet has it.  samantha almost never gets a weepy, wet eye - her eyes are always normal, but she gets those crusties.  it doesn't seem to bother her.  samantha actually likes it when i clean the corners of her eyes.  i usually just use a tissue over my finger and rub them off.  

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I am giving 250mg twice a day. i did give 500 once. and one of the cats threw up right after eating. I was woried it was him, so havent tried it again.  I am using Paws and Claws mixed with tidy cat. i think i will try just paws and claws to see if it makes a difference. 

See should I not worry if its mostly just the crusties? I think it may bother me more then it does him. His sneezing comes and goes. i do use the artificial tears and it seems to help.