Feline Herpesvirus

[livingwith]

About 7 years ago I adopted a shelter cat who brought the dreaded kitty virus into our household and infected 10 cats and 3 ferrets. It was a real mess but I was able to save everyone with a lot of money, time, antibiotics and IV fluids. Now 7 years later one of my babies became ill with a sinus/bacterial infection, even though she was an indoor cat. 3 days later she was dead from pneumonia. It all happened so fast I keep thinking I should have paid more attention, but in reality it was proba...Read the full article

[tpellet]

Sorry to hear about your loss. Thank you for sharing your story. I just found this site when I googled info on the feline herpes virus. We just adopted a cat from our local shelter for our 8 yr old son for his birthday. What they said was a hairball, has turned out to be this virus according to our Vet. We thought giving a home to an abandoned cat would be a good thing. However, now my son is distraught because the cat is sick and he's worried about it. Can cats get over this virus and lead a normal life? I feel so bad when he hacks and sputters. It's been a week since he's been on Lysine gel from the Vet and he doesn't appear to be getting any better. Is there anything else we can do to help the poor thing?

[Rumpole]

[quote="tpellet"]Sorry to hear about your loss. Thank you for sharing your story. I just found this site when I googled info on the feline herpes virus. We just adopted a cat from our local shelter for our 8 yr old son for his birthday. What they said was a hairball, has turned out to be this virus according to our Vet. We thought giving a home to an abandoned cat would be a good thing. However, now my son is distraught because the cat is sick and he's worried about it. Can cats get over this virus and lead a normal life? I feel so bad when he hacks and sputters. It's been a week since he's been on Lysine gel from the Vet and he doesn't appear to be getting any better. Is there anything else we can do to help the poor thing?[/quote]


I just read about your adopted cat that has been diagnosed with the feline herpes virus and my boyfriend and I are going through the same sad story as you and your son. We bottle fed 2 newborns that were approx. days old when found in early April. The male is healthy and thriving but the female only weighs 3.9 lbs. The vet said a healthy kitten should put on 1 lb per month and she is now 5 months old. Although she is very tiny up until 2 days ago she was keeping her food down. Now she can't even do that and I'm afraid we're losing her. What kind of food are you feeding your cat? Our kitty is also on the Lysine gel but we are at a lose on what to feed her. We've tried everything.

[tpellet]

So sad to hear about your sweetie. The cat we adopted is at least a year old. But we are still feeding him dry Science diet kitten food because it has higher nutrients than adult cat food. But in order to get the Lysine into him we also feed him about 1/8 cup of canned Science diet food mixed with the gel. I got a second opinion from another Vet and he also confirmed there's nothing more we can do except try and strengthen his immune system. He was really bad yesterday, wheezing and coughing up mucous. I wasn't sure he was going to make it. But today he seems to be doing better, very strange how much he changed in a day. I'm just hoping he has finally turned a corner and will continue to improve. Only time will tell. It's difficult to have sick pets. They can't tell you exactly what is wrong or what makes them feel better. And you always worry you're not doing the right thing or that maybe you should go back to the Vet. I know getting a second opinion made me feel better that we were treating him for the right illness. Just keep doing what your Vet recommends and if your worried, go see your Vet again for some reassurance. I know our Vet told us it was a virus, but he also told us to watch for any yellow discharge from the nose because a virus can create an infection and the infection needs to be treated with an antibiotic. I really wish I had some great advice to give, but I'm relying on a Vet to guide me. I wish you the very best in getting your little kittie healthy again and it sounds like you have really given some love to two littles ones that really needed it.

[Rumpole]

Thank you so much for replying to my question regarding the kind of food you were feeding your 1 year old. Our vet suggested that we feed Nikki e/d Feline Hills Prescription Diet canned food along with same name brand except dry. She barely eats the dry food and the canned food is eaten but not as much as I would like for her to eat. I guess all we can do is try our best and when she isn't doing well, take her back to the vet. We also felt better getting a second opinion but it is very discouraging when we can't seem to make her feel better.

Good luck with your cat and I'll keep you informed. By the way, when she was being weaned from the bottle, she was eating the canned Balance Diet and appeared to have a good appetite. Now she won't touch it.

Good luck with your little one and please keep me informed. Rumpole