Sneezy cat just started lysine

Hi!  On July 17th I adopted a new cat to be my emotional support animal.   Her name is Betsy Bedelia and she is 4. She has a heart murmur but otherwise seemed in great health when in the shelter and when I brought her home. Anyway they said she might develop a URI. So on the second day at my house she started coughing and sneezing.  They gave me a round of antibiotics for her and all seemed fine/great.  But she had an irritated ear, and I made a vet appointment for her within the timeframe recommended by the shelter.  That night after I made the vet appointment she started sneezing again and also coughed once.  She would sneeze about ten times in a row, but still only coughed one time really.

So we were in the vet the following Monday.  Her ears it turned out were very very dirty, with just packed wax.  The vet seemed surprised, but Betsy likes to roll in her box a little bit so I said so and they brushed it off. Anyway, they said that if the sneezing came back this soon after antibiotics it was likely viral and having her take more antibiotics didn't make sense, so they diagnosed her with feline herpes.

I tried the treats and she rejected them after the first day, so now she is on the paste.  But I literally didn't get any guidance on it. I've just been giving her one squirt of the paste (apparently 250ml? something like that?) as of this morning.  Anyway, she actually does seem to have a bit more energy this evening after I gave her the paste.

What I'm confused about is there was never any runniness or anything going on with her eyes or nose. It's just sneezing.  Am I just lucky that we caught it quickly?  This is the first time I am in charge of all the cat care (although Betsy is my seventh cat and personality-wise, we mesh incredibly well. It's by and large helping me to have her.  I'm very happy with how that is all going), and I am disabled and live alone, so  Betsy being sick has made me pretty freaked out, so I took it pretty seriously, I guess.  I'm able to be with her most of the time, and I have people who are willing to come over and help me for two-person cat care.  Anyway, she just seems more alert this evening compared to the last few evenings.  So that's all great.

But if there is no or very little runny nose/eyes... I just am a little nervous... ironically, I guess, that if it is just sneezing, I hope the vet gave me the right thing to do. I don't want to be giving my cat the wrong meds!  I literally haven't used this vet clinic before, and they were okay, but I'm a little bit confused why no dosage instructions came when I had someone pick up the lysine paste either.  I was advised to give Betsy six of the lysine treats each day, and for the first day she ate them but after the first day she only licked a few and left them alone, so we switched to the paste. So it was: 1 day of 6 lysine treats, 1 day off when we were trying to get her to eat the treats, and today is the first day we did the paste.  Her digestion seems okay so far and she's eating fine.

The paste is best for me, because just one person can set her up with that, i.e. me most of the time.

Also I guess I shouldn't have any other people who own cats visit us?

I just really, really don't want to do this wrong or have her end up hurt in any way. Any advice?

The sneezing could be allergies or leftover from the URI.  If you burn candles or use room deodorizers that might be causing her to sneeze.  Also, dust is a big allergen for some kitties.  It could also be from the stress of being in a new home and then the trip to the vet.  After she gets comfortable in your home the sneezing might calm down.  I have a cat who sneezes more when she's stressed.  (Weird cat! LOL)  I run Feliway diffusers 24/7 to help her destress. 

For the Lysine, you can get tablets or a powder form and mix into wet food.  You can crush the tablets and put into wet food.  The maintenance dose is 250 mg twice a day.  During a flare up, it's 500mg twice a day.  It's important that it be given twice a day.  Since it's an amino acid, it's passed out of the body when the kitty urinates.  For the lysine to have maximum benefit, dose twice a day.

I checked the list of symptoms for feline herpes.  She has sneezing attacks, she might be squinting, and lethargy. That's all so far. I guess I'll call the vet back and ask them if it couldn't just be allergies, maybe.  It's not like I won't treat her, but I'm just nervous to over-medicate.  Also, when I thought it might just be a recurrance of the URI (which maybe wasn't a URI but feline herpes, I guess, since it presented the same way, just sneezing attacks and lethargy), I got a bottle of grapeseed extract which you can use to treat recurrent URI symptoms, and the vet had not heard about that at all.  I just feel skeptical of this vet.

Feline herpes can aggravate an URI and make it more difficult to recover as quickly.  Stress is a big trigger of URI and herpes flare ups.  If you want to know for sure if your girl has herpes, there is a test that the vet can run to let you know for sure.  The other option is to assume she's got it and manage her health like she's got it.  Switch to a grain-free diet, lysine twice a day, keep your routine as normal as possible, work to reduce stress in the home, and get her as healthy as possible.

If you're feeling skeptical of your vet, I'd go for a second opinion.

Many cat owners give their kitties l-lysine daily as kind of an immune system booster. Hopefully that gives you a peace of mind as I think lysine is quite safe to use.

I would definitely avoid people with cats for a while for fear they might bring the virus to their kitties or back to you. My friend's boyfriend who has 2 outdoor cats came over to my house, loved on my cat, and that very night, my cat started sneezing like crazy with runny eyes and runny nose. We did the same lysine treatment with another liquid med that I can't recall anymore. He was better in 2 weeks! My vet said it's very likely the cats are carriers of some virus even though they haven't gotten sick.

Like some others mentioned could be allergies.  My cat has allergies and asthma.  I use the powdered Lysine from Vitacost.  That way he's just getting pure Lysine.  I mix it in with his wet food.  If your using clay litter maybe consider changing it.  The dust in the litter could cause nose and lung issues.  Best wishes

Since I started lysine twice a day as directed here (The cat treats only said 6 a day for 250 mg a day... 500 during flares only), she hasn't been sneezing, so seems to be going well. Thanks very much for letting me know it had to be twice a day. I'm going with the paste at least for now because it's something I can give her on my own without anyone helping me and it also doesn't effect her enjoyment of her food which I as someone with intestinal issues myself hold pretty dear.  Anyway she seems perkier and not sneezy so I am going to call it a win! Thanks again.

elewy said:

 
Since I started lysine twice a day as directed here (The cat treats only said 6 a day for 250 mg a day... 500 during flares only), she hasn't been sneezing, so seems to be going well. Thanks very much for letting me know it had to be twice a day. I'm going with the paste at least for now because it's something I can give her on my own without anyone helping me and it also doesn't effect her enjoyment of her food which I as someone with intestinal issues myself hold pretty dear.  Anyway she seems perkier and not sneezy so I am going to call it a win! Thanks again.

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Thanks for updating all of us   Great news to hear

Excellent!  Glad she's responding well to the Lysine.  If possible, shop around online for the best price for the paste.  We found that for the long run, it was much cheaper to use the powder.  I usually get mine from VitaCost and it's less than $10 for a one pound jar.  I have 4 cats and the jar lasts about 2 months or so.

stephanietx said:

 
Excellent!  Glad she's responding well to the Lysine.  If possible, shop around online for the best price for the paste.  We found that for the long run, it was much cheaper to use the powder.  I usually get mine from VitaCost and it's less than $10 for a one pound jar.  I have 4 cats and the jar lasts about 2 months or so.

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Great advice.  I get mine from vitacost too.