Feline Herpes? So scared....

I recently had a semi feral cat that I have grown fond of spayed at a local clinic. She is currently residing in my bathroom/

laundry room. They were severely backed up at the clinic so she was there for several days before being vaccinated and

spayed. A few days after she came home,she developed some sneezing, drooling and congestion/trouble breathing. The snot

that came out of her nose was clear, she has shown no sign of an eye infection and is eating, drinking and going to the bathroom.

I took her to the vet yesterday and he gave her an antibiotic and sent me home with instructions to isolate her as she has

been. She is showing signs of improvement as of this morning.

Unfortunately, before I realized she was sick, I installed a screen door on my laundry room to try to get  her and

my other (4!) cats familiar with eachother.

Once I realized she was ill, I closed the door so my other cats wouldn't be infected but I fear it may have been too late

as my oldest cat appeared  to be sneezing this morning, albeit occasionally and mildly with no discharge.

All of my four cats were originally vaccinated when they were spayed with the standard vaccinations but have not

received boosters for many years. One of my cats is under 3 so I feel that she is probably the most protected from the bunch

and another had surgery about 5 or so years ago and I feel they had updated her shots then as well.

I had planned to integrate the new cat into the household if all goes well, however after reading up about feline

herpes I am not sure I want to do that and its makes me feel sick to my stomach to think that I may have permanently

hurt my existing cats by bringing her inside.

Is it possible that this is just a standard URI? From what I understand, any signs a of cat cold is not really

good whether it is herpes or not. Never have I ever had to deal with a cat who had a cold and I'm just scared

and don't know what to do.

I don't have anything helpful or wise for you, but I just want to share that in my three cats household, Harley and Amelie both are herpes kitties. I knew that when I brought them in. Sophie (my only cat at the time) was vaccinated and my vets told me that at the first sign that something is off with Sophie, I should bring her in. One year later, we keep the virus in control with l-lysine, Amelie is perfectly fine 98% of the time (she sometimes gets some gunk in her eyes), Sophie never had any issues with herpes virus and Harley sometimes needs nose drops (he was severely affected by the virus before I took him in, he has a permanent damage in one eye).

Thank you. I appreciate you sharing your story and it does make me feel a bit better. Was your cat Sophie kept up to date on

the vaccines?

Just reading the different articles online and the words "highly contagious" and "carriers for life" is really freaking me out

but it seems from your story that not all cats will get infected.

I am a bit reluctant to take on a 5th cat to begin with let alone one with chronic issues that may in turn give my other

babies chronic issues, you know?

It's been a little chaotic in my household with the new kitty residing in the bathroom/laundry room, then she got

sick, then I found out it could be a permanent disorder and I am just highly stressed about the whole sitation

especially if my oldest really does have a URI, potentially contracted the herpes virus from her.

I understand your worries and the efforts involved. When Harley first sneezed near Sophie I almost had a panic attack. But she was 12 months old when I took them in so yes, she was up to date with her vaccines. I had done her one year booster and now we're done with vaccines for a few years.

But Harley was so bad - his right eye was almost popping out because of inflamation, runny nose, sneezing all the time, couldn't breathe through his nose, fever and diarrhea. I know I seem irresponsible for exposing Sophie to him, but it was either that or he would have died soon on the street. Thankfully, it all turned out alright.

Many members here have herpes kitties so hopefully more will chime in.

I also have 3 cats, one of which is herpes positive and the oldest of my cats.  She is now 8 yrs old and was diagnosed with herpes at age 2.  The other 2, all brought in while she's been with us, have never shown any signs of illness.  I also don't vaccinate them yearly.  My herpes kitty gets no vaccinations and my vet is okay with that.  What you should know about herpes is that most flare ups occur when the kitty is stressed.  Even though you don't think it's "big", it might be to your cat and that can trigger a flare up.  For example, my Hannah is getting over a herpes flare up because about 3 weeks ago, I forgot to change out the Feliway diffusers (calming agent).  One of my other cats was also being aggressive towards her and the combination of the 2 stressed her out that it caused a flare up.  Neither of my other 2 have caught the URI and they've shared water, food, and litter box.

The best things you can do for your kitty is to keep a constant routine, work to keep stress to a minimum, and help your kitty be the healthiest she can be by providing a high quality, grain-free diet.  She should also be on a daily dose of l-lysine to help boost her immune system.  During regular times, you can give her 500mg/daily.  During a flare up, up the dose to 1000mg a day.  Be sure to give it in 2 doses morning & evening so it stays in her system.  You can get lysine tablets or capsules in the supplements section of the store or order online.  I use the NOW or VitaCost brand of powdered lysine that comes in a 1 pound jug.  Just crush the tablets between two spoons and add to wet food with a bit of water.  If you find capsules, open the capsule and sprinkle the contents over wet food, stir and serve.

So, I guess the general consensus based on her symptoms is that it is pretty much guaranteed FHV? 

It seems that a "cat cold" really is pretty serious then. I've owned cats all my life and never had a cat

affected with this disease that I know of.

I did pick up some L-Lysine on my lunch break and plan to give it to all the cats tonight with their wet food.

I feed them wet food once a day for dinner. The new cat I am feeding wet food twice a day as she is very

thin from recently nursing 5 kittens.

I am nervous that the new cat could have another "flare up" when I finally introduce her to the cats

and then everyone will get infected. My worse nightmare right now is having a house full of 5 sneezing

and drooling cats. ha

Thanks to everyone on the forum. I think I read every thread on FHV between last night and today.

I joined here last year after learning that my boy almost certainly had FHV and wanted to learn more.  Initially what I was reading was so scary but the more I learned the more confident I felt as aparently something like 80% of cats that have been through catteries, shelters, multi-cat households and breeders have the virus but only a tiny % show symptoms.  Most healthy cats have an immune system strong enough to keep the virus at bay and you will so no sign other than an ocasional sneeze!  Of course the ones you hear about most are the ones who are sick and have lots of problems.

Like others posting here, Mouse is usually very well and you would never know he has the virus.  After his first year of being plagued with gum and oral problems with secondary infections he has had nothing more than a runny eye a couple of times a year, no secondary infections, and the eye has cleared after two or three weeks on the higher L Lysine dose.  Like @stephanietx   says, I believe stress is definitely a factor with Mouse but other than in his first year he hasn't required me to use Feliway other than spray for transportation in my car (which he hates).  

I really hope that your cat gets well and stays well, what ever is causing this but if it is FHV do not worry that all your cats are automatically going to catch it or become sick with it, or that your new addition will always be unwell.  I think the 98% well is more my experience if a cat is otherwise well, well nourished, and in a reasonably calm and caring home where early signs of the virus coming out are detected and their system supported to help suppress the virus again.

Don't be scared, just be watchful. I have 11 cats, of whom only one is affected by active FHV. He has almost constant eye discharge that sometimes flares up into conjunctivitis and asthma-like breathing. I clean his eye and give him L-lysine daily, and then prednisone during the flare-ups. So far (8 years of this!) no other cat has shown symptoms, though he is groomed daily by at least two of them and sleeps curled up with his special buddy, a 5 year old female. No-one else gets any special meds. I do keep an watch out for any problems with the others, but it would impossible and cruel to isolate Wellington and he could not live without his 'girls' around him all the time.

I had seven cats and only one of them had FHV.  I used lactoferrin in addition to lysine and later, used only lactoferrin.  It did wonders to relieve her eye symptoms.  Here's a thread on it (in case you missed it in your reading!)  

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/267703/stubborn-herpes-infection-add-lactoferrin-in-addition-to-lysine

herpes is very, very easy to transmit between cats.  if your cats share a litter box, food dishes, or water bowls, and one is certainly herpes positive, then they're all very likely herpes positive.

my research about 7 years ago when we thought piglet was herpes positive showed that 95% of cats who had been in shelters/feral/in rescues had herpes.  not all cats show symptoms, and not all show symptoms regularly.  piglet was already immunosuppressed and shows symptoms almost all the time - her eyes weep, mostly the left one.  her symptoms get worse when she's stressed or we aren't able to get l-lysine in her regularly.  samantha sometimes shows some symptoms, usually sneezing or slightly weeping eyes, and usually after stressful stuff.  jake doesn't show any symptoms.

get l-lysine.  if you have multiple cats and want to try sneaking it in their food, get powdered capsules of human grade l-lysine.  250mg a day, 500mg is the cat is symptomatic.  viralys makes a powdered l-lysine that stinks like dead, dry fish (or 'smells delicious to most cats').  they also make a 'palatable' gel which none of my cats would lick off their paws.

and don't freak out too much.  the stress will just stress out the cats.  and make them more symptomatic.  

Herpes is only easily transmitted between cats who are very ill and have not been vaccinated against rhinotracheitis.  If you have resident cats that are already healthy, then you have very little to worry about transmitting the virus.  Upper respiratory infections on the other hand can be easily transmitted.  However, as many of us have already stated, we have both herpes positive kitties living with non HFV+ kitties and there has been no transmission of the virus. 

I have a FHV+ kitty whose condition is kept under control with just 250 mg. of l-lysine daily in a divided dose (she's a little over 10 lbs.).  It really isn't a big deal, you just have to watch that a flare-up doesn't develop into a secondary infection.  If kitty starts having breathing problems she may need an antibiotic.  

Thanks so much everyone for the comments and support! I feel much better this morning.

I do believe all my cats have been vaccinated for FVRCP when they were spayed

as is customary. The new kitty's reports states that she was also vaccinated for FVRP

and Rabies. 

I started every cat in the house on 250 mg. of L-Lysine last night with dinner

to start. Today I will up the dose to 500 mg for the two cats that I feel are sick

The two cats who are ill  are tiny and I suspect under 9 lbs.

The new kitty is exhibiting very little signs of a cold. I didn't get to spend much

time with her before work this morning but I don't think I heard her sneeze once.

My oldest kitty is still sneezing sometimes but her breathing sounds clear and her

nose isn't runny. I'm hoping a few days on the L-Lysine will help alleviate her minimal

symptoms and that is doesn't get any worse.

The other cats appear to not be showing any symptoms which is a huge relief.

They are all healthy and hearty so hopefully they have a good enough immunue

system to keep the illness at bay.

Does anyone have an idea how long I have to wait until I can start to integrate

the new kitty after she stops displaying symptoms? I would love to be able to

open the screen door in my laundry room while I am home so she doesn't feel so

cooped up. Maybe by the weekend?

Also, do I understand this correctly that it is possible for a cat to have an upper respiratory

infection without it being herpes? I swear all the articles I read basically said it is either

herpes or the calicivirus or at least that is the most common causes.

I would wait until the sneezing has stopped, if at all possible.  Yes, it's extremely possible for a cat to have an URI without having herpes. 

So a bit of an update: All my cats except one ended up getting a URI shortly after my post (so 4 out of 5). I suspect the one did

not get it because she had been the most recently vaccinated. She will be 3 in October. All infected were taken to the vet and

received an  antibiotic though I'm not sure how necessary that was in hindsight as none exhibited any outright  signs of a bacterial

infection. The URI's all cleared in about a week though some kitties had it worse than others.

I bought a TON of L Lysine treats because I found a deal on Amazon and some of my cats eat them and others do not.

I have to admit that once their URI's cleared up I have not been that consistent with giving them the supplement.

Well around 3 am this morning I heard one of the cats, Carly, sneezing pretty consistently. My heart dropped because I remembered

how awful it was the first time and I'm hoping it is not as bad this time. I tried giving her a L-Lysine treat this morning but she

is one of the ones who won't eat it unless I break it in teeny tiny pieces which she ate a lot of but not all of so she barely got 250 mg

in her system.

I have no idea what caused the flair up. The only thing I can think of is that my husband and I were on vacation last week but

my mother watched the cats and Carly loves her and even slept in bed with her at night so it doesn't seem she was stressed.

I'm also concerned the others will now all get it again too and I could just about cry right now. Isolation is not an option as I'm

sure the damage has already been done so to speak plus I think isolating a very needy cat would just make the situation worse.

Once cats have the virus in their system it stays there and lays dormant unless for some reason it gets the better of the cat's immune system and presents symptoms.  One cat having an outbreak does not mean any of the others will unless they are all run down or stressed at the same time.  I agree with you that separation is more likely to make things worse because of the stress it would cause.

Even though Carly loves your mum and will sleep with her, your being away can still cause her stress as any change in routine can be hard for cats.

I don't give Mouse L Lysine unless he is showing signs of the virus - like a runny eye and then I give the 1000mg dose until the symptom has gone and then reduce to 500mg for a week or two.  If your cat won't take the required dose twice a day it is worth trying another form.  Mouse foamed at the mouth like he was dying with the powder and tablet forms but he licks the gel off my finger like it's the next best treat to his Thrive fish snacks.