Question:
TJ is my 9 week old kitten that I handraised from 3 weeks of age. When he was found he had crusty eyes and a snotty nose. I took him immediately to a vet who said it was an upper respiratory infection. He was put on anitbiotics and he seemd better in a couples of days and over it within a week. However, we noticed off and on he would sneeze and his eyes looked a little watery. Then the next day nothing. My first thought was allergy but I wanted to be sure. So I took him back to the vet after a day of sneezing. He had a 103 temperature but otherwise that day looked fine with very little sneezing. The vet said he had a herpes virus and put him on llysine twice a day and said he had a good chance of outgrowing the virus. This little guy looks the picture of the health and is such a scamp. Most of all he is the love of our life. At what age would he outgrow the virus if he does and if he doesn't would it just be occasional days of sneezing and watery looking eyes or would it escalate? I have read some scary things online about herpes in cats. Also I have 5 other cats-various ages- would they get this from him or at their age would they have an immunity? Thanks. Jazze

Answer:
I have a cat with herpes virus. He is an adult that I adopted off the street (Badger kept bringing him home, and he ended up staying). In the past five years, his eye has flared up two or three times. I give him lysine as well but it takes a long time to resolve. Some people recommend giving lysine indefinitely but I haven't done that. But the minute I see any changes in his eye, if it gets excessively pink or he starts to half-close it against the light, out comes the lysine.

Herpes is definitely contagious but I think other cats have to get pretty up close and personal for it to happen. I'd be interested to know what your vet thinks.

I use a damp, soft cloth to gently wipe away any accumulated secretions or crust. And I turn into a demon hand-washer to reduce the chances of transmission. For the record, my other cats have never caught it.

Here are a few pages for you to look at:

http://www.geocities.com/holisticat/eyearch2.html

http://www.holisticat.com/lysine_arch1.html

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...=1&SourceID=42

The healthier your cat is generally and the less stress he is under, the fewer outbreaks he will have.

Answer: