Anyone else deal with feline herpes?

My poor little Boo, who is almost 18wks old, has been battling it since we got her. It's been so bad her eye and middle eyelid have swollen shut and bled. Now that the flare up is under control and swelling is gone we are working with healing damage to her actual eye. It's so hard to feel like I'm doing everything I can. She's at the vet 1-2x a week. She's still gaining weight and playing.

Just wondering if anyone else has had anything like this happen before?

Poor little Boo!  I'm glad to hear her eye is healing nicely; you've certainly done an A+ cat parent job addressing the problem.  I've dealt with swelling and excessive discharge, though nothing like you've dealt with!- when Vivi had a severe flare-up a few years back.  She only had trouble with her eye that one time, so the good news is the infection won't necessarily recur.  

All six in my brood have FHV (or FVR) and only four have to take L-Lysine every day.  You know your kitty best, so if she's constantly battling minor symptoms (discharge, squinting, sneezing), you may want to keep her on a maintenance dose.  250 mg. for kittens and small cats, 250-500 mg. for average sized cats.  A dosage under 500 mg. can be given once a day.  I simply mix it with one meal.  My favorite brands are Jarrow Formulas and Carlson.  It's easier to get the correct dose with the Jarrow, but the Carlson is pure, no fillers.  

Best wishes!

the3rdname said:

Poor little Boo!  I'm glad to hear her eye is healing nicely; you've certainly done an A+ cat parent job addressing the problem.  I've dealt with swelling and excessive discharge, though nothing like you've dealt with!- when Vivi had a severe flare-up a few years back.  She only had trouble with her eye that one time, so the good news is the infection won't necessarily recur.  

All six in my brood have FHV (or FVR) and only four have to take L-Lysine every day.  You know your kitty best, so if she's constantly battling minor symptoms (discharge, squinting, sneezing), you may want to keep her on a maintenance dose.  250 mg. for kittens and small cats, 250-500 mg. for average sized cats.  A dosage under 500 mg. can be given once a day.  I simply mix it with one meal.  My favorite brands are Jarrow Formulas and Carlson.  It's easier to get the correct dose with the Jarrow, but the Carlson is pure, no fillers.  

Best wishes!

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Thanks! It's seemed like we were the only ones. It's just so crazy because she's fine besides the eye! They explained to us as like humans getting cold sores. Is that true? They said it is common though. Our other kitty has been fine and shown no signs so they said he's either immune or has it already.

We've had Boo for almost a month now.

Joseyjinx7 said:

 

the3rdname said:

Poor little Boo!  I'm glad to hear her eye is healing nicely; you've certainly done an A+ cat parent job addressing the problem.  I've dealt with swelling and excessive discharge, though nothing like you've dealt with!- when Vivi had a severe flare-up a few years back.  She only had trouble with her eye that one time, so the good news is the infection won't necessarily recur.  

All six in my brood have FHV (or FVR) and only four have to take L-Lysine every day.  You know your kitty best, so if she's constantly battling minor symptoms (discharge, squinting, sneezing), you may want to keep her on a maintenance dose.  250 mg. for kittens and small cats, 250-500 mg. for average sized cats.  A dosage under 500 mg. can be given once a day.  I simply mix it with one meal.  My favorite brands are Jarrow Formulas and Carlson.  It's easier to get the correct dose with the Jarrow, but the Carlson is pure, no fillers.  

Best wishes!

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Thanks! It's seemed like we were the only ones. It's just so crazy because she's fine besides the eye! They explained to us as like humans getting cold sores. Is that true? They said it is common though. Our other kitty has been fine and shown no signs so they said he's either immune or has it already.

We've had Boo for almost a month now.

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Yes, it's the same virus (different strain, obvs; it can't be transmitted to cats by humans and vice versa).  L-Lysine helps prevent outbreaks in humans, too.  

As for the other kitty, he most likely has it because of its highly infectious nature, however, he may be a carrier.  Carriers can be asymptomatic their entire lives or experience a flare-up now and then.  Hopefully he never has trouble with it, but if he does the good news is that you'll recognize the symptoms and know how to treat it 

the3rdname said:

Yes, it's the same virus (different strain, obvs; it can't be transmitted to cats by humans and vice versa).  L-Lysine helps prevent outbreaks in humans, too.  

As for the other kitty, he most likely has it because of its highly infectious nature, however, he may be a carrier.  Carriers can be asymptomatic their entire lives or experience a flare-up now and then.  Hopefully he never has trouble with it, but if he does the good news is that you'll recognize the symptoms and know how to treat it 

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Yeah. He's 3. They said he may have been vaccinated or exposed at birth. We haven't seen any changes and it's been a month. Occasionally he sneezes a bit or coughs, but is not often and he has been like that since we adopted him.

Are there any tips for dealing with this virus? Or just keep up what we are doing? We also realized, Boo is only 15-16wks old!

I volunteer at an animal shelter, and there was a recently adopted cat who had Feline Herpes as well.  He'd been at the shelter since kittenhood, and while I didn't have much interaction with him directly, (since we had to keep him isolated from the rest of the kitties), he had eye infections pretty frequently.  I'm not sure what specifically the shelter gave him, but it was some kind of eye medication to help the infection and swelling whenever he needed it. Other then the eye infections, he was fine, and is one of the sweetest cats I've ever met.  Hope Boo starts feeling a bit better!

Thanks! We do too! She was so sleepy from the vet visit cause she got to visit the receptionist.

Poor little Boo, that sounds like a really nasty eye infection she's had.  What a relief it is starting to clear, and I hope her eye is not left damaged.  You are doing great with her taking her to the vet regularly and checking out what will be best for her.

I had never heard of feline herpes before being told Mouse probably has it!   That's how I found TCS, when I was looking up information and what I could do.  He got his diagnosis when he was about 1 1/2 but he had been very sick prior to that, with a lot of sores in his mouth.  The vet reckoned, looking back, that the mouth sores were probably herpes.   He was mostly sick in his first 2 years, esp when he was teething, and I guess that makes sense as he was growing a lot and the teething would have been stressing his body a lot - the virus is oportunistic in that way and will come out when ever the host is run down or stressed, or unwell in some other way.  As Mouse has matured and his home life has been more controlled (me being less stressed) he has only had a couple of short bouts of watery eye and these have settled with L Lysine support which I only use when he presents with symptoms.  

There are many cats with threads here on TCS who do not keep well with FHV, but there are also many more cats who have FHV and do keep well - and probably many more that people don't even know they have the virus because their symptoms are so mild!    I was very worried for Mouse when he was first diagnosed and feared he would not be well most of his life, but his story is one to reassure people with as his imune system seems to keep on top of the virus for the most part even without any maintenance medications and his condition is so good that he has won 1st place at a number of cat shows.  May Boo be one of the many kitties who manage to get the better of this virus once she is a little bigger and stronger.  

Boo is still being a trooper. Her eyes discharge is more watery and clear now versus yellow so I think that's good! She's currently laying on my shoulder bathing. She just got done trying to clean my face for twenty minutes, haha.

Lilith and Sophie have it. All 3 cats take L Lysine every day. 

Joseyjinx7 said:

My poor little Boo, who is almost 18wks old, has been battling it since we got her. It's been so bad her eye and middle eyelid have swollen shut and bled. Now that the flare up is under control and swelling is gone we are working with healing damage to her actual eye. It's so hard to feel like I'm doing everything I can. She's at the vet 1-2x a week. She's still gaining weight and playing.

Just wondering if anyone else has had anything like this happen before?

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Hi can you explain the signs to me my 6 month old boy has come in like this im taking him for vet check tomorrow so worried plz help x

mandie said:

Hi can you explain the signs to me my 6 month old boy has come in like this im taking him for vet check tomorrow so worried plz help x

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• mandie
• Sep 8, 2015

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Hi. I'm not an expert but can try to help.

Is he sneezing? Watery eye? Does it look more red or pink?

It could be an eye infection/irritation or feline herpes. Both eyes or one?

He's gorgeous!

Here is Boo and her eye. Top picture is when we first got here and then they get more current. I didn't take or save any of the pictures from when it was super bad cause it was kind of graphic.

Joseyjinx7 said:

Hi. I'm not an expert but can try to help.

Is he sneezing? Watery eye? Does it look more red or pink?

It could be an eye infection/irritation or feline herpes. Both eyes or one?

He's gorgeous!

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Hi. no sneezing, no temp, no cough. Doing everything as normal. Just his third eye has started to cover. Its day 2 now and no better. So thought "ah cat forum." So just joined. Read so many things on google. But my gut feeling is possible herpes. Both eyes pink.

Joseyjinx7 said:

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• joseyjinx7
• Sep 8, 2015

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• joseyjinx7
• Sep 8, 2015

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• joseyjinx7
• Sep 8, 2015

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• joseyjinx7
• Sep 8, 2015

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• joseyjinx7
• Sep 8, 2015

Here is Boo and her eye. Top picture is when we first got here and then they get more current. I didn't take or save any of the pictures from when it was super bad cause it was kind of graphic.

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Oh my thats how my Frankie eyes look

@Joseyjinx7  Boo looks so sweet, I really hope her eye heals soon, she must have been in so much pain and feeling rotten with the virus so far.   What a nice thought that she could be well and full of kitten energy.   Clear discharge rather than yellow sounds like any secondary infection is clearing so once that is away there is a much better chance of her fighting off the virus and her eye getting better.  

@mandie  Your cat looks beautiful, and in the photo above he looks very big for 6 months too.   I am sorry he isn't well, it is always worrying but so hard when they are just kittens.   If both eyes are pink and second eyelids showing it sounds more like a bacterial infection or something other than herpes to me, esp without sneezing or other upper respiratory things.  It's good that you have a vet appointment arranged for him tomorrow - I hope they are able to tell what's wrong and get him well quickly.  If you want to ask people for advice and support it is always best to start your own thread so it doesn't get confusing with people talking about different cats.   If you need help with that let me know.

M mandie Boo was sneezing and coughing and had a fever too, so it's probably just an eye infection of a different type.

mservant
Thanks! I'm glad other people think she looks sweet even if she looks a little different! One of our friends was scared to pet her, especially because he's nervous around cats anyways.

Yeah, last time she was in they drew blood and used that to help make an eye drop specifically for her! I find that fascinating. She has that and all the other meds too minus the Terramycin, they just took her off that one. Her eye has a slight redness today but we think it's from healing. It looks like a layer is forming over the ulcer. Hoping that's right!

Boo sounds like she has a good vet.       I don't know how the larger ulcers look when they heel -  it might be a good idea to call the vets to check if all is going the way they want it to.   I'm sure they would be able to advise about this over the phone.

MServant said:

Boo sounds like she has a good vet.       I don't know how the larger ulcers look when they heel -  it might be a good idea to call the vets to check if all is going the way they want it to.   I'm sure they would be able to advise about this over the phone.

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Yeah, if it looks concerning I will definitely call tomorrow. It looks tons better than it did before.

My cat has feline herpes. As a kitten (long before I had him), he had a really bad outbreak and ended up with bad ulcers covering his eyes that wouldn't heal and had to be removed. His eyes are chronically goopy as a result of missing part of each eye. He has started taking l lysine recently since he was having drainage and swelling in one of his eyes again. After taking it for a week all his symptoms are gone again.