Feline Herpes Virus

Hello Bagheera (4 1/2 months) was diagnosed with Feline Herpes today. Has anyone ever had a cat with this? If so any advice? Bagheera has had URI's off and on since I first got him as a foster at 4 weeks old. He has a URI again! They put him on Clavamox twice a day and Triathalmic for his eyes 3 times a day. Has anyone dealt with this?

My cat has a mild case of feline herpes. I give her L-lysine twice a day in a paste form.

Your cat's case sounds more severe and the medicine is needed. It is a condition that will never really go away, but may go into remission.

What a coincidence! I just had Muddy at the vet's this morning for a second opinion on his herpes infection. He had a URI at about 6 months old, his eye has always been runny since, and even though we have had tests done on it, they concluded Herpes without ever getting a confirmation diagnosis (the herpes needs to be active for it to show positive on a test). He has a chronic form of it, his eye is always runny and the one with the virus is not as fully open as the good eye.

At first we used various antibiotics and eye medicines to get it under control. Recurrent herpes lowers their ability to ward off other eye infections so cats with the disease need to be watched very carefully and meds applied when necessary. We pull back his lower lid and look for redness and swelling. A cat with chronic herpes will always have some degree of swelling, but it only gets reddish when other infections are present.

Muddy is on Lysine paste as a preventative measure for the rest of his life. When he is not on it, his eye closes up and herpes can cause blindness if it gets out of hand. The vet explained that it isn't uncommon for a layer of skin to grow over their eyes if they have continued flareups. Since we've had him on the lysine, his eye went from about half open to nearly fully open and it isn't as weepy. Lysine doesn't eliminate herpes, it simply helps to keep it in remission. There is no cure for herpes.

The good news is that Muddy absolutely LOVES his lysine paste and reminds us twice a day when it is time for his medicine. He tries to trick my husband and I to give him his meds twice in the morning and evening - I'll give it to him and he then begs from my husband after I walk away and vica versa. There are far worse diseases for a cat to have!!

Originally Posted by Momofmany

The good news is that Muddy absolutely LOVES his lysine paste and reminds us twice a day when it is time for his medicine. He tries to trick my husband and I to give him his meds twice in the morning and evening - I'll give it to him and he then begs from my husband after I walk away and vica versa. There are far worse diseases for a cat to have!!

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Momofmany
Not wanting to hijack the thread, but, can you tell me what you use to make a paste of the L-Lysine paste?

Supposedly the lysine is odorless and tasteless, but I have mixed lysine in the cats food in the past and they have refused to eat it.
I have one guy that tests positive and often has weeping eyes and he would definitely benefit from a daily dose of lysine. I would sove finding something to mix with that he wouldn't mind.

You can get lysine in a paste from the vet- the product is called Viralys and it's a maple flavored gel. I've found no problem hiding it in my two's food. They don't have it for herpes, but Rambo has had recurring flare-ups of an unknown URI virus, so I'm using this in hopes of keeping it in check.

Lysine actually inhibits viral replication so it can help suppress and inhibit herpes.

Just as our...herpies virus (eww...) is, it is about the same for the cat. Except, it occurs in the eye and is extresmly common among rescued litters and strays. it is transfered very uickly t other cats he/she is around, though the others may have it, not desplaying signs is a good thing... meaning that they are not effected by it too much to bother it.
My cat Tai has Feline Herpies and what it is, is cuts and scarring on the cornea, that usually leaves a greenish goop where normal eye goops are located. The goop can close the eye shut, and effect both eyes, or one more than the other.

Originally Posted by tru

Momofmany
Not wanting to hijack the thread, but, can you tell me what you use to make a paste of the L-Lysine paste?

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There are a few brands out there, and mine is on Enisyl-F. This is not tasteless at all, and if you read thru the ingredients, it includes things like cod liver oil. It comes in a syringe with lines to mark the dosages - you twist the plunger to the next dose and squirt out the paste.

The paste is a LOT more expensive than buying over the counter pills, but the pills are so big that if your cat hates to be pilled, it is almost worth the extra money. On a preventative dose, it costs me over $30 a month for 1 cat.

I buy the L-Lysine online in powdered form so I can easily measure out the 1/4 tsp. that was suggested by the vet for my ferals. She said it was to strengthen their immune system..

First I could only find the pills here in town and I couldn't break them up to turn them to powder for the life of me. Then I found the capsules at a health food store so I could open them and mix them in, but the price was really too high for dosing the amount of ferals I was taking care of at the time. That's when I went online searching and I did find the powder by the pound and it is quite inexpensive.

Here is the link to where I found it.
http://asnutrition.com/SearchResults...sine&Submit=Go

I just thought that Momofmany was making up her own paste to give to her cat is why I asked about that.

Thanks everyone. Bagheera has to go back in 2 weeks and then we'll see what happens from there. Hopefully it wont be to bad all his life. URI's are not fun.

My Teddy = the URI king. He has the absolutely nastiest nose, sneezes, and snot I have ever seen in my life from a cat or a human.

That being said, he gets 500mg of L-lysine (bought as capsules that you pull apart and can mix with canned food) a day and without it, he just can't survive. It works absolutely wonderfully. For flare ups, he's bumped up to 1000mg a day (500 mixed with his morning and evening wet meals).

The brand I use is Solgar. I get 100, 500mg each capsules for $11.30+tax from my local health store.

Hi, I hope you don't mind me asking a question on YOUR question. But, I am curious about the texture, color, etc. of the runny eyes on the cats with herpes. As I posted in another thread, I'm thinking of adopting a cat with very runny eyes, but have two healthy cats at home. I am told by the shelter workers that it is not contageous and that all the cats from this hoarder had it. His eyes run very clear and it is constant. They have had him for a year and the runny eyes has not come and gone. He has them all the time. Like I said, though, there isn't any substance to it at all. Its much like a cocker spaniel or poodle, who tend to have runny eyes. I can't take it to my vet before adopting it. So, that's not an option. I'm just trying to gather lots of information. Does this sound like the same thing your cat has? From everything I've read it sounds more like blocked tear ducts to me. Thank you so much for doing a comparison!

~Deborah

Originally Posted by scully931

Hi, I hope you don't mind me asking a question on YOUR question. But, I am curious about the texture, color, etc. of the runny eyes on the cats with herpes. As I posted in another thread, I'm thinking of adopting a cat with very runny eyes, but have two healthy cats at home. I am told by the shelter workers that it is not contageous and that all the cats from this hoarder had it. His eyes run very clear and it is constant. They have had him for a year and the runny eyes has not come and gone. He has them all the time. Like I said, though, there isn't any substance to it at all. Its much like a cocker spaniel or poodle, who tend to have runny eyes. I can't take it to my vet before adopting it. So, that's not an option. I'm just trying to gather lots of information. Does this sound like the same thing your cat has? From everything I've read it sounds more like blocked tear ducts to me. Thank you so much for doing a comparison!

~Deborah

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Well Bagheera's eye goop is usually a constant poaring of thick whitish goop. But sometimes it is also greenish yellow. If it is Feline Herpes it is contagious. Bagheera has it but my other 3 have no symptoms. My vet said some cats are immune and others have it without showing.

Prego has it. He gets a crushed up lysine tablet (500mg) every night. I use a pill crusher to crush it. I just put it right on top of his canned food; I don't even have to mix it in. He eats it right up. He doesn't even seem to notice it's there.

I have three six month old kittens all from the same litter. The female started to display many of the same symptoms already discussed , along with a high fever. The fever was responsive and only lasted a day and a half . Her eye is better now after two rounds of antibiotics and two oral ones as well. Both of the boys have now come down with the runny eyes and sneezing, but no fevers or lethargy. There mother is fine and is not displaying any symptoms. After reading this thread I will be getting them tested as soon as I am able. Anyone know the cost of this test ? Thanks for all the info.

Originally Posted by gbangel420

I have three six month old kittens all from the same litter. The female started to display many of the same symptoms already discussed , along with a high fever. The fever was responsive and only lasted a day and a half . Her eye is better now after two rounds of antibiotics and two oral ones as well. Both of the boys have now come down with the runny eyes and sneezing, but no fevers or lethargy. There mother is fine and is not displaying any symptoms. After reading this thread I will be getting them tested as soon as I am able. Anyone know the cost of this test ? Thanks for all the info.

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I dont know how much the test was for it. My whole bill was almost 200. That was including 3 different kinds of medicine. They were all around $30. And some chest x-rays.

Originally Posted by 4crazycats

I dont know how much the test was for it. My whole bill was almost 200. That was including 3 different kinds of medicine. They were all around $30. And some chest x-rays.

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Thanks for your reply. That is about how much I have spent on visits with medicine and only the Luk/Aids test for one cat. I better get another job lol.. Thanks again