# Chronic Feline Herpes Virus



## kingfisher7151 (May 18, 2013)

My poor kitty Toki has had problems with FHV for years now. We tend to go through the exact same pattern where he gets antibiotics for 2 weeks where his symptoms completely disappear, then we have 2 weeks of no symptoms once the antibiotics stop, but then he slowly creeps back to where he was until his symptoms are bad enough to merit antibiotics. 

Has anyone had any luck with treating an FHV positive kitty? We do as many of the preventative measures that we can, he gets brought into the bathroom every day while I shower to get the steam (while I get serenaded all the while), we give him super smelly food as soon as he starts to get sick, we keep his stress level to a minimum. But it seems like it's just chasing the symptoms. 

On another note, we seem to be having another bout of it right now, with a couple new, weird symptoms. I've been out of town for 5 days and the day before I left I noticed that our indoor/outdoor (barn cat that figured out how to use the dog door and spends 90% of her time inside) kitty had very suddenly gotten very goopy eyes with a cough. By the time we left the next morning she looked fine though. She and the boys don't get along and they live downstairs, but I had a suspicion that it would travel. And what do you know, I come home and find both of my boys goopy and runny, but Toki seems to be particularly lethargic. He gets his infections so frequently that he's become a chronic mouth breather as soon as he gets sick even when his nose is somewhat clear. But this time he's making a very strange and obvious gulping sound when he swallows, with an exaggerated motion. And he nearly gave me a heart attack a minute ago, as he's laying next to me in bed with his head propped up on my arm, when he suddenly goes completely rigid and jerks his head straight into my armpit with his face on the bed. Is that something I should be more concerned about than his usual FHV cycle?


----------



## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

I'm sorry to hear all the troubles you and your kitty are going through. Do you administer 500 mg of lysine daily? It helps prevent symptoms. Maybe in your case, 1,000 mg daily during an outbreak and 500 for continual preventative care... usually it's 250 for preventative and 500 for an outbreak, but your case sounds quite sever.

Many cats have the virus, upwards of 80% or more of cats, but most don't show symptoms, at all, or extremely rarely.


----------



## kingfisher7151 (May 18, 2013)

We used to be on Lysine daily, I'm not sure the amount as it was a gel that I would put on his paw. Man, did he hate the stuff though. He'd fling in everywhere and put it everywhere but his mouth. When he was on a regular dosage of that, it never seemed to improve anything. then the vet gave me a powder to pour over his food which I did for a month with no improvement, although it tended to sift to the bottom of his food dish. (He's not a good wet food eater, so that wasn't a reliable method of administration.) We never saw much, if any improvement, though I'm skeptical of how much he actually put into his mouth. Maybe it's time to try again!

A side note, I think this flare up his been in part since I've been gone. He's one of those SUUUUUPER attached kitties who tend to panic a little if I don't get home before 5, let alone leaving for 5 days. Within 5 minutes of me being in bed he'd already curled up on my arm and was conked out, dreaming and twitching like crazy. I woke the poor guy up to make sure he wasn't seizing! Hopefully now that I'm home he'll get some rest and can start to feel better. This episode is different than most, as typically they're confined completely to his nose, whereas this time he's doing the weird gag thing and is coughing. His eyes look so sick though, the poor guy. They're all glassy with the third eyelid showing a bit, you can tell he feels awful.


----------



## aniela26 (Apr 2, 2012)

If his new symptoms are worrying you, a trip to the vet might be in order. Otherwise, I second Caramel's comments about lysine. Have you tried the one that comes in treat form? My Cosmo has suffered with fhv for many years but only been on lysine for the past year or so and he's been doing great...and he LOVES the treats!


----------



## librarychick (May 25, 2008)

You've probably hit the nail right on the head as far as the cause of this flare up. Stress is a HUGE trigger for FHV.

A few suggestions:
-The feline herpes yahoo group is awesome, they've been so much help with Jitzu!
felineherpes : For companions of cats who have feline herpes virus (FVR)

-Go back to the lysine and give it another try. The powdered stuff is best, and you need to find something you can mix it with that he'll chow down on. I use chicken baby food, and Jitzu gets all happy and excited for her 'treats'.

-If he's having this much trouble you need to try a different antibiotic. My vet and I decided on famciclovir, and a two week run helped her immensely, the 'regular' stuff was doing nothing by that point. Whatever you do, though, don't go with the injection of convenia. Some cats have a really bad allergic reaction to it, but once it's in them you can't get it out. Not worth the risk IMO.

-Claritin or zyrtec can help with the congestion. Jitzu gets 1/2 claritin a day on a bad day, and 1/4 on good days. The claritin has no flavor, so it's easier for them to take, but some cats do better on zyrtec.

-Evening primrose oil squirted onto their food, or mixed into the 'treat' will also help. It won't do anything immediately, they need to be on it for a few days before it starts working, but it helps quite a bit. Jitzu gets EPO for at least a week if she's having trouble, but she has a very picky stomach so I can't keep her on it constantly.

-The last thing I'll suggest isn't an option if you've been doing that many runs of antibiotics. You need to also give a probiotic, I get acidophilus in the pharmacy section of most grocery stores (along with pure powdered l-lysine), and give Jitzu 1 capsule/day.

That fit that he's having could be seizures. You need to ask your vet about that ASAP. If your vet will do it give them a phone call first, so you can skip the office visit if they don't think you need to...but I bet you'll have to go in.

Good luck! I know how awful it is to see them so uncomfortable.


----------



## laurief (Jun 22, 2008)

librarychick said:


> If he's having this much trouble you need to try a different antibiotic. My vet and I decided on famciclovir


Famciclovir isn't an antibiotic. It's an antiviral, which explains why it's prescribed to try to treat herpesvirus. Antibiotics have no effect on viruses. The only reason a vet would prescribe antibiotics during a herpes flareup would be to prevent a secondary bacterial infection, NOT to treat the herpes itself.



> That fit that he's having could be seizures. You need to ask your vet about that ASAP.


I agree. Your description sounds like a seizure to me. I'd be calling the vet immediately about your cat's more serious symptoms (gulping/gasping for air, eye infection, open mouth breathing, possible seizure).

Oh, and it sounds like your cat also needs an eye antibiotic.

Laurie


----------



## librarychick (May 25, 2008)

Laurie I totally knew that too, lol. Thanks for correcting my 'moment'!


----------



## kingfisher7151 (May 18, 2013)

We went to the vet (the expensive one this time!) and we got a lot of information. He was given an antibiotic shot and is now taking an antiviral medication as well. The last times he went to the vet he was given Amoxicillin, but this vet said that he should get a better antibiotic. I can't recall what the names are, but they're supposed to really help him! We're hoping that these may be longer term treatments so that he doesn't succumb so frequently. 

The vet also confirmed that he was indeed having seizures. I knew they were odd, but once I told him that his eyes were flicking back and forth and were the teeniest of slits, he felt that they were indeed seizures. He had never had this before (although I think back a couple weeks when I think he may have had another one) so at this point we're just going to watch him. As long as they're only mild and not recurring frequently, we're just going to leave it alone. We can't tell what caused them, but I have a suspicion that it's a result of what's going on in his sinuses. That's just a guess though!

So now we're back to the old cycle, just with new drugs. *sigh*


----------

