Feline Herpesvirus

[bdemario]

I have a 2 year old Persian. He has herpes in his eyes. The vet sent me to an eye specialist who diagnosed him and prescribed the following meds:
Chloroptic opthalmic solution (3x daily)
Idoxuridine ointment (1/4" ea. eye 4x daily)
Zovirax liquid orally 2x daily, two weeks, then 1 x daily for 2 weeks.
Interferon Opthalmic solution (1 drop ea. eye 2x daily, 2 weeks, then 1x daily for 2 weeks)
Zithromax liquid orally (1x daily for 7 days)

Some of the meds are carried by the Eye Vet and some have to be specially "compounded" by a drug store. THEY ARE VERY, VERY EXPENSIVE and my boy breaks out about twice a year. Does anyone know of a cheaper way to get these meds?
Also, I would be interested in any alternative treatments as medicating him 4 x a day with 5 meds is very hard on the cat. He's very good most of the time, but it becomes a real chore after a couple of weeks.
Thanks for any answers.

[pandg]

Hi,
I have found that Zithromax 1ml 4 hours after food for 15 to 20 days works. It is cheap about £11.50 at the most, and if you can get a prescription from your vet you should be able to get if for about £8.50 then when it breaks out in 6months use it again for 3 to 4 days or if really bad use for 15 to 20 days.
regards pandg

[Olivia]

What constitutes a "breakout"? I have just acquired a kitty with the herpes virus. She came with the weepy eyes already but now she has developed the respiratory part of the syndrome. Or is this a secondary type of problem? I bought a humidifior for the night time breathing and have her on antibiotics now for 8 days but she is still snuffly, sneezing and rattly lungs at night. Not sure if these are symptoms of the virus or something else?