Herpes symptoms redevelop

Petunia42 said:

 
How long after your cat's first herpes infection did the symptoms return again? Thanks.

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Are you trying to ask someone in particular or just asking generally?

Generally. Asking everyone who's cat ever had a repeat of it. Thanks.

My cat didn't ever really get rid of it, so there weren't specific repeats.  She had it pretty bad when we first got her--then we put her on lysine and lactoferrin and the symptoms decreased significantly, but never disappeared 100%.  So it didn't really come and go, we just got it down to a very low level of symptoms.

So sorry to hear of your cats problems. But glad to also hear that the lysine and lactoferrin helped. Can you tell me what the ongoing symptoms are like? And both nasal congestion AND eye irritation?

The symptoms reoccur usually during stressful periods in your cat's life. Mine would get flar ups when he escaped outside and would get lost for a couple hours he also got a flar up when I introduced a new cat to the household. The usual symptoms are sneezing and in addition mine would get sores on his nose or mouth. I would take my cat right away to the vet for treatment just to avoid any issues. The reoccurrences took place maybe at most 2 times a year but I had a pretty mischievous cat who would get himself into situations in addition to the above. He also hated the lysine and wouldn't eat anything with it. So I guess mine was worse case scenario.

Petunia42 said:

 
So sorry to hear of your cats problems. But glad to also hear that the lysine and lactoferrin helped. Can you tell me what the ongoing symptoms are like? And both nasal congestion AND eye irritation?

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Mostly the eye dripping, occasionally sneezing, too.

Aye-yi-yi!!

Hoping that I can manage my cat's his stress levels while I'm home. But he had a close call with death recently due to not eating and HL and a cascade of other probs as a result of herpes upper respiratory stuff. Have an uncancellable 2 week trip coming up in May that I'm freaking out about. It's just the type of thing that will stress him. Have a sitter, but he always ends up with a urinary tract infection which is stress related when I've been gone.

Thanks for your input. Guess all I can hope for is that he doesn't have the upper respiratory tract symptoms and stop eating.

Hopefully your cat will be fine. Hopefully he will like the lysine and you can add that to his
Diet it really does help and May is a ways away.

It really depends.  My cat went about 6 years before having a flare up, but she's always sneezing and has a bit of clear eye discharge.  I do all I can to keep the symptoms at bay:  grain free diet, lysine twice daily, keep a routine and stress to a minimum and give her a daily antihistamine, but sometimes it's just not enough.  She's worse when the weather changes, too.

What is the anti-histamine you give your cat and dosage?

betsygee said:

My cat didn't ever really get rid of it, so there weren't specific repeats.  She had it pretty bad when we first got her--then we put her on lysine and lactoferrin and the symptoms decreased significantly, but never disappeared 100%.  So it didn't really come and go, we just got it down to a very low level of symptoms.

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pretty much ditto to that with our cat.

Mouse presented with symptoms every couple of months until he was about 2 years old (undoubtedly not helped by me being stressed out).  As he has matured and I have changed jobs and reduced my stress levels his herpes has settled considerably.  It is several months since he last had a runny eye, and just the occasional cough or sneeze which hasn't been enough for me to think I should start him on the L Lysine for a time.

I found using L Lysine at times I know are going to be more stressful, as a preventative measure, plus Feliway plug in leading up to and through these periods has helped a lot.

All the best with managing things leading up to your trip and while you are away. Fingers crossed your cat will be fine:  biggest thing to remember is that the more stressed you are the more stressed your cat is, and that includes worrying about the herpes!  

Wondering if your kitty had nasal congestion when it flared up or just runny eyes?

Mservant,

LOL about keeping my stress level down!

I'm using the L-lysine as a preventative all the time....is it meant for that or just to reduce symptoms when they flare? Did your kitty suffer appetite loss when he/she had symptoms?

Argggh!

What about multiple cat households? If one of your kitties has a flare do the others? Or because it's activated by stress does it not work that way?

I have two kittens. One has been here since May; one came here at the end of October. When Gus came home in October, he rapidly developed an alarming herpes infection, mainly in his eyes - the eyelids swelled up to over a centimeter in thickness and dripped pus. There was some sneezing and some nasal discharge. It took about a week and a half to clear up with Clavamox and Tobramycin drops.

At the beginning of December, Gus had a day of greenish eye discharge that vanished almost immediately with the Tobramycin drops, no sneezing or nasal discharge. Claude developed a slightly more serious (but still brief) eye infection at the same time - she had swollen eyes for three or four days, no nasal discharge, no sneezing, and it responded very well to Ofloxacin drops (different vet, and she didn't want the two cats using the same bottle - she said I could use Gus's old medicine on him but preferred to prescribe Ofloxacin for Claude).

The eye drops, if started early enough, will run into the nose and work on anything developing in there, too. I'd suggest talking to your vet about keeping a bottle handy and immediately dosing your diabetic cat if you see any warning signs. My vet is on board with this, but you want to talk it over with your own, obviously.

Honestly, I was freaked out by my first brush with feline herpes (Gus looked just awful and it seemed like he would never improve until he suddenly did), but it's generally not a big deal at all, any more than a person catching a seasonal cold. I think you had a particularly bad experience with your first go-round, but hopefully you'll never see anything like that again.


Edit to add: You're probably aware that the drops and antibiotics would have no effect on the herpes itself at all. In my brief experience, the herpes virus doesn't add up to much on its own; the problem is that it paves the way for a secondary bacterial infection. When Gus was sick the first time, I could hear his nostrils fill up with snot every time he lowered his head to eat his food. He'd have to immediately jerk his head back up again because he couldn't breathe and eat at the same time. He was determined to eat no matter what, that was lucky, but it was really sad to watch. But this was the secondary infection that caused these problems, not the primary herpes flareup. Both my cats get 500 mg of L-lysine a day, in treat form. I could give it to them powdered, but they both love the treats and get super excited about them, so why not?

@Petunia42  @flowerdew  makes a good point about the secondary bacterial infections causing many of the problems.  If you can manage to catch the herpes outbreak quickly and boost your cat's immune system to minimise the risk of secondary infections your cat is likely to be much happier, in less pain, and their body be less at risk.  

As for the use of L Lysine as a continuous preventative measure or acute measure you can do what ever you feel comfortable with and have talked through with your vet.  As Mouse is generally pretty well and I don't want to put any unnecessary stress on his liver processing the proteins he needs, I prefer to use the L Lysine only when I think he is more stressed or is showing signs of coughing and sneezing  more or a runny eye.  My vet is happy with that arrangement.   Many on the site keep their cats on the maintenance dose because they feel that is what their cats need to keep the virus suppressed.   If Mouse was showing signs of the virus again quickly after I stopped the L Lysine I would keep him on the maintenance dose as well.  This leads on to your question about appetite..

Many cats with feline herpes seem to have a poor sense of smell due to the damage the virus has done to the lining of their nose.   Mouse hasn't had any severe upper respiratory infections or noticeable nasal involvement (his main flare ups have been in his mouth, and later in one of his eyes) but I strongly suspect his sense of smell is not as good as most other cats.  Without a sense of smell cats will often loose their appetite and encouraging them to eat can be hard.  They will often respond better to the stronger smelling foods, esp when unwell.  Good nutrition is important as it helps with having a strong immune system so find the best food you can that your cat likes, and warm it up or put smelly toppings on there too if you need to to get his attention.  Mouse will eat better if his food is on the move too, which I can do as he eats prescription dry for his teeth but it's harder with wet foods obviously!

As for one cat having a flare up meaning your other cats might also do so.  I guess it depends whether they are all under stress and run down at the same time, which is often not the case.  I know of some households where it sounds like all the cats have feline herpes but only one or two of them ever get symptoms to the extent you would think of them being unwell.  Jusgt because one cat in the house has FHV does not mean all the others will carry or develop signs of it. On the other hand, if there is a secondary bacterial infection such as conjunctivitis then this can spead so you do have to take care. 

I can also echo what flowerdew has said about feeling freaked out when I was first told Mouse probably had feline herpes.  It's how I ended up finding TCS as I was looking for information. I was worried Mouse was always going to be sick, and would continue to have lots of pain and issues with his mouth and eyes.  Nearly 2 years on his health is much more stable and none of my fears about his eyes or his mouth and dental problems have become apparent.  What's more I feel much more educated and in control of his welbeing because I have more understanding of what he needs.  He is a very healthy cat who, since his diagnosis has gone on to win first prizes and a title at cat shows so it is does not have to be a condition full of poor health and sickness. He is as cheeky, bouncy and shiny furred as anyone could wish for. LoL

Thanks Flowerdew and MServant. Appreciate you sharing all of your experience I'm jumping 3 steps ahead in my thinking on this because almost certain that if Black Cat does get the nasal congestion part of this again, he will not survive. He absolutely will not eat if he is feeling the least bit off. His sense of smell must be unusually keen. There are two cat food brands and that he will accept and I have literally gone through very brand wet and dry, baby food and all the tricks to entice. The way he shows his disdain for food is to circle the bowl and paw around like he is burying his poop in litter. Never had a cat do that. Grateful that there are two brands that he will accept at least.

But he eats nada when he's feeling off- nothing. And after a few days no eating we would be sunk. He's almost 14 years, diabetes stresses his system and vet is not so sure his liver will ever bounce back. So if he stops eating at a future date after the tube is pulled, our only option is to put in another tube. It is painful to say it but financially I couldn't do this again- this last bout was over $7K. My husband says if it happens again and he refuses to eat it will be his way of telling us it's time to pass. I wouldn't put him through the stress of syringe feeding- no way.

This is why I am a bit berserk about all this. Love this big guy. It's so great to see him coming back and feeling better daily, but like waiting for the other shoe to drop for the next time. Love to have a few more good years with him and don't want to make that horrible decision of not continuing his care because of financials. While I love the new little kitty, Jane, we brought into the home last summer can't help but feel guilty that her herpes (unknown at the time I got her) is the cause of all this. He has diabetes but he's done remarkably well. He's never been sick otherwise. Jane had a mild case.

Thanks for all your words of kindness and for the education about herpes. Have to let go of this and let the future be. It's good to have some knowledge of the process.

Hey....what about famciclovir? I mentioned that to my vet and he poo-poo'd it. Have either of you tried that?

Mouse was prescribed Famciclovir first off when the vet concluded his runny eye was down to the herpes virus.  After his eye cleared up, the next time it was running I talked to the vet about trying L Lycine instead as I felt the Famciclovir was quite a significant drug to give my cat and I was not convinced the eye had cleared up faster than it had previously without appropriate med's  (they treated as for a secondary infection which I doubt he ever had).  The eye clears up quicker with the L Lysine than it did with the Famciclovir and Mouse is happy to take L Lysine gel like a treat.  (Tablets and power he foams at the mouth like he's dying   )   From the literature I read the Famciclovir seems to be most effective when used from first outbreak and with Mouse he had had several before it was used so that might have made a difference.   That said, you mention Black Cat having some liver problems because of his eating and if you are worried about stress on his liver I suggest you talk that through with your vet if using the L Lysine continuously:   there are some veterinary articles which talk about  how it can make the liver work harder because of how it alters the processing of proteins in cats.   You might want to check out the cost of Famciclovir if you are concerned about costs:  a 10 day supply for Mouse cost me over £100 here in the UK.

There is a lot of advice on syringe feeding, and on getting sick cats reluctant to eat here on TCS and it is worth taking a look round some of the health and nutrition threads for these.