Help with Feline Herpes Virus and corneal ulceration, please

Hello everyone,

I'm new here. My old cat has corneal ulceration till January, and respiration problem till November.

We can't diagnose for sure that he has FHV or FCV or Chlamydophila felix or Mycoplasma.

I'm worried about his ulcers getting worse. We tried several medications and sereral vets without success yet.

If your cats have go through the same situation, could you please show me the photos of theirs eyes?

or any informations about it?

Thank you very much. And I love my cat very much. He's so important to me. please help. I can't see him suffering.

Welcome to TCS! 

I'm so sorry to hear your kitty is going through this. This must be so stressful for the both of you.

Could you possibly post pictures of his eyes here? Also, let us know what tests did the vets do and what were the results?

I have a 14 year old cat who used to get corneal ulcers all the time. She tested positive for herpes virus on a PCR test. What ended up working best for her was ofloxocin eye drops and oral famcyclivir (an antiviral medication). What treatments have your vets tried so far? Sometimes with really bad ulcers they need them debrided to help them heal.

StephyMeow said:

 
Hello everyone,

I'm new here. My old cat has corneal ulceration till January, and respiration problem till November.

We can't diagnose for sure that he has FHV or FCV or Chlamydophila felix or Mycoplasma.

I'm worried about his ulcers getting worse. We tried several medications and sereral vets without success yet.

If your cats have go through the same situation, could you please show me the photos of theirs eyes?

or any informations about it?

Thank you very much. And I love my cat very much. He's so important to me. please help. I can't see him suffering.

Click to expand...

We were given Cidofovir eye drops and the standard eye ointment. Worked very well.

Hi Anne,

We came to see the vet the first moment I found the ulcer.

And we tried with antibiotic eye drops without luck, that lasts 3 weeks+. I "thank" the vets a lot!

And now it lasts 3 months. Flu ( on November) , and eye problems ( on January).

Here's some photos of his eyes.

22th Jan white discharge and 1 ulcer


22th Jan from a different angle, the ulcer is in fact whitish ( I hope this word do exist)


The last one is what it looks like for now.


I don't have pictures for the other 2 ulcers, they are under his eyelid. white and shallow.

And for the 4th ulcer in the middle of his eye, I have pictures, but we can't see it clear...

so here's one from internet, which is similar and clear.

Just look into the middle, not the pink thing. It's like a γ


So, I think I'm pretty sure he has FHV, but I'm not sure if he has Chlamydophila and Mycoplasma too.

And for the test:  the tear test 

                              the vet put the color drop on it to see it stain. (I don't know how to say it in English)

                              And the vet scratched his eyes with cotton swabs

The vets( yes, plural, with an S)  said it's bacterial, if it doesn't heal in 7 days they'd like the operation.......

It's so obvious that the thing in the middle is virus! And he had flu!

One kind american vet respond me by mail, He said it's virus. And gave me his advice.

The problem is I don't know if he has Chlamydophila and Mycoplasma.

Voilà

Thanks for the help

Hi JDollPrincess,

He's on oral famcyclovir now. Could you give me any advice about the dosage?

Different vets gave me different opinions from 1/8*250mg twice a day to 90mg/kg three times a day.

I think the ulcers are getting worse due to delay and the wrong drops. But it‘s not that bad yet.

Thank you very much

We have a cat who had ulceration of the cornea when he was a kitten. (he was the son of a feral cat). When the shelter found him the eye ulcers had gotten so bad that even after treatment they had to do surgery and remove part of both of his eyes. Today, he is fairly normal but has constant discharge from his eyes. He also doesn't seem to see quite as well as our other cat and appears to be a bit nearsighted. 

So even if it comes down to surgery know there is a good chance of him healing very well.

This is how his eyes look now. You can see he's a bit gross eyed. You can also see the eye crustys that we wipe off daily.

StephyMeow said:

 

• Hi, Thanks for your help Kittens Mom
• It takes how long to know the eye's getting better?
• Mine's on Ganciclovir gel for 19 days now. It's similar to Cidofovir.

Click to expand...

Two weeks along with the ointment. the stain showed eyes healed. Was advised to discontinue the ointment but finish off the drops which lasted about another 10 days. This was diagnosed and treated by a veterinary ophthalmologist.  It might have been the combination of the standard antibiotic eye ointment and the drops.

Thank you very much for the photo and his story.

Good luck to him! He's beautiful!

The operation is the last thing I want for mine, he's old. It may be dangerous for him.

Thank you very much for the reply. It's helpful.

I also heard we should continue the eye drop like 1 week+ after the eye is clear.

It's been 3 weeks for mine, I don't think I should stop it now neither. I hope he's healing.

But I'm not sure if we can use it as long as we want? Like one month or two?

It seems a long way to go for him...as there's still something white on it and the ulcers are still there TT

StephyMeow said:

 
Thank you very much for the photo and his story.

Good luck to him! He's beautiful!

The operation is the last thing I want for mine, he's old. It may be dangerous for him.

Click to expand...

I really hope it isn't necessary. Surgery on an older cat is a bit more risky. I hope he gets better soon!

Thank you very much.

I still try to help him.

For the famcyclivir my vet prescribed 62.5mg twice a day for a month then 62.5mg once a day for maintenance. Pheobe was also prescribed idoxuridine ointment for her eyes but she cried when I applied it so per my vet I stopped it.

Thank you very much for the dosage. 

It takes how long to see it working? It's getting better and better, or it's getting better and maybe worse later, and finally better?

His dosage is 62.5mg three times a day. But he's a big cat. 7.5kg! I'm not sure if it's enough. How much is Pheobe's weight?

He seems to be in good mood yesterday. I thought maybe it's  working.

But then, last night, I saw something new, pinpoint size, transparent, like bullule on his eye. I think I've saw it before.

I don't know if it's a new turn of virus TT

God bless him! Let me suffer instead of him. All I wish it's my cat to be good.

I had a herpes corneal ulcer myself and yes, that idoxuridine HURTS.  Furthermore, it didn't work.  Prior to using that, the eye doctor had given me some WONDERFUL gel, in a 1 gram sample size, (ZIRGAN, ganciclovir 0.15%, made by Bausch & Lomb) and it was working, but when I went to fill the prescription (it comes in a 5 gram tube), it was going to cost over $300 for a tiny tube because Medicare would not cover it!  Medicare would only cover the idoxuridine, so I tried that for a week.  The Zirgan had made the eye feel better almost immediately and the idoxuridine made it feel worse, dry and scratchy.  When I went back to the doctor, the healing that had started using the sample ZIRGAN Ophthalmic Gel had stopped.  The doctor gave me one more sample, and I decided to try to order Zirgan through Canada Drugs as they have much lower prices than American companies.  It turned out that they did not have the "Zirgan" available, but they did have "Virgan," which was the same thing, originally made by the same company, but only marketed in Europe!  It turns out that they could get me Virgan in a 5 gram tube shipped from the UK for $45 including shipping -- the same thing that would have cost $300+ in the U.S.   I got the prescription mailed and at the same time I took in a rescue cat who had herpes ulcers in both eyes.  The vet prescribed the idoxuridine and had never even heard of Zirgan, but I told her about the Zirgan (Virgan) and used it.   His eye ulcers cleared also, left no scarring, and never returned.  The drug has a relatively short shelf life, or I would have kept it.  Instead I shared it with another rescue and it worked on their kittens too.  I have not needed it again, but I still have my written prescription from 2011, just in case I ever have to order it again.  All I had to do was fax it to Canada Drugs and they ordered it from the UK.  (The U.S. cannot order any drugs from the UK but Canada can.)

Without making a long story any longer, I strongly suggest you look into getting some of this for your cat.  Tell your vet this story and have him or her write you a prescription, and you can order it yourself.  Here is a link to an OLD article (2007) back when it was a NEW drug developed to treat this problem.  http://www.touchophthalmology.com/articles/ganciclovir-gel-new-topical-treatment-herpetic-keratitis

Bausch & Lomb used to manufacture it in Europe but have returned to the U.S. where they can make more money, and now it is manufactured by Spectrum Thea in the UK.

Here is the price list for the U.S. version, Zirgan, http://www.drugs.com/price-guide/zirgan  (5 grams for $301.60 = $60.32/gram)

and here is the price list for the UK version, Virgan  https://www.canadadrugs.com/products/zirgan-ophthalmice-gel/0-15   (15 grams for $132.63 = $8.84/gram)

Thank you very much Red Top Rescue!

I'll ask about Zirgan and virgan immediately! 

Do you have any idea how long does the FHV survive and how long does the virus needs to reproduce?

I hope my English wasn't that bad, I can't find it. Maybe what I type doesn't right?

The virus always survives, but it goes dormant.  It can always flare up, though.  Three years after my ulcer, I chose to have my cataracts removed.  The doctor prescribed the oral acyclovir again (that's the medication I was taking when I had the ulcer) as a preventative, 400 mg. twice daily, from some time before the surgery until after it was healed.  I did not get another ulcer, nor even feel one starting, i.e. no burning or tearing.  There were other eye drops involved with the surgery but I did not need the Virgan again.  The shelf life is 5 years before it's opened but only 4 weeks after it's opened. 

Herpes stays in our system and various things can make it start up again.  Taking L-lysine is a good preventative because it interferes with the herpes growth.  It needs arginine to grow, and for some reason L-lysine and Arginine are opposites, so if you add L-lysine to the diet, then arginine isnt available for the herpes virus to grow with.  I mix some in their wet food every day, and I take it myself.  If I have anything stressful, like a cold, a sunburn to my mouth, or even stressful happenings, like a car accident I had a  year ago, I take more to prevent it growing.   it works.  For cats (and people) who have a problem with herpes, Lactoferrin also helps, and in cats it seems to help prevent the runny eyes and crusty eyes that are left over after the ulcers are healed.  There is a long thread on here discussing that too.  My herpes originally came from a dog bite when I was a child -- a dog bit me on the mouth and I ended up getting herpes sores all across my upper lip.   Since then, I have had the virus inside me and it would flare up when I was sick or stressed.  After I discovered L-lysine as a preventative, those stopped.  If I feel one coming on with a cold, I just up my lysine dose and take lactoferrin too.  There are even prescribed foods to eat and to avoid, as per this chart.  http://www.herpes.com/Nutrition.shtml   Of course cats don't tend to eat high arginine foods, this balancing act is more for humans.

Here is our long "add lactoferrin to lysine" thread.  You may want to read this sometime.

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

I'm sorry to hear your story, I hope you and your cats live a happy life now.

Thanks for the links too. I'm so grateful.

He's on L-lysine too, twice a day. and Famciclovir, and he's on Ganciclovir for 3 weeks.

I searched Virgan and Zigran, It looks like the same thing. 

He has a bottle of lactoferrin, I stopped it for now,because he throw it up the second time I gave it to him. 

Another two kind of L-lysine and one Jarrow lactoferrin is on thier way to us. It will be a long journey. It takes 3 weeks or more.

I don't know what to do, I can feel his pain every minute.

Our vets aren't that capable. And there are many tests we can't run.

I think he still has respiratory problems. For now, no discharge in the nose, no sneezing, but he breathes with sound.

And he had one drop of blood from his nose in December. The vet told me it may because of the dry weather. It's one month after his flu.

I found his eye problem in January, Our vet insist to try with many kind of antibacteria drops, and it make his problem worse.

ulcer from one eye to two, and there was just one ulcer, and now there are many of them. He's in pain.

I thought He's getting better, but then I found something new in his eye. I don't know if it's a new generation of virus who is born.

I don't know who to ask anymore, Will his eyes getting better if his respiratory problem's still there? I think it's kind of chronic now.

We can't know if there's Chlamydophila and mycoplasma too.

I feel so strengthless.  I love him so much TT

While waiting to see how oral famciclovir will help my cat with his eye problems, I add what I found here, for those who may need it.

the link below is a study about how famciclovir turns to penciclovir, and remains in the plasma and the tears. It seems the right dose for cat, who wants to treat corneal problem is 40mg/ kg, tid.

http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/clini...ublications/famiciclovir_penciclovir_cats.pdf

And the second link is about another study

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25542064

My cat was healthy the last 14 years in his life, this is the first time I treat with Feline Herpes Virus. And I appreciate any of your story about FHV, especially about eye ulceration.

We have a relatively poor medical condition in our country, so it's impossible for me to get more useful information and tests and medical help from our vets.

I'll never give up to help my old cat. We are grateful if you can write down the dose prescripted for your cat, and how much she or he weights? and how it became to work, and how is the process of healing? etc

Thanks very much for your help