How often do you supplement L-Lysine and for how long--and for what? And other questions. :)

[catspaw66]

Wow thank you everyone for all the information I have a kitten that I had gotten at 3 weeks. She has those drippy eyes and the breeder said to give her angel eyes in her diet. Could she possibly have FHV? Why wouldn't the vet recommend a test when he had seen her? He gave her steroid drops. How do you get all the tests done that should be? Thanks for your help but now I'm thinking I should use this for all my babies just in case. A low dose perhaps.

Tests for FHV are expensive. If you get the PCR,it could cost hundreds of dollars, depending on where you live. I, personally, would start the L-lysine, but am not sure how much to give to a kitten. You say you got the kitten at 3 weeks, from a breeder? No reputable breeder would let a kitten that young away from her mother.

 

[ruthie]

i have an 8.5 kg cat, he is a very large cat not fat but very long, is just on 11years and has had an outbreak of herpes in one eye couple of times in his life, but as of the moment has been very bad tried everything anit biotics and all recent developed meds including l lysine but untill just recently reading this column and talking to my vet i realized the dosage i was giving was too low, at the present time he is getting one half of a 1200mg tablet twice a day and at last seeing some results, im grateful for reading others saying how they had been taking high dose , so many say dont do it, i can only repeat that my beautiful boy is at last appearing to be coming good, thank you everyone for your input and for this great site, from one follower in australia

 

[angels mommy]

@ruthie, I'm so glad to hear your kitty is doing better w/ the correct dose. It really does make difference. You also may want to get the lysine in capsule form instead of tablet. It's much easier. I give Angel 1/2 of a 500 mg. capsule every morning, I put 1/2 in his breakfast, & the other 1/2 in his dinner. Much easier to open & sprinkle in 1/2, vs/ having to cut tablets & pill him. When they are having an outbreak, you double the dose, so 500 mg. 2xs/ day vs/ the 250, until it clears up. (As I'm sure you read in other post above)

 

[catspaw66]

A lot of people use the Now brand of L-lysine powder. It comes in a 1lb. jar, is very finely powdered, and only takes 1/4 tsp. to deliver 500mg. of l-lysine. It is available online, but Amazon usually has the lowest price.
A 1lb. jar gives 822  500mg. doses.

 

[angels mommy]

I currently have the now capsules. Yes, its a good brand.

 

[newmamaof3]

A lot of people use the Now brand of L-lysine powder. It comes in a 1lb. jar, is very finely powdered, and only takes 1/4 tsp. to deliver 500mg. of l-lysine. It is available online, but Amazon usually has the lowest price. http://www.amazon.com/NOW-Foods-Lysine-Powder-Pound/dp/B0013OSNOM/ref=sr_1_5?rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1441049279&sr=8-5&keywords=l-lysine

A 1lb. jar gives 822  500mg. doses.

Do your cats notice the taste

 

[NewYork1303]

We've been using the Viralysis gel now for a few days for my cat who is having an FHV outbreak. Instead of using a syringe to squirt it in his mouth, we have been either measuring the right amount out and then spreading it on his paw or measuring out the amount and giving it to him after his teeth brushing by just smearing it in his lips and the roof of his mouth. Since he doesn't mind the taste it hasn't been a problem.

 

[ruthie]

hi angels mummy, i have tried the powder but my boy is sooooo fussy with food its hard to get him to accept anything that has been tampered with lol, trust me i have tried, but he is very compliant with getting tablets down, although the halved tablets are quite big we get it done with virtually no probs, we are very restricted in australia with what pure l lysine we can get, i see in america you can get jell and creams but not here and i have to go through health food outlets online to get the ones i want , most are a mixture of other things for human cold sores and have things that are not acceptable for animals. thanks for all the great information,

 

[catspaw66]

Do your cats notice the taste

No, they are fine with it. I have heard it tastes salty, but have never tasted it to see. Beside, The Ladies are potato chip lovers.

 

[angels mommy]

Angel doesn't  seem to taste it either, but he also gets a sprinkle of nutritional yeast in his food. That was something else the vet recommended. Good for B vitamilns, if I remember correctly. 

I also roll his little piece of pill pocket I put his 1/2 of an allergy pill in at night, w/ a little extra sprinkled in the dish. He loves it's cheesy flavor! I call it his "sprinkles."  (& for us, it's great on popcorn, or salads, etc..) 

 

[newmamaof3]

I may have to try the now brand then. Virralys is pricey and I'd like to quit syringing them to death. I'm sure they would appreciate that

 

[angels mommy]

Seeing that this thread has some notifications, so someone checking it out. I just thought I'd update some info.
I found the now brand has a lysine for cats on Amazon, & thats what I buy now. Its already in powdered form & one dose is 1/8 tsp.
I'll place the link below.
My sweet Angel is passed almost 7 yrs already, but I use it for a "semi feral" ( took her 2 yrs to trust me to pet her) little Tortie that I feed & watch over outside. I've got her son, Panther inside now. A big beautiful black boy

NOW Pet Health, L-Lysine Supplement, Powder, Formulated for Cats, NASC Certified, 8-Ounce https://a.co/d/4G5JMyx

 

[Alldara]

I'm popping on to add: lots of foods are now adding l-lysine to the food, specifically dry foods which many on the site don't feed but something to keep an eye on.

Lily was on it whenever she had a herpes flare. I bought a large bottle of human grade l-lysine. The generic brand of our local pharmacy.

I have given it to Cal when he has leaky eyes and the vet said I could give it to Magnus to see if it helped at 125 mg twice a day. I usually only give for a day or two but the vet did say it should be 5 days on and then 2 days off. No idea if this was specific for Magnus's issues or what.

Former vet (for Lily) did not recommend anything in particular. He said it wouldn't do anything but it always stopped her eyes from watering. He had me stop it but I have no idea if it would have helped her ongoing issues. I suspect his research for cats fell behind as the local Rat Rescue brings their rats there and most of the adopters. He also vets birds and fish. That's a lot of research to keep up on when you include dogs also! He's a very kind vet and an amazing rat vet. I would not recommend him for cats any longer.

 

[angels mommy]

Yes, I used it every day for maintenance, & when Angel had a flare up, & could see it in his eyes, I would double the dose for usually about a couple of wks, until you could see improvement. With my girl, Honey outside, I have doubled every day, because she has a chronic L watery eye. It seems to help. I was told its water soluble, so as should be ok, as they pee it out. I wish she was tame enough to handle, & I could afford to take her in for test, as well, but she's just still to feral, & It was quite a lot with Panther having to have his bk L leg amputated last Sept. I hadn't to get an ESA letter from my Dr. Just to be able to have Panther in here w/ me. I want to bring Honey in so bad, but I just literally can't. I make sure shes well cared for outside w/a heated house in the winter, etc... ( & We're on the NC coast, so no snow etc.)