Lysine Supplement

zoes

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Hi!

One of my cats, with pretty bad upper respiratory issues due to herpes, has been on Enisyl Lysine (goo form) for ages. But, my other cats occasionally get the herpes sneezies too, and the goo is messy and expensive, so I'm looking into powder options to mix into their food.

My vet is recommending Viralys (https://www.vetoquinolusa.com/content/viralys). I'm just wondering if there's any actual difference between that and the lysine powder I can get on Amazon without a prescription, that's about 6x cheaper.

The only difference I can see is that the Amazon stuff is L-Lysine Monohydrochloride, and the prescription stuff is L-Lysine Hydrochloride, but I don't know what that actually means.

The prescription stuff also has a whole lot of other ingredients to, I guess, make it more palatable, but maybe has other benefits?

Inactive Ingredients: Brewer's Dried Yeast, Hydrolyzed Fish (enzymatic), Hydrolyzed Poultry Liver (enzymatic), Mixed Tocopherols (a preservative), Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Sulfate.

I'd prefer to support my vet rather than Amazon, but at 6x the price, I'd like to know there's actual benefits to the prescription stuff.
 

Mr. Meow

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While I'm not a vet, nor do I know anything about either of these medicines, I do believe there are more than one prescription herpes meds out there.
I'd start with asking your vet for a less expensive (prescription option), or even if there happens to be a generic form of the one you're currently on.
I worry about "medications" purchased from anywhere online, no matter how close they may seem. Look at the recent pet food issues that are going on. The only other thing I can suggest is to show your vet what you've found on Amazon and let them give you their professional opinion.
 

kittenmittens84

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I don’t think you need a prescription for viralys (maybe I’m misreading your post.) They have it on chewy for $22
 

stephanietx

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I use human grade from Amazon for my crew. The last time I got some it was a Hard Rhino brand. It's a very fine powder and dissolves quickly and easily in wet food.
 
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zoes

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I don’t think you need a prescription for viralys (maybe I’m misreading your post.) They have it on chewy for $22
I'm in Canada so I don't think I can order off Chewy. Though the price isn't too bad here in comparison - after shipping, fees, and conversion, I wouldn't be paying that much more at my vet's.
 
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zoes

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While I'm not a vet, nor do I know anything about either of these medicines, I do believe there are more than one prescription herpes meds out there.
I'd start with asking your vet for a less expensive (prescription option), or even if there happens to be a generic form of the one you're currently on.
I worry about "medications" purchased from anywhere online, no matter how close they may seem. Look at the recent pet food issues that are going on. The only other thing I can suggest is to show your vet what you've found on Amazon and let them give you their professional opinion.
I asked my vet about the L-Lysine (cheaper human supplement from Amazon) and they just said they weren't familiar with it.

The Viralys powder is the cheaper option over what I have been giving her (the goo).

The price difference between the Amazon stuff and vet stuff is huge - like $20 vs $140!

I'm not terribly worried about the amazon stuff because it's a human supplement and so I assume is up to a certain standard, but I'll have to do some research into the specific ingredients of each and see if I can discern any difference. I do want them to get the most benefit from it, and really don't mind paying more, but I'll feel like a sucker if I pay $140 for something I could have paid $20 for, ya know?
 
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zoes

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I use human grade from Amazon for my crew. The last time I got some it was a Hard Rhino brand. It's a very fine powder and dissolves quickly and easily in wet food.
Did you notice any difference in your cats' symptoms? How bad were they before vs after?
 
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zoes

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Okay, just did some research.

L-Lysine Monohydrochloride and Hydrochloride are the same thing.

The other ingredients in the prescribed powder are flavour (to make it palatable) and preservatives. So I'll probably go with the much cheaper supplement and monitor her for any change in symptoms.
 

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Just make sure to give a "cat dose" vs a dose that a human would take. Since it's for humans the recommended dose is meant for humans.
 
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