I brought Garfield to the vet and groomer yesterday. I was shocked to learn that Garfield has herpies!! The vet said although persians are known to sneeze and have sinus issues, Garfields were more severe. I'm glad this is something we can make better. He is on antibiotics and will vastly improve in a couple weeks. That certainly makes me feel better. I never heard of a cat having herpes. You learn something every day. And no it does not pass on from cat to human.

Ask the vet about using L-Lysine for it. It isn't a drug, it is an amino acid that stops the herpes virus from replicating, reducing the severity of the attack. Herpes is fairly common is cats. It will flare up and get worse in times of stress.

Herpes is very common in cats, some have the initial infection and are fine after and others will continue to have issues at times the rest of their lives. Lynda gave you good advice , you can get it as a supplement just for cats in various forms or you can get it at the health food/drug store as a supplement. If you get the stuff at the store just make sure it is just L-Lysine and does not have other stuff in it. You can research it to find out how much to give and I would start slowly, there are some cats who can't take it but the majority are fine. Not all vets will prescribe it but most are now aware of it so if your vet is one who doesn't just research it and you will have enough info.

The most common problem after the initial infection is the eyes, this is where the Lysine helps so I would read up on Feline Herpes and L-Lysine . Hope Garfield gets good as new soon.

Yes Lynda's advice is perfect. My entire crue get L-Lysine in their raw meat in the evening...kittens tend to get it twice a day (250mgs each time) tho once weaned/eating on their own. I use the 500mg tabs from Wal-mart. I crush them up and mix them in. You can do the same thing with babyfood if you don't do a raw diet. Cats can be given up to 1000mg a day. Most however receive 500mgs/day and manage fine.

Both Winston and Alaska have had herpes in their eyes and I have given them L-lysine for this and it cleared up tho was told to continue to give them L-lysine.

Thank you for the advice. That is just what I will do.

I haven't heard of this! Is the L-Lysine also used as a preventative? Or is it just for active infections? Very curious!

I do think one can use as prophylaxis as well re herpes infection in cats eyes. I actually was prescribed it to use when I had eye surgery and then got a case of shingles near my left eye. I've been better about giving it to my cats than myself.

Concerning herpes: 80% of all cats have herpes, or at least have been exposed to herpes. There is no definitive test for herpes that distinguishes exposure to presence, so vets guess.

If the antibiotics help Garfield, then it's not herpes. Antibiotics work on bacteria. Herpes is a virus. While there are very expensive antivirals, they are honestly not that effective to prevent serious problems from getting worse. They may be better to prevent minor problems from developing. If the antibiotics help, then it's probably more of a sinus infection problem and not herpes. Herpes may be present, but would be uneffected by any antibiotic.

L-Lysine works by competing with the absorption of arginine. Arginine is necessary for the herpes to reproduce, but a cat can easily use the lysine instead of arginine. So, if the system is flooded with lysine, the herpes can't reproduce. 500mg is considered maintenance for a 10 lb cat, with 1000mg being recommended for stressful times. Maggie has had no problems with 500mg, but she weighs all of 5lbs. As the arginine level in raw is less than in canned, I probably could decrease it more.

As for using lysine as a preventative, it should work, but the question is why. Since most cats get and get over herpes with no problems, there's little reason to use lysine on most cats.

Herpes is associated with eye problems, but that may be because the eyes are very visible. Herpes can and does attack other systems which aren't so detectable.

Yes, antibiotics are for bacterial infections not a virus - but he may have a secondary (Notice I said may.) that it would help. It could also be that the vet, like so many other doctors seem to throw antibiotics at something just so the patient/owner thinks they are doing something.