Herpes and Calici Viruses

Hello friends I am wondering if any of you are having or have had any problems with the herpes virus or the calissi virus I am battling my cat's health those two viruses along with auto immune and possibly allergies now and I can't keep her healthy so I'm wondering if anybody out there has had to deal with this. I've done all the research and she's on a lot of medication right now and she's on a permanent pain medication because The viruses have pretty much destroyed all the little hairs on her tonsil her tongue is raw she looks like she has a red runway down had the length of her tong some bases better some days it's worth she gets a little bit of drool from that also the with the viruses when they really attack her she's drooling a lot so she's on an antiviral medication for that and you know it's very expensive and helps and then if she gets a cold or congestion it recurs. I have spent like over $2000 since October to now and medications and vet visits and it seems that I cant keep her healthy more than six weeks or eight weeks and she recurs again so I'm wondering if anybody has any experience with this . I am questioning her way of life right now because all she does is sleep she is on a lot of medication back to back and she's in a lot of pain I don't know what to do anymore I don't want to have to put her to sleep unless I really have to . The vets kind of caused these viruses to really go crazy on her body by letting it fester in her system trying to diagnoses it wasn't till the fourth try that the fourth visit that they finally figured out what it was because I insisted on a blood blood work which was very expensive and she was in a lot of steroids and nothing worked until the antiviral medication her tongue was in raw skin her lips raw too and bloody skin so she has had a lot of tribulations be in sick she's also a A rescue she was homeless for for five years and you know she lived in the elements and poor cat has had a hard life and she just can't seem to be healthy and she's a main coon breed at least 95% Maine coon and she's lovely and sweet and I guess I'm trying to find another way and how to help her if anybody has any ideas or any experience please reach out to me . Thank you.

I have a herpes kitty who had calicivirus when we first got her. First of all, because herpes is an underlying issue that causes a compromised immune system, you have to work to improve the overall health of your kitty.  Transitioning to a grain-free diet is a good place to start.  The arginine in grains cause the herpes virus to replicate.  Cutting out the grains decreases the feeding ground for the virus.  Add Lysine to her diet as well. Lysine has been shown to break the spread of herpes. I know that there is an article posted here on TCS that says it's not effective, but there are also other studies that show it works.  It works for us.  You can pick up Lysine at the health food store or supplement section at most big box stores or the pharmacy.  We buy ours in a 1 lb jar from VitaCost.  Give 1000mg a day divided into 2 doses.  Because lysine is an amino acid, it is secreted out of the body through urination.  For it to work, it has to stay in their system, so give 500mg twice a day until she's over the hump.  Stress is the number one contributor to a herpes flare up, so keep your environment as calm as possible.  Stick to your routine.  Get Feliway diffusers and run them 24/7 in your home to help her de-stress. Also, steroids are a big no-no unless it's a last resort for herpes kitties.  Steroids suppress the immune system and since her immune system is already compromised, it's like an open door for infections.  You might find that a lot of the issues she's having are directly related to the herpes.  It can present in URIs, eye ulcers, mouth ulcers, and rodent ulcers around the mouth.

Wow thank you sooo very much i am giving her lysine already but as a treat.vet told me diet had nithing to do with the herpes. What kind of name brand food do you give your kitty im in Ny and also in a tight budget that she has broken. I love my Mishu soo much but want her healthy. I will look for lysine in liquid.

We feed Canidae PURE Grain Free and we get it from PetCo.  If you go to their website, I think they're still offering coupons.  We've got 4 kitties and we get the 13oz can and it's not too terribly expensive.  Even the Classic Fancy Feast pate is grain free.

Thank you so much for your help. Can i ask you every when do your kitty gets a flare up with the herpes. I got her the food and im getting her more lysine. Vet its telling me that the grainfree food is a fad and it's really not grain free. Also research shows there is no valid reason that the grain free is the underlying cause for the herpes to replicate faster. So im curious how many flare ups do you experience a year. Unfortunately Mishu has both herpes and calissi and my girl is miserable. Ive spent so much already on the antiviral meds . Thank you for your help. Im glad your babies are good.

I've never heard of calissi virus and Google showed nothing. Do you mean calcivirus?

Has your vet thought about something like famciclovir? Or another antivirus that might be stronger than lysine? (It's a prescription.)

ladybellac17 said:

Wow thank you sooo very much i am giving her lysine already but as a treat.vet told me diet had nithing to do with the herpes. What kind of name brand food do you give your kitty im in Ny and also in a tight budget that she has broken. I love my Mishu soo much but want her healthy. I will look for lysine in liquid.

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I'm kinda stunned that your vet said diet has nothing to do with it. Diet may not have caused the problem, but a good diet that boosts her immune system can certainly help you manage what's going on.

My cat has a terminal illness. In doing everything I can think of to save her I've run across many, many articles where owner used special targeted diets to help their cats beat their cancer. I think this same logic can transfer to herpes and other infections as well.

I hope the great advice given on this thread by others helps your kitty feel better. My thoughts are with you.

Yes were finishing yes another round of those meds and very expensive like 65 $ for generic meds. Im trying the grain free. Later when i get hm ill tell u the whole story. Calissi virus and herpes are like brother virues both very aggressive and very costly too.

I misspelled it calici

ladybellac17 said:

Thank you so much for your help. Can i ask you every when do your kitty gets a flare up with the herpes. I got her the food and im getting her more lysine. Vet its telling me that the grainfree food is a fad and it's really not grain free. Also research shows there is no valid reason that the grain free is the underlying cause for the herpes to replicate faster. So im curious how many flare ups do you experience a year. Unfortunately Mishu has both herpes and calissi and my girl is miserable. Ive spent so much already on the antiviral meds . Thank you for your help. Im glad your babies are good.

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Hannah is now 11.  She had a major flare when she was 2 and then didn't have another one until last year when she was 10.  We found out when she was 2 that she had an underlying psuedomonas infection.  Once we got that taken care of, she was so much better.  This past fall, we discovered that she needed some dental work and that was probably contributing to her herpes flare up.  She had a couple of teeth extracted last month and her nasal/sinus issues have improved dramatically.  I still think something else is going on, but she's not nearly as sneezy as she was prior to the extractions. 

Hannah's herpes symptoms have always manifested as upper respiratory infections.  She's on a grain-free diet and has been for 8 years.  She also receives a daily antihistamine dose, evening primrose oil (an anti-inflammatory), quercetin (an natural antihistamine), Lysine twice daily, and Missing Link, a dietary supplement. 

Dear friends

I have taken all of your advice and i changed Mishus food and it did not go well. She refused to eat at all. I made her my own version of cat canned food and boiled chicken and turkey in chicken broth and put in the cuisinart i trew rest of lysine treats in to blend together. She ate the chicken fine but when i mixed the new dry food it was a no no. I put some dry food in cuisinart and put in but shes too smart. Lost weight from not eating so I compromised with her and I said you can have a old food back but you got to eat the chicken I make you and I put extra lysine in it every morning and night and is definitely working she's eating she's happy eating her all dry food which makes me happy fine whatever as long as she eats and drinks so everything is back to normal and she's feeling a lot better and she's the drooling is to very minimal because of the damage on her tongue already done from the virues and it's it's amazing the change thank you so very much for all your help and all your advice . Maybe her tongue will heal now and i can stop her pain management meds. Her tongue looks like the red carpet. I think she lost the hairs on the middle of her tongue because of the severity of the viruses. Now i know what made it grow so quickly and it was the extreme high doses of steroids they put her on for 3 weeks. The vets all 3 of them took 4 wks to diagnose her herpes and calicy virus by then her lios were in raw skin and her tongue in bright red strip. Pain management is for her mouth and without it shes cant eat and sore jaw. So right now shes doing better because of all your advice and i cant thank you enough. Its a step in the right direction. THANK YOU!!!!

ladybellac17 said:

Dear friends

I have taken all of your advice and i changed Mishus food and it did not go well. She refused to eat at all. I made her my own version of cat canned food and boiled chicken and turkey in chicken broth and put in the cuisinart i trew rest of lysine treats in to blend together. She ate the chicken fine but when i mixed the new dry food it was a no no. I put some dry food in cuisinart and put in but shes too smart. Lost weight from not eating so I compromised with her and I said you can have a old food back but you got to eat the chicken I make you and I put extra lysine in it every morning and night and is definitely working she's eating she's happy eating her all dry food which makes me happy fine whatever as long as she eats and drinks so everything is back to normal and she's feeling a lot better and she's the drooling is to very minimal because of the damage on her tongue already done from the virues and it's it's amazing the change thank you so very much for all your help and all your advice . Maybe her tongue will heal now and i can stop her pain management meds. Her tongue looks like the red carpet. I think she lost the hairs on the middle of her tongue because of the severity of the viruses. Now i know what made it grow so quickly and it was the extreme high doses of steroids they put her on for 3 weeks. The vets all 3 of them took 4 wks to diagnose her herpes and calicy virus by then her lios were in raw skin and her tongue in bright red strip. Pain management is for her mouth and without it shes cant eat and sore jaw. So right now shes doing better because of all your advice and i cant thank you enough. Its a step in the right direction. THANK YOU!!!!

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Just to let you know that my Rosie also has chronic herpes virus. I give her L-lysine 500 mg a day during a flare up and 250 mg a day maintenance and I swear by it. I was given the advice many years ago by a virologist who

Hello friends is with deepsadness that i tell you on Saturday i had to put Mishu to sleep. She developed the rare symptoms of the calicivirus and she got worse very quickly. There was no fixing it sadly and she was in pain suffering. I could not watch her deteriorate and let her suffer. So i made the hard choice to end her suffering. I did everything you guys told me and it worked for a while but she was a severe case. I want to thank you for all your help it meant a lot and i did everything in my power to help her. She is missed soo much . Thank you again.

I'm so sorry you lost your Mishu. It sounds like you did what you could for her, and in the end made the hard decision to end her suffering. She passed away knowing what it meant to be cared for and loved.
RIP Mishu.
This thread will now be locked out of respect, as per TCS policy. If you feel up to it, you can always create a tribute thread for her at the Crossing the Bridge forum.