Viral infection in adult cats- looking for advice

[6CatsandCounting]

Hi all- looking for some support and insight.
At the current moment I’m unsure if my cats are currently infected with a new strain of feline herpes virus (FHV), calicivirus (responsible for about 60% of URI’s), or perhaps one of my cats got a flare up and started shedding the virus which caused a few of my others to display symptoms. Needless to say, I guess it doesn’t really matter the cause of HOW but it’s been quite stressful the past week.

Anyway, this all started the end of the last week with my one boy who is on steroids so his immune system is a bit lower. He started sneezing occasionally throughout the day and then within 48 hrs became snotty and had watery eyes. Simultaneously he developed an yeast infection in his ear (not uncommon for him) I started him on his L-Lysine supplement and DMG to help his immune system and monitored him closely over the weekend. Monday I scheduled him with the vet. We just had his appointment and we got drops for his ears, luckily the virus aspect didn’t cause a secondary infection. nothing was needed other than letting things run it’s course. It’s worth mentioning that him and his brother as kittens had both calici and FHV so him flaring up wasn’t unusual but it did seem to be hitting him harder than normal. Thankfully his has since improved.

this now brings us to this week. Within the past 72hrs two of my other cats are now sneezing uncontrollably and one has very watery eyes. All discharge is clear in color so I know it’s just viral at this point. But it’s breaking my heart that they too are now sick. I’ve started both on the supplements to help immune support. I’ve never had multiple cats sick at one time though. Everyone is indoor only but I do care for community cats in the neighborhood and I worried I maybe brought a strain inside they never been exposed to. Three of my six have shown no symptoms at all so it’s just odd.

My vet has said if there’s no sign of bacterial infection, no fever, and everyone’s eating and drinking to just let things run it’s course. This I understand, but I just feel so guilty. Other than supplements for immune support and steam to help congestion, is there any other advice the community has for me?

i just hate seeing two of my guys sick

 

[stephanietx]

Flares can be caused by stress. Has your schedule changed or have you had new people in/out of your home? Also, seasonal changes or cold fronts/change in weather can also contribute to a flare. Has the weather changed? Are you running any calming agents in your home such as Feliway or Comfort Zone diffusers?

 

[6CatsandCounting]

Flares can be caused by stress. Has your schedule changed or have you had new people in/out of your home? Also, seasonal changes or cold fronts/change in weather can also contribute to a flare. Has the weather changed? Are you running any calming agents in your home such as Feliway or Comfort Zone diffusers?

so nothing has necessarily changed- if it is truly a flare the only thing I could think of is that he was starting an ear infection and that (plus cleaning his ears) caused him stress. Unless I did accidentally bring a different strand of the virus home from dealing with the strays outside.

Where I am the weather has been pretty chaotic, we’ve had lows of 15 degrees and warm fronts of 75 degrees in the matter of weeks- so this is possible too.

we did just restock on feliway plug ins throughout the house a couple of weeks before this all occurred too

 

[di and bob]

In my experience with trhese things, I have found that KEEPING my cats on the DMG and keeping them strictly inside, has helped 100%. I have NOT had good luck at all with L-lysine, but when my cats were diagnosed with leukemia, thus lowered resistance to everything, starting them on DMG and giving it at first twice a day for a week or two and then once a day indefinitely has really helped. They are alive 4 yeras later!

 

[6CatsandCounting]

In my experience with trhese things, I have found that KEEPING my cats on the DMG and keeping them strictly inside, has helped 100%. I have NOT had good luck at all with L-lysine, but when my cats were diagnosed with leukemia, thus lowered resistance to everything, starting them on DMG and giving it at first twice a day for a week or two and then once a day indefinitely has really helped. They are alive 4 yeras later!

That’s really great to hear! I also haven’t had great luck with L-Lysine and up until the other week I had never heard of DMG. My six are strictly indoor now but 5/6 were originally strays. I’m thankful they never contacted FeLV but we’ve had our share of other issues with them.
Question about the dosage of the DMG- I’ve been told two different things and went with the lower amount. I’m currently using 0.25 (about 5-6 drops) twice a day to amount to the max 0.5 ml once daily. Does this sounds correct? The label almost makes it seem like it should be 0.5 twice a day and then just 0.5 once a day after?
I’m really thankful to say my one who was originally showing viral signs seems 100% better now after a week on the DMG. He almost seems better than his baseline energy wise now.

 

[di and bob]

I think the DMG really works. The correct dose is 0.5ml twice a day until symptoms are better, then 0.5 ml once a day. I put it in a lickable treat, Delectable Lickables in the stew flavors. They all love it.