Herpes in Cat's Eye Question

In ,
CatNipped wrote:

*Another question - even if they're not all Epstein-Barr, aren't all of these
*manifestations a variation of the herpes virus? I always thought that
*chicken pox, infectious mononucleosis, cold sores, and shingles were all
*part of the same virus.

Not "the" herpes virus. Each is "a" herpes virus. It's a whole group of
viruses (or virii if you prefer )



--
Hillary Israeli, VMD
Lafayette Hill/PA/USA/Earth
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it is
too dark to read." --Groucho Marx

"laurie w" wrote in message
.. .

AHHhh, so much easier to see in the white kitty than the black
kitty.....
here's the pics of our kitty koko :
http://richandlaurie.com/gallery/thu...s.php?album=33

Aw, poor baby looks so miserable!

Hope kitty's eyes heal quickly... for koko, i dampen a paper towel,
break into smaller pieces,
and gently swab underneath her eyes, without actually rubbing the eye
itself..... she really doesnt
mind at all - I think it feels good to her to get the dried out crusties
off her face.

Thanks, I hope kitty koko gets better too!

--

Hugs,

CatNipped

See all my masters at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/



laurie
www.richandlaurie.com

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...

How contagious is herpes in a cat's eye? What degree of contact would it
take to pass this from one cat to another? Is this virus the same as or
related to the human herpes virus (or the Epstein-Barr virus*)? Is it
possible to transfer this from cat to human or human to cat?

1. Very. Most cats carry, some are affected, some are not.
2. Very little. Secretions would do it.
3. No.
4. No.

In article , CatNipped
wrote:

Pardon if this is a stupid question (also pardon, but this is crossposted
for the most coverage - I really need info on this), but.....

How contagious is herpes in a cat's eye? What degree of contact would it
take to pass this from one cat to another? Is this virus the same as or
related to the human herpes virus (or the Epstein-Barr virus*)? Is it
possible to transfer this from cat to human or human to cat?

Manifestations of the Epstein-Barr virus in humans a Chicken Pox,
Mononucleosis, Shingles, Cold Sores, Genital Herpes (have I missed any?).

There are various herpesviruses, but in general, they can transmit
across species. One form in apes tends to be lethal in humans.

Herpes eye infections need aggressive care, and I would recommend
gloves and goggles when administering it. Incidentally, NEVER NEVER
NEVER put a corticosteroid into an eye unless you are certain
herpesvirus is not present -- it triggers an extreme exacerbation.

I'd have to check on the current treatments for opthalmic herpes. In
general, the preferred systemic drug is valacyclovir, with acyclovir as
a second choice.

On Tue 31 Jan 2006 08:52:38p, Howard C. Berkowitz wrote in
rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
):

Herpes eye infections need aggressive care, and I would
recommend gloves and goggles when administering it.
Incidentally, NEVER NEVER NEVER put a corticosteroid into an eye
unless you are certain herpesvirus is not present -- it triggers
an extreme exacerbation.

I'd have to check on the current treatments for opthalmic
herpes. In general, the preferred systemic drug is valacyclovir,
with acyclovir as a second choice.


I've really only had to deal with two cats with severe herpes eye
symptoms, and that's with my two youngest. The guy that rescued
them wanted to keep them all together longer than 8 weeks, but they
all had eye symptoms, and when one would clear up, they'd quickly
get symptoms again from the littermates spreading from one to the
other. We went through lots of different eye goop and drops during
their early months, but the one thing that always seemed to work
was L-lysine in high doses - 250 mg 2x per day. Back then it was
easy - mix their dose in their food (canned which was a novelty
then) or in baby food spooned to them (which was even more of a
treat). The eye stuff never did any good, but the Lysine did. Even
now, at about 1.5 years old, they get goopy eyes from time to time,
and Rhett just had a case of conjunctivitis and his TED fluoresced
his eyes, found no scratch in the cornea, so prescribed a tube of
gunk that has a corticosteroid. She said there was no virus
present, but I'm still unclear as to how she came to that
conclusion. She's our new TED who took over the practice of our
much loved TED who just retired.

--
Cheryl

"Howard C. Berkowitz" wrote in message
...
In article , CatNipped
wrote:


Herpes eye infections need aggressive care, and I would recommend
gloves and goggles when administering it. Incidentally, NEVER NEVER
NEVER put a corticosteroid into an eye unless you are certain
herpesvirus is not present -- it triggers an extreme exacerbation.


Gloves and goggles if you're treating a primate, yes. Gloves and goggles if
you're treating a cat- only if you've got bad aim and said kitty is trying
to shred your arms.

In article . net, josh
wrote:

"Howard C. Berkowitz" wrote in message
...
In article , CatNipped
wrote:


Herpes eye infections need aggressive care, and I would recommend
gloves and goggles when administering it. Incidentally, NEVER NEVER
NEVER put a corticosteroid into an eye unless you are certain
herpesvirus is not present -- it triggers an extreme exacerbation.


Gloves and goggles if you're treating a primate, yes. Gloves and goggles if
you're treating a cat- only if you've got bad aim and said kitty is trying
to shred your arms.

If I'm applying opthalmic drops or ointments, I'm exposed to fluids
potentially containing viruses. The gloves are more to avoid
cross-contamination; the goggles are for splash protection.

Let's put it this way -- I've worked at BSL2 and BSL3 with viruses (as
well as bacteria). Even with the BSL3 glove box, we felt safer being
double-gloved (i.e., one being the neoprene one in the box).

Howard C. Berkowitz wrote:
Let's put it this way -- I've worked at BSL2 and BSL3 with viruses (as
well as bacteria). Even with the BSL3 glove box, we felt safer being
double-gloved (i.e., one being the neoprene one in the box).

You are not going to get Herpes from a cat, though.

-L.

"Howard C. Berkowitz" wrote in message
...

There are various herpesviruses, but in general, they can transmit
across species. One form in apes tends to be lethal in humans.

*Feline* herpesvirus is *not* zoonotic.

Howard C. Berkowitz wrote:
Herpes eye infections need aggressive care, and I would recommend
gloves and goggles when administering it. Incidentally, NEVER NEVER
NEVER put a corticosteroid into an eye unless you are certain
herpesvirus is not present -- it triggers an extreme exacerbation.

I'd have to check on the current treatments for opthalmic herpes. In
general, the preferred systemic drug is valacyclovir, with acyclovir as
a second choice.

So far, in this thread, I've read to avoid steroid treatments when
herpes virus is present, and when there is a scratch on the cornea. So,
how does the vet *know* that the herpes virus is present before
prescribing? Is there a reliable test?
What sort of eye infections *do* they prescribe steroids for?

Sherry