Kittens Still Sneezing

Archer (10-week-old kitten) is still sneezing a LOT. I haven't heard Ozzy
sneezing lately even though he's in the same room with his brother. Tayla
(3-year-old cat) is still sneezing, though not as much as Archer - but her
right eye is "weeping".

I just got off the phone with my vet (the sainted Dr. French ;), and he
said that they all have a herpes virus (which is what he diagnosed 10 days
ago). He said he'll going to prescribe another round of Clavamox for them
for me to pick up this afternoon, but the Clavamox is only given to stave
off secondary bacterial infections they might get because their immune
systems have been weakened by the herpes virus. He said he would leave it
up to me whether or not I want to give them another round of Clavamox, but
if they are otherwise healthy - playing, eating, and drinking - which they
are, it is not *imperative* that they get the Clavamox. He said he could
prescribe them nose or eye drops to take care of symptoms if they should
become bad, but that that won't get rid of the virus either. He said the
virus will just have to play itself out and that it could quite a while
before they are all symptom-free.

Dr. French also said that, even with strenuous cleaning (I wash their bowls
with hot, soapy water and we "wash" our hands well with Purell Hand
Sanitizer every time we leave on of their rooms), the herpes virus is
airborne and highly contagious and the fact that Demi, Jessie, and Sammy are
not showing any symptoms after 11 days in the same house is very good news
(I'm guessing that they have very healthy immune systems from being indoor
only, premium food fed, and are "throwing off" the shedded virus without
becoming symptomatic).

Anyway, does anyone have any thoughts on this? Do you think I should go
ahead and treat them with another round of Clavamox, or as long as they're
otherwise healthy just let the virus run its course?



--
Hugs,

CatNipped

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

The fosterers I know just routinely add lysine to all their cats food to
stave this off the "home cats" and to help the fosters get over a bout. I'm
pretty sure Pearl has it. She gets a weepy eye and snotty nose on one side
all the time. Sugar has never shown sign of it. I give Pearl so dang much
stuff, but I'm considering adding lysine myself.

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
Archer (10-week-old kitten) is still sneezing a LOT. I haven't heard Ozzy
sneezing lately even though he's in the same room with his brother. Tayla
(3-year-old cat) is still sneezing, though not as much as Archer - but her
right eye is "weeping".

I just got off the phone with my vet (the sainted Dr. French ;), and he
said that they all have a herpes virus (which is what he diagnosed 10 days
ago). He said he'll going to prescribe another round of Clavamox for them
for me to pick up this afternoon, but the Clavamox is only given to stave
off secondary bacterial infections they might get because their immune
systems have been weakened by the herpes virus. He said he would leave it
up to me whether or not I want to give them another round of Clavamox, but
if they are otherwise healthy - playing, eating, and drinking - which they
are, it is not *imperative* that they get the Clavamox. He said he could
prescribe them nose or eye drops to take care of symptoms if they should
become bad, but that that won't get rid of the virus either. He said the
virus will just have to play itself out and that it could quite a while
before they are all symptom-free.

Dr. French also said that, even with strenuous cleaning (I wash their
bowls with hot, soapy water and we "wash" our hands well with Purell Hand
Sanitizer every time we leave on of their rooms), the herpes virus is
airborne and highly contagious and the fact that Demi, Jessie, and Sammy
are not showing any symptoms after 11 days in the same house is very good
news (I'm guessing that they have very healthy immune systems from being
indoor only, premium food fed, and are "throwing off" the shedded virus
without becoming symptomatic).

Anyway, does anyone have any thoughts on this? Do you think I should go
ahead and treat them with another round of Clavamox, or as long as they're
otherwise healthy just let the virus run its course?



--
Hugs,

CatNipped

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

On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:13:03 -0500, Karen wrote:

The fosterers I know just routinely add lysine to all their cats food to
stave this off the "home cats" and to help the fosters get over a bout. I'm
pretty sure Pearl has it. She gets a weepy eye and snotty nose on one side
all the time. Sugar has never shown sign of it. I give Pearl so dang much
stuff, but I'm considering adding lysine myself.

That's what I was about to say. I've heard that Lysine is great treatment
for Herpes viruses.

Karen,

When our cat had nasal congestion on one side and one weepy eye, it
turned out to be a tooth problem on that side. Tooth problems very often
have the same symptoms as URI's. Is Pearl the diabetic cat? It's pretty
common for diabetic cats to get bad teeth.

If you haven't had that checked recently, it might be worth it. One vet
missed it on Bob but another did a very thorough check and found the
tooth. As soon as it was removed, he got better in leaps and bounds.

Take care,

Rhonda

Karen wrote:
The fosterers I know just routinely add lysine to all their cats food to
stave this off the "home cats" and to help the fosters get over a bout. I'm
pretty sure Pearl has it. She gets a weepy eye and snotty nose on one side
all the time. Sugar has never shown sign of it. I give Pearl so dang much
stuff, but I'm considering adding lysine myself.

It might be worth a shot, since yes, with a virus the last thing you
want is a secondary infection. The only downside is you are more
prone to side effects of clavamox, which includes diarrhea and
vomiting, so it's a double edged sword.

So sorry to hear they are still sick. Hang in there and hopefully it
will play out.

purrs,
Kristi

THat's good to know. SHe could use a dental for sure. I"m just sucha wuss
about anesthesia.

"Rhonda" wrote in message
...
Karen,

When our cat had nasal congestion on one side and one weepy eye, it turned
out to be a tooth problem on that side. Tooth problems very often have the
same symptoms as URI's. Is Pearl the diabetic cat? It's pretty common for
diabetic cats to get bad teeth.

If you haven't had that checked recently, it might be worth it. One vet
missed it on Bob but another did a very thorough check and found the
tooth. As soon as it was removed, he got better in leaps and bounds.

Take care,

Rhonda

Karen wrote:
The fosterers I know just routinely add lysine to all their cats food to
stave this off the "home cats" and to help the fosters get over a bout.
I'm pretty sure Pearl has it. She gets a weepy eye and snotty nose on one
side all the time. Sugar has never shown sign of it. I give Pearl so dang
much stuff, but I'm considering adding lysine myself.

The fosterers I know just routinely add lysine to all their cats food to
stave this off the "home cats" and to help the fosters get over a bout. I'm
pretty sure Pearl has it. She gets a weepy eye and snotty nose on one side
all the time. Sugar has never shown sign of it. I give Pearl so dang much
stuff, but I'm considering adding lysine myself.
That's what I was about to say. I've heard that Lysine is great treatment
for Herpes viruses.

You don't want to muck about with amino acid treatment for kittens.
Lysine doesn't work all that well, and some kinds of amino acid
imbalance can be rapidly and horribly fatal (look up arginine
deficiency - arginine helps promote replication of the herpes virus,
and in humans you can restrict it to control the infection, but
that's a nonstarter for cats).

Antiviral drugs are safer.

Chronic weepy eyes can also be caused by chlamydia.

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On Jul 5, 5:35 pm, "Karen" wrote:
THat's good to know. SHe could use a dental for sure. I"m just sucha wuss
about anesthesia.


I was worried about anesthesia too when Rusty had feline resorption
lesion and 2 teeth had to be extracted. But you can ask the vet to do
a blood test to be sure your cat is healthy enough for the surgery.
My vet also told me for older cat like Rusty they use gas anesthesia
so the cat wakes up sooner.

Winnie