Help with Feline Herpes flare up

Olafismykitty

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Hello everyone.

I have an 11 month old sweetheart who I got when he was a couple of months old. He came from the shelter, however I rescued him from Facebook where someone was giving him away. I took him straight to the vet for a check-up where he was diagnosed with Feline Herpes. He had a little eye discharge and they prescribed Terramycin. He hasn't had any issues with it since then until now. Two weeks ago he got diarrhea and I took him to the vet. After running all kinds of tests, they couldn't figure out why. He was sent home with four different medications to be given through out the day. He has finished his medications and diarrhea has cleared. However I think the illness and stress has caused him to have a flare up. He was winking alot with one eye, sneezing, and seemed really tired. Not his usual crazy self. I have been giving him his Terramycin ointment, washing his eyes with a warm rag every few hours, and put him in the bathroom with the shower steaming it a couple times a day. I have ordered new Lysine as the last Lysine I got him he hated. Also ordered him the probiotic the vet had him on as he ran out. He still has a good appetite and is drinking alot.
My questions are:
Is there anything more I can do for him?
Is there other things to prevent flare ups besides Lysine. I have heard amino acids are good. Is that true?
If he gets the FVR vaccine would help or could it possibly hurt?
I am sorry for the rambling, but this little guy is amazing. He does alot for my emotional health and I want to make sure he is ok. Thank you for any advice.
 

fionasmom

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Cat possibly has Feline herpes, what can i do to help?
Herpes Virus
Feline Herpes FVR

Welcome to The Cat Site! Your baby is very lucky that you intervened to give him a good home when his first adopter wanted to rehome him. Stress definitely plays a part in herpes flare ups. If you read through the threads above, there are links and suggestions of what others have done to add to the care for their herpes kitty.
 
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Olafismykitty

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Thank you so much. I have been trying to research on my own, but I am a bit overwhelmed by all the information out there. As some of it contradicts other information. I knew the people on this site love their cats and had experience caring for them. Thank you again for the welcome and the information.
 

fionasmom

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As for your question about the vaccine, I am not sure what the answer is. Ask your vet, for one, if it is safe to give it to a cat who has the condition.
 

CindyH66

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aw, Olaf sounds like a sweetie ! maybe my experience with one of my kitties, Bella , might helps some. Bella had the herpies eye issue her whole life. It would flare up whenever she was sick or stressed over something else. It would also flare, sometimes with seasonal allergies. ( Spring , Fall !) She had a host of other health issues and was on other meds, so keeping them in check mattered , or the domino effect would happen. on thing out of whack .. the eyes would get on board and flare up for sure. Usually she was pretty stable, tho. Thankful for that :) She lived to be 13 , and had it the whole time. for her eyes ... Lysine worked great. I would get it in powder form and mix it 2X a day in a little wet food . She ate it no problem as it is flavorless. she also LOVED this stuff called " Purrfect Creamy" .. little tubes of creamy treats made by the creators of temptations . Mixed with that , she would gobble up anything ! I wouldnt think any vaccines would be harmful. ..but check with your vet. they may hold off until he feels better, as to not stress him more; Terramycin wont help a viral infection . antibiotics wont treat virus. Lysine breaks the viral cycle. * one thing with Lysine powder : check the expiration date. I found it gets weak as it gets old, and wont work as well. the fresher it is, the better it works; * Cant say for amino acids, ( Lysine IS an amino acid, so not sure what others would be needed) as I never tried them. Antibiotic can be causing fatigue, along with just feeling crummy. The warm, moist eye wiping is nice and probably feels good. JUST FYI .. this is HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS BETWEEN CATS. not contagious between cats to humans. I dont know if you have other cats, but if so you need to use precautions so they dont catch it. I only had Bella and no other cats while she was with us ,as I didn't want them inflicted with the eye thing as well. they can not share food , bedding etc. .. hopefully your vet warned you about it. The good news is.. these eye flare ups dont last forever.. they come and go.. sometimes it will be just one eye or the other.. by the way, when I adopted her from the local shelter, they had no idea what it was, they were just wiping her eyes .. and I had to wonder how may other kitties caught it from the volunteers cross contaminating them ! There are a lot of people unfamiliar with this issue. I learned it all from living with it. Its not so bad, once you find what works for you. Good luck !!! :goodluck: :heartshape::dizzycat:please keep us posted on how you are both doing !!
 

CindyH66

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PS .. here are 2 pictures of Bella .. in the first one , you can see how she was feeling good ; in the second one , her eyes were being trouble because she had another problem brewing. .. she crossed the rainbow bridge earlier this year. Miss her, illness and all. Loved her to pieces. I got Peanut in August .. she is my new baby. .. nice to have a healthy little nut ;)
 

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Olafismykitty

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aw, Olaf sounds like a sweetie ! maybe my experience with one of my kitties, Bella , might helps some. Bella had the herpies eye issue her whole life. It would flare up whenever she was sick or stressed over something else. It would also flare, sometimes with seasonal allergies. ( Spring , Fall !) She had a host of other health issues and was on other meds, so keeping them in check mattered , or the domino effect would happen. on thing out of whack .. the eyes would get on board and flare up for sure. Usually she was pretty stable, tho. Thankful for that :) She lived to be 13 , and had it the whole time. for her eyes ... Lysine worked great. I would get it in powder form and mix it 2X a day in a little wet food . She ate it no problem as it is flavorless. she also LOVED this stuff called " Purrfect Creamy" .. little tubes of creamy treats made by the creators of temptations . Mixed with that , she would gobble up anything ! I wouldnt think any vaccines would be harmful. ..but check with your vet. they may hold off until he feels better, as to not stress him more; Terramycin wont help a viral infection . antibiotics wont treat virus. Lysine breaks the viral cycle. * one thing with Lysine powder : check the expiration date. I found it gets weak as it gets old, and wont work as well. the fresher it is, the better it works; * Cant say for amino acids, ( Lysine IS an amino acid, so not sure what others would be needed) as I never tried them. Antibiotic can be causing fatigue, along with just feeling crummy. The warm, moist eye wiping is nice and probably feels good. JUST FYI .. this is HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS BETWEEN CATS. not contagious between cats to humans. I dont know if you have other cats, but if so you need to use precautions so they dont catch it. I only had Bella and no other cats while she was with us ,as I didn't want them inflicted with the eye thing as well. they can not share food , bedding etc. .. hopefully your vet warned you about it. The good news is.. these eye flare ups dont last forever.. they come and go.. sometimes it will be just one eye or the other.. by the way, when I adopted her from the local shelter, they had no idea what it was, they were just wiping her eyes .. and I had to wonder how may other kitties caught it from the volunteers cross contaminating them ! There are a lot of people unfamiliar with this issue. I learned it all from living with it. Its not so bad, once you find what works for you. Good luck !!! :goodluck: :heartshape::dizzycat:please keep us posted on how you are both doing !!
aw, Olaf sounds like a sweetie ! maybe my experience with one of my kitties, Bella , might helps some. Bella had the herpies eye issue her whole life. It would flare up whenever she was sick or stressed over something else. It would also flare, sometimes with seasonal allergies. ( Spring , Fall !) She had a host of other health issues and was on other meds, so keeping them in check mattered , or the domino effect would happen. on thing out of whack .. the eyes would get on board and flare up for sure. Usually she was pretty stable, tho. Thankful for that :) She lived to be 13 , and had it the whole time. for her eyes ... Lysine worked great. I would get it in powder form and mix it 2X a day in a little wet food . She ate it no problem as it is flavorless. she also LOVED this stuff called " Purrfect Creamy" .. little tubes of creamy treats made by the creators of temptations . Mixed with that , she would gobble up anything ! I wouldnt think any vaccines would be harmful. ..but check with your vet. they may hold off until he feels better, as to not stress him more; Terramycin wont help a viral infection . antibiotics wont treat virus. Lysine breaks the viral cycle. * one thing with Lysine powder : check the expiration date. I found it gets weak as it gets old, and wont work as well. the fresher it is, the better it works; * Cant say for amino acids, ( Lysine IS an amino acid, so not sure what others would be needed) as I never tried them. Antibiotic can be causing fatigue, along with just feeling crummy. The warm, moist eye wiping is nice and probably feels good. JUST FYI .. this is HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS BETWEEN CATS. not contagious between cats to humans. I dont know if you have other cats, but if so you need to use precautions so they dont catch it. I only had Bella and no other cats while she was with us ,as I didn't want them inflicted with the eye thing as well. they can not share food , bedding etc. .. hopefully your vet warned you about it. The good news is.. these eye flare ups dont last forever.. they come and go.. sometimes it will be just one eye or the other.. by the way, when I adopted her from the local shelter, they had no idea what it was, they were just wiping her eyes .. and I had to wonder how may other kitties caught it from the volunteers cross contaminating them ! There are a lot of people unfamiliar with this issue. I learned it all from living with it. Its not so bad, once you find what works for you. Good luck !!! :goodluck: :heartshape::dizzycat:please keep us posted on how you are both doing !!
Thank you so much for your response. He is a sweetie. He is doing much better. Eyes are mostly cleared. I am still cleaning them with a warm rag a couple times a day. Just to make sure. He definitely is back to his playful self. Thankful for that. Because it was really worrying me. Lysine and probiotics have arrived and we have started those. He is my only cat. When he is feeling himself he keeps me busy enough. 😆 Thank you for sharing about Bella. What a testimony to her that what you did for her is helping other cats. That is a beautiful legacy for Bella. Thank you for that and all the information.
 

CindyH66

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Thank you so much for your response. He is a sweetie. He is doing much better. Eyes are mostly cleared. I am still cleaning them with a warm rag a couple times a day. Just to make sure. He definitely is back to his playful self. Thankful for that. Because it was really worrying me. Lysine and probiotics have arrived and we have started those. He is my only cat. When he is feeling himself he keeps me busy enough. 😆 Thank you for sharing about Bella. What a testimony to her that what you did for her is helping other cats. That is a beautiful legacy for Bella. Thank you for that and all the information.
aw, thank you ! you are most welcome ,and I am glad your baby is feeling better !! yay !:yess:
 
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