1.5 Year Old Kitty Just Diagnosed With Feline Herpes

[mell0wseas]

Hello,

I've posted a few times on here asking about some bumps/lesions on Milo's nose. After much frustration from our old vet, we decided to finally get a second opinion after 2 months of having no recovery or ease of symptoms. We went to a new vet last night and though she couldn't examine him because he was fractious (he has a VERY strong dislike for vets now), we told her about all of his symptoms (inflamed and runny nose, some sneezing, sound very stuffy, some light eye discharge, nasal lesions that will not go away, and more recently some difficulty or increased effort to breathe) as well as his overgrooming/constant itching issue that he's had since we got him.

She thinks it's highly likely that he has Feline Herpes. He's now on 2 weeks of 2x daily antibiotics to hopefully clear the upper respiratory issues (which he's had now 3 times since we've had him), an compounded antiviral medication to hopefully clear the lesions/infection on his nose, 2mg 2x daily Chlor-Trimetron (antihistime) to try to bring any inflammation down and also possibly help with itching, and Lysine treats for the rest of his life to support his immune system and respiratory health.

What's extremely frustrating is my previous vet kept insisting and putting him on prednisone multiple times throughout the year that we've had him, as well as Atopica, to try to curb his itching problem. Both of which are immune suppressing drugs, which can cause feline herpes to come about and flare up (and they said it as fine to take BOTH together...). They had "never seen anything like the bumps on his nose before" supposedly, and just gave him a Convenia shot (which didn't help with the bumps or URI issues) and suggested surgery as the only other option after that. They also completely disregarded me when I brought up months ago that maybe he just has anxiety and that's why he itches. They were definitely a vet who took us for all they could. Sorry for the rant lol.

His itching issue is still around (after no luck from blood tests, food trials, etc.), and the new vet thinks he may just be a very anxious/high stress cat, and mentioned possibly trying kitty Prozac to calm him and stop the itching after this flare up is dealt with. She also mentioned trying a treatment Revolution, which targets a very specific type of mite that hides in the skin and can make cats extremely itchy. That's the next thing we need to deal with.

Now that you have a little back story - does anyone who has a kitty with FVR/FHV-1 have any advice on how to help make flare-ups go away, and prevent them from happening in the future?
Also, if you have any advice on the itching, that would be great too!

 

[qtpidani]

I have shelter cats, so they all came to me with herpes, and generally isn't a big deal, unless it turns into an infection. When I notice a flare-up coming on (sneezing, watery eyes, etc), I start dosing them with Lysine. That in itself works wonders for my guys. I do have the treats because my one guy is fussy, but for the others, I use the powder when we have a flare-up. 1 scoop of the powder is equal to 4 treats. The feeding directions for the powder allow for more Lysine per day (1000mg) versus the 500mg in the treats. Unless we have a flare-up, I don't give the Lysine.

 

[white shadow]

.
Hi MellOwseas.

L-lysine is really the go-to for putting a lid on a herpes outbreak and to keep it at bay.

The herpesvirus requires an amino acid, Arginine, to replicate. L-lysine, another amino acid, prevents the virus from accessing Arginine, so eventually the outbreak diminishes and ends. It's often periods of stress that cause the virus to flare again.

I noticed your mention of L-lysine treats. I'm not sure that's the most efficient nor cost-effective route. I use 500mg capsules of pure lysine powder and mix the powder into a very small quantity of wet irresistible food. It's tasteless and the small quantity ensures the cat consumes the entire dose. I start off with 500mg twice a day for 2-3 days, then about 1/2 that for another couple of days - longer if the flare hasn't quieted. I get the capsules at a pharmacy.

I'd say that the minute you see any sign of eye/nasal discharge, haul out the L-Lysine.
.

 

[mell0wseas]

.
Hi MellOwseas.

L-lysine is really the go-to for putting a lid on a herpes outbreak and to keep it at bay.

The herpesvirus requires an amino acid, Arginine, to replicate. L-lysine, another amino acid, prevents the virus from accessing Arginine, so eventually the outbreak diminishes and ends. It's often periods of stress that cause the virus to flare again.

I noticed your mention of L-lysine treats. I'm not sure that's the most efficient nor cost-effective route. I use 500mg capsules of pure lysine powder and mix the powder into a very small quantity of wet irresistible food. It's tasteless and the small quantity ensures the cat consumes the entire dose. I start off with 500mg twice a day for 2-3 days, then about 1/2 that for another couple of days - longer if the flare hasn't quieted. I get the capsules at a pharmacy.

I'd say that the minute you see any sign of eye/nasal discharge, haul out the L-Lysine.
.

She offered us the powder as well, but he only gets wet food at night and has loved the treats in the past, so that’s why we thought treats would be a good way to go (especially since he went a year basically not having any treats at all due to the food trials for his itching). But I agree, I’m not sure if it’s necessary every single day for the rest of his life - maybe just during flare ups as you said

 

[mell0wseas]

Has anyone experienced these bumps/lesions on the nose with herpes? I haven’t heard many others say they have but apparently my vet knew and had seen them before with this virus.

We went 2 months without anyone have a clue what they were! Really hoping they will go away with the antiviral

 

[Wile]

My cat has herpes, but I've been fortunate in that he grew out of most of his symptoms as he got older. I haven't had a flare-up since he was a kitten. I do keep him current on his herpes vaccine, but don't use lysine.

From what I understand, recent research on L-Lysine as a treatment for managing herpes in cats shows that it doesn't actually work. That was also my experience when I gave it to my kitten. He was on it for months and it didn't do much. This website explains: Bad News for a Popular Feline Herpesvirus Treatment | petMD
I unfortunately haven't heard of any other treatments that do work.

Does your vet think that the itching is related to the herpesvirus? Have you looked into whether or not it could have an entirely different cause, like an allergy?

 

[white shadow]

From what I understand, recent research on L-Lysine as a treatment for managing herpes in cats shows that it doesn't actually work.

Wile - there's a specialized online community of ~1,600 folks who have been managing their kitties' herpesvirus conditions for the past 18 years....and use L-lysine to effectively keep the virus under control: For Companions of Cats Who Have Feline Herpes

And, the study that Dr. Tudor was waiving the flag about:

Objective—To evaluate the effects of various concentrations of l-lysine on in vitro replication of feline herpesvirus......​

in vitro = in a test tube

(On the other hand, there are questions about the over-vaccinating of cats with the FVRCP vaccine and kidney disease: Vaccines for Cats: We Need to Stop Overvaccinating)
.

 

[Wile]

Wile - there's a specialized online community of ~1,600 folks who have been managing their kitties' herpesvirus conditions for the past 18 years....and use L-lysine to effectively keep the virus under control: For Companions of Cats Who Have Feline Herpes

And, the study that Dr. Tudor was waiving the flag about:

Objective—To evaluate the effects of various concentrations of l-lysine on in vitro replication of feline herpesvirus......​

in vitro = in a test tube

(On the other hand, there are questions about the over-vaccinating of cats with the FVRCP vaccine and kidney disease: Vaccines for Cats: We Need to Stop Overvaccinating)
.

Hi white shadow : that's very interesting about the online community, but it doesn't really debunk the study. I choose to vaccinate according to the schedule that my vet recommends. If you choose to test titer levels for your cats every year to make an informed decision about whether or not to vaccinate that is up to you.

Edit: nevermind. Apparently you can't check titers for herpes, which makes this a moot point.

 

[mell0wseas]

My cat has herpes, but I've been fortunate in that he grew out of most of his symptoms as he got older. I haven't had a flare-up since he was a kitten. I do keep him current on his herpes vaccine, but don't use lysine.

From what I understand, recent research on L-Lysine as a treatment for managing herpes in cats shows that it doesn't actually work. That was also my experience when I gave it to my kitten. He was on it for months and it didn't do much. This website explains: Bad News for a Popular Feline Herpesvirus Treatment | petMD
I unfortunately haven't heard of any other treatments that do work.

Does your vet think that the itching is related to the herpesvirus? Have you looked into whether or not it could have an entirely different cause, like an allergy?

Hmm, strange. With his URI he had a year ago, the Lysine worked wonders for him.
I think his itching could be environmental allergies, maybe this mite that lives under the skin (begins with an S, can’t remember the name) or maybe it’s a behavioral thing, like anxiety or OCD. We did several food trials and did allergy tests/bloodwork and they came back negative. I’m not sure if it would be related to the herpes virus or not