Herpes and Lysine

We adopted a rescue about 2 years ago. Teisha was found on the street of a city with a serious eye infection. It took 2 bouts of antibiotics to clear it up. The vet at the time said she felt it was herpes. The vet did no tests of any kind and just announced that I would have to keep Teisha on Lysine for the rest of her life. She was about 8 mos old when she was found.

She has had no respiratory  issues only that one eye infection.I have read that there can be serious complications with Lysine and am wondering if I cut down on her dosage if I might be able to take her right off it?

Our vets up in Canada are real big in upselling and I buy the liquid pump from the vet at 30 bucks a shot. I have no problem paying it if it is necessary but I am just wondering if most vets do tests to determine Herpes or it's an educated guess?

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

I found that lactoferrin helped keep my kitty's herpes under control.

You may want to read this thread as well:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245732/herpes-virus-of-the-eye

One of the posts links to a very recent journal article that to me conveys that long-term use of lysine is safe and beneficial.

Our vet did not test for herpes, and gave me the same recommendation you received: lysine for life. My understanding is that the commonly available tests are not reliable and long-term use of lysine is safe, so vets don't test for herpes in typical cases.

I use the NOW lysine, which is a powder that you can sprinkle onto food. The price is very reasonable in the US, but seems to be higher on the Canadian side of amazon. You can probably find it in your local health food stores at a lower price.


If the eye infection recurs, you may want to try Polyprenyl immunostimulant. It cut down our cat's herpes outbreaks from at least once every two months to none in the past eight months. It is around $150 for the required three-week course, but will save you a lot of money on antibiotics and vet visits. I still keep our cat on the lysine and lactoferrin as maintenance, as the journal article and our vet have recommended.