FHV-1 cat is lonely

[mimiaow]

I only have one cat now. At one point, I had six. The one left, Spot, has always had the chronic sneezing and runny eyes associated with feline herpes virus. None of the other kitties ever had it or caught it from him.

Now he seems lonely and is very clingy.

I want to get another kitty, but I worry about him spreading the virus.

What do you all think. Has anyone here ever dealt with a cat with this chronic condition?

 

[foxxycat]

you can try giving L-lysine to stop the virus from replicating. Amazon has one made by NOW! brand-its a 1 lb jug. it lasts me a year. The dose is 500 mg a day which is about 1/4 teaspoon. Add it to wet food-stir well-or you can do what I do=I dissolve it in hot HOT water in a tiny shot class-make sure its diluted all the way then add to wet food-it clumps when wet so if you don't add enough water it doesn't dissolve enough. All my cats have herpes and they all have the goopy eyes and sneezes when it is activated. The lysine is an amino acid that the body doesn't store or make-so it needs to be given daily. I have been told that it stops the RNA in the virus from replicating-sort of scrambling the code for assembly. So it doesn't kill it directly-just makes it unable to finish the job.

I have noticed that it works for my cats. I have been giving it to them per my vets advice. Does your vet know about lysine? you can always call and talk to one of the nurses about it. I like it because it has no side effects that I have seen and is easy to add to the food.

And as long as you keep stress to a minimum I don't see an issue with getting another cat. We have always had 2 or 3 cats in my home. They play musical chairs with our laps. Which we love although one only hops up on the lap when there is food.

 

[valkyri]

I didn't believe this, and it may not work in all case, but please try ordering Fish Mox, an amoxillian targeted for aquatic animals. We ordered online from Valley Vet, but if you can find it elsewhere, please do. I'm not a great fan of that company.

The active ingredient is the same amoxicillan used for other pets. It comes in capsule form. We opened the capsule, disolved it in water, used a dropper to medicate our cats. There is information on line about dosages for cats and dogs using Fish Mox. The kitten symptoms cleared up. It also saved the life of one of our outdoor boys who had a life threatening infection, with pus gushing out of a supperating wound, like milk from a cow. One female was losing weight badly, very ill. She is now putting on weight and her hair is thickening again. Our two worst HPV boys have had their symptoms lessened, but still not gone. These two specifically will still need vet treatment.

If you are in a bind and can't get to a vet right away, get the Fish Mox and try it. There is also a Fish Flex, with a Keflex/Cephalexen type antibiotic as the active ingredient. We haven't tried it, but if the two HPV boys' symptoms continue to degenerate, we will try it until we can get them to the vet.

Good luck, sweetheart. My prayers are with you and your lonley cat. Hugs. -V 

 

[stewball]

Maybe you can get another cat with FHV-1?

 

[pushylady]

Regarding the fish antibiotics: please be very careful about administering antibiotics that your cat wasn't prescribed. Fish meds are made for fish (surprise!) and therefore could have unexpected side effects when given to cats or other animals. I know they get recommended online from time to time as a cheap alternative, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea. If we're talking about the feline herpes virus, antibiotics are useless against it anyway.

mimiaow it sounds like Spot would appreciate some feline company. What about adopting another cat or two from a rescue? The herpes virus is extremely common and there will likely be cats with it in a rescue. Or, a healthy cat should be fine. My one cat started exhibiting signs of herpes when he was ten and his brother has never shown symptoms.