Feline Herpes | Imamother

FranticFrummie ↓

Tue, Aug 15 2017, 9:27 am

I have a kitten who was born to a feral mom, and I just found out that she has feline herpes. I knew that she was half blind, but she developed terrible respiritory problems and a high fever.

The vet knocked out the fever with antibiotics, but she says that my kitty will need antivirals for life if I want to keep the virus in remission. 600 shekels a month!

I'm giving her 250mg of L-lysine with her food every day to support her immune system, but I'm wondering if anyone has had any luck with other treatment that is not so expensive.

I'm going to commit to one month of antivirals for her, but another cat owner told me that lifetime treatment is not neccessary. I want her to have the best possible quality of life, but I'm getting conflicting advice.

Anyone have the same experience, and how is your kitty doing now?

shoshiesavannah ↓

Tue, Aug 15 2017, 10:28 am

My baby (year old) was also recently diagnosed with feline herpes and I was told by my vet it is NOT a big deal. We also give the l-lysine but no other treatment was recommended. The first two products of l-lysine we tried weren't tasty for my cat so we bought the flakes on Amazon and sprinkle on his food. It's cheaper and he doesn't notice it. My vet said there's nothing to worry about and the l-lysine is great but not necessary either. Maybe my cat doesn't have such a severe case? Sorry for your baby!

↑ FranticFrummie

Tue, Aug 15 2017, 10:47 am

shoshiesavannah wrote:

Does your cat ever have weird breathing issues, like sounding wheezy or congested?

My baby is playing around like a maniac and tearing up the house, but when she's resting you can hear her across the room. She snores sometimes, too.

She was born with one undeveloped eye, and I'm wondering if part of her sinuses didn't develop on that side. If so, then she'll always sound funny. If not, then it's the virus causing the problem. She also has only half of the teeth she should have, so I'm tending to think it's a congenital problem, but I'm just not sure.

I'm going to try the antivirals, and see if putting the virus into remission helps her breathing. If the breathing stays the same, I'm going to assume she was just born that way.

Other than that, she is happy, affectionate, and VERY active!

↑ shoshiesavannah

Tue, Aug 15 2017, 11:48 am

Nope, no other issues. The only way we knew about the herpes is the baby sometimes gets eye gunk buildup and we asked about it at the last vet appointment. The l-lysine doesn't actually seem to be doing anything so far but it's so minor so eh. No other health problems so far.

So glad to know someone else loves their cats like I do Smile