Cat eye infection
October 29, 2006 10:29 AM   Subscribe

Cat health filter: strategies for coping with a cat with a recurring herpes based eye infection?

So my vet tells me that this kind of viral infection is common among felines, but not all show external manifestations. My cat develops recurring swelling of the right inner eyelid which bothers him so much he scratches it open to drain. He is a completely healthy 10 year old cat otherwise.

I've consulted a feline Ophthalmogist who prescribed L-Lysine (viral inhibitor) and Interferon eyedrops (to increase the local immune system). So far neither of these are working -- the cat just went through another cycle. The only thing that really seems to help is when he self-lances the abcess. The area drains, scabs over and heals in a couple of days.

My question -- anyone else dealing with a similar issue? Any positive experience with the meds we are using? Any ideas for dealing with this swelling besides letting the cat open and drain it himself?
posted by queue_strategy to Pets & Animals (4 answers total)
 
Just as with humans, the herpes virus spends most of it's time sitting in the nerves of the head in a latent state and when the cat is stressed, the virus moves to the original site of infection.

The only thing I can suggest is to try and remove any obvious stressors in his environment, to give the drugs a chance of working. Nothing upsets the immune system of a mammal like psychological stress. Provide plenty of quiet places where your cat can chill out undisturbed. Give your cat lots of the kind of attention he likes most, when he wants it. Be relaxed around your cat yourself.

It may take some time for the drugs to have a perceivable effect. It's essential to persist with the treatment if you want to avoid further complications of the recurrent infections such as the inner eyelid adhering to the eyeball. Discuss with the your feline opthalmologist whether some antibiotic cover for your cat would be helpful in controlling the extent of the inflamation when it starts (bacterial infection is a common additional problem with FHV outbreaks)

I'm always recommending Feliway diffusers, for a reason, they work. I've seen them chill out the most distressed cats when pretty much all else has failed.

If you have other cats, ensure their cat flu vaccinations are up to date.

Good luck!
posted by Arqa at 1:02 PM on October 29, 2006


My cat had eye herpes as well, and we had to rub some kind of ointment into his eyes- they weren't drops, it was something thick. Maybe try a different medication?
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 3:36 PM on October 29, 2006


The thing about lysine as a treatment (and typically with cold sores it works *very well* in humans at least) is that if you eat stuff with a lot of Arginine then you may negate the effects of the lysine. I would check what's in your cat food against the likely culprits in the linked wikipedia article, and then try eliminating them one by one. I poked around a bit on the net and it seems like lamb might be OK but I'm not 100% sure on that. Other than that, reduce stress (I know, putting in drops is stressful! sucks!). Feliway as previously suggested is clearly an excellent product.

Finally, there are approixmately one ton of suggestions on this page.
posted by Medieval Maven at 7:58 PM on October 29, 2006


My sister has a cat with this problem, and this is what she says:

We inititally had her on Interferon, but it wasn't doing much to keep her eye infections at bay, and she just kept getting sicker. So we switched her to Trifluridine drops (combined with the oral Lysine tablets). The drops are expensive, because they're made for humans, but they keep her much healthier and happier, and she gets sick less often.

They can also drain the absesses themselved instead of waiting for the cat to do it. Just hold a warm wet cloth over the eye, and it should suck out the pus. The cat won't like it, but it's a more hygenic way to drain it.
posted by jessamyn at 8:37 PM on October 29, 2006


« Older What to do when you can't stand a friend's spouse.   |   Is blackmail always illegal? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.