Feline Herpes virus and famciclovir

[windypinesands]

I have a semi-feral black cutie, age 5, conclusively tested positive for FIV (Western Blot test). Charlie's had bloody snot congestion since rescued from 'Animal Control' at age 6 months. He and I are lacto-vegetarians and Charlie's just been put on famciclovir. He's a stalwart self-defender. So much so that 6 vet techs working together at the Cary, NC Vet Specialty Hospital were unable to hold him down for a pill pop. So, that's not a viable option. I tried the first couple days making 1/4 inch square, American cheese 'sandwiches' with a 1/4 of a 125 mg pill in each. It worked sort of, but often the 1/4 pill fell out of a sandwich and had to be redone. Then the idea presented itself of adding a little Food Lion whipped cream cheese to make the cheese sandwiches stick together better. That was a decided improvement but still one or two 1/4 pills usually had to be redone. Time-consuming! The current strategy is to roll a little cream cheese into a tiny ball, stick the 1/4 pill in the ball, add a bit more cream cheese to cover the pill well and finally, very tenderly, roll the completed ball between thumb and index finger till smooth and compact. The balls are dropped when done onto a salad plate that's been dusted with nutritional yeast. Then, very gently, the plate's rotated in the air until the four balls have rolled a yeast coating around themselves. Then a sliver of nori is pressed into each ball, about 7, Ami vegan kibble are tossed on the plate, and the snack is placed before Charles. Unless he's in a funk – maybe has a headache from the last dose (3 x a day) of famciclovir – he's OK eating the balls. Admittedly I have to 'enhance' his appetite (with Zyrtec that has that as a side-effect!). I'll be very impressed if the little guy makes it thru the remaining 9 days of this 2 week course!

 

[stephanietx]

Have you had any nasal discharge cultured?  That would let you know if you're dealing with a secondary infection.  If they do the culture and sensitivity test, you'll know what you're dealing with and which medication will best treat the infection.

 

[windypinesands]

Charlie – 4.5 year-old, Bombay black, FIV positive – had his bloody nasal discharge cultured: virulent e-coli (secondary infection). That was treated with a 6-week course of max dose Zeniquin but the little (7 lb.) guy succumbed to bloody discharging by the end of the course – which is what led his doctor to re-test for FIV, although he'd tested (false?) negative at 6-months in an in-house test. Her plan, with the Famciclovir, is to get the herpes under control before working on resolving the FIV. Encouraging to read others have had good results with this. He's been on 500 mg of l-lysine for years – using Now brand caps, half on his vegan kibble brek and half on his dinner. He also had his nasal passages cleared out of 'massive' accumulation of green 'gunk' and x-rays taken.

 

[ratandrea]

I always crush or break pills down to put into an empty capsule.  I just buy a bag of empty capsules; that way I can put whatever I want in there ie. apple cider vinegar, pills, powders.  I find it much easier to get down for the kitty; although, you must be careful b/c kitties have a tortuous esophagus, so sometimes pills/capsules can get stuck, and the medicine can then "burn" the espophagus.  I always push the capsule down the back of my cat's throat, and then I follow up with a dropper full or small syringe full of water to make sure he/she keeps swallowing the capsule down.

 

[traci l]

My cat has herpes as well. It presented a few weeks after I had him , with red teary & slightly productive eyes & sneezing. His regular vet tried a few times to treat it, alternating from antibacterial eye drops to antiviral eye drops, but he would always recur within a few weeks. So, I took him to a veterinary ophthalmologist. He was given antibiotic eye drops, idoxyuridine eye drops (antiviral eye drops) & famcyclovir daily for a month (I think a month - that has been a while!) Voila! His eyes have remained controlled ever since! I have tried the lysine supplement - viralys powder, but he developed a sensitivity to it & started vomiting, so he is no longer taking it.

 

[samatthews]

Thank you for emailing Costco Mail Order Pharmacy.  My apologies for not including the larger quantity pricing in the previous email.  Here is the information you requested:usis 

Famciclovir 125mg #30,  $21.92  #90,  $45.53

Famciclovir 250mg #30,  $20.03  #90,  $51.29

This is pricing as of 12/28/15 at Costco.    

 

[a cattan]

I volunteer at a small kitten and cat rescue in the Western NY area and we have an animal eye care specialist in the area. She is fantastic and has helped us save many kitten's eyes when they looked hopelessly damaged by the herpes virus. Famciclovir seems to be the additional drug added when the symptoms are severe. often used with Idoxuridine Drops, Ofloxacin Drops and Azithromycin oral antibiotic if there is an URI infection too. I have even taken a new resident kitten in for enucleation since an eye appeared to be nothing but a puss hole, but upon her exam, she said there is a working eyeball under all of that mess so we need to treat it. This one was very sick and it took more than a month but he has two working eyes now, and just got adopted into a good home. I have found that a lot of the other vets in the area are not familiar with this medicine and how to use it.

 

[a cattan]

Dr Kim S tanz is wonderful, I also have been to her with my babies, another wonderful veterinarian in the atea is Dr Stacie Minniar-Thomas with Orchard Park Veterinary Medical center, its worth the drive , I drive over an hour to get there, well worth it and not more expensive than a regular vet, the medical center is open 365/ 24/7 with a fully functional ICU for emergancy and is always fully staffed,I wish I had known about it sooner, I cannot recommend them highly enough, people come from Pennsylvania and Canada to go there, much farther than I am

A

 

[kittens problem]

hi! i know it's been awhile since you wrote this message.. i have a really big problem with my kitten.. i want to give him famciclovir every day but im not shure what dosage should i give him// he is quite big.. how mach your cat waits? i would be really thankful for any kind of help..!!!

 

[Anne]

 
hi! i know it's been awhile since you wrote this message.. i have a really big problem with my kitten.. i want to give him famciclovir every day but im not shure what dosage should i give him// he is quite big.. how mach your cat waits? i would be really thankful for any kind of help..!!!

Hello and welcome to TCS! 

You should only give your cat antiviral drug if prescribed by your veterinarian and they should be very specific about the dosages. If you don't remember and lost your prescription, why not call them?

We actually ask that people avoid recommending medical information or dosages. It's simply too dangerous for the cat. 

We'd love to hear more about you and your cat. Why not start a thread in the New Cats On The Block forum?

 

[sams mum]

Hi Lisa,

I realize this thread is years old...but if you are still on this site I hope you can shed some insight (no pun intended!)

My 17 year olds have been displaying early signs of FHV and I'm not seeing much improvement with the l-lysine. (one is starting to have discharge from her eye)  I'm also having acupuncture done every other week.

The vet suggested the next thing to try would be the famciclovir (hence, how I came upon this thread.)

I'm always interested in natural or homeopathic remedies before pharmaceuticals-this is the first I've read anything about Colloidal Silver.  I just googled and read that "True Colloidal Silver" is the best form one can buy if taking it internally.  Do you have an opinion on the different brands/qualities of True Colloidal Silver available on the market?

Can you overdose on CS?

(I take my dog to an eye dr, and they said that maybe idoxuridine drops might help, but they would need to see my cat 1st-obviously.)

Many thanks for your time.

Kim

 

[Oysterbay]

Hi Lisa,

I realize this thread is years old...but if you are still on this site I hope you can shed some insight (no pun intended!)

My 17 year olds have been displaying early signs of FHV and I'm not seeing much improvement with the l-lysine. (one is starting to have discharge from her eye) I'm also having acupuncture done every other week.

The vet suggested the next thing to try would be the famciclovir (hence, how I came upon this thread.)

I'm always interested in natural or homeopathic remedies before pharmaceuticals-this is the first I've read anything about Colloidal Silver. I just googled and read that "True Colloidal Silver" is the best form one can buy if taking it internally. Do you have an opinion on the different brands/qualities of True Colloidal Silver available on the market?

Can you overdose on CS?

(I take my dog to an eye dr, and they said that maybe idoxuridine drops might help, but they would need to see my cat 1st-obviously.)

Many thanks for your time.

Kim