The Ion-Cat is sick.

[GirlinContempt]

Ion is the B&W boy. Shortly after I moved to this new place just a few days ago, he began sneezing. He's been sneezing very violently and more often as time progresses. However, he is eating just fine, drinking plenty, his personality energy and mood are great, there is no discharge from the sneeze. the first day, he had a very runny eye that he rubbed a lot but that cleared up in about an hour. Starting last night, I've been 'steaming' him in the bathroom, and after I do that he is better for a little while.

I'm *thinking* it's the herpes virus. I have some l-lysine for his food, and I'm giving him 500mg. Has anyone here ever tried that for herpes/URI's in their cats? What was your experience with it?

I'm hesitant to take him to the vet unless anything becomes seriously worse or obviously more wrong. I really really can not afford to (If he HAS to go, I will take him and not let him suffer). My financial situation is as such that I wouldn't be able to eat for the rest of the month if I did. And, if it is what it seems to be and what I think it is, there is nothing they can do for him anyway.

What do you guys think? Any suggestions?

And more pictures of my cats found here, because they are the cutest ever.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=120867&id=5282924...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38848&id=52829245...

[MissMarple]

1. If he's eating and drinking and acting otherwise normal, I'd vote for wait and see.

Do you have a thermometer? I don't know what his temp should be, but you could google it. Good luck. Cats can be sensitive creatures.

[GirlinContempt]

4. Yeah, that's how I'm feeling.

I don't have one, but he doesn't seem to be running a fever. I checked the paws, inside of his ears and his belly. He seems ok.

[charlie and algernon]

2. my cat is doing that right now too

she's been sneezing way more than usual for the last week, but otherwise she's been eating, pooping, and acting normally. I actually took her to the vet, only to pay 40 bucks for them to say there's nothing they can do. Just for me to put her in the bathroom when I take a shower so the steam works on her.

Ion should be fine

[GirlinContempt]

3. L-lycine

is very inexpensive (I got 60 for just under $10), and can be used to treat feline uri's apparently very effectively. This is my first time using it, but everything I've read about it says it is great. Also, my Aunt has worked in animal rescue and welfare for many many years and she swears by it. It's available at the drug store (with supplements and vitamins), and you just mix a 500mg capsule in with their wet food. It's tasteless, they don't even know it's there (Ion is very wary of strange things, but he gobbled down the food no problem). It can also be taken by people to help prevent cold sores and speed their healing! You can also buy pills that you have to crush up, but the capsules are much easier.

[merh]

16. wow, where are you buying the L-Lysine from?

That is a very high price for the supplement.

I buy them in bulk all the time (have had the live herpes virus in my blood stream since I was 23 months, got it from the small pox vaccine the docs gave me).

You might want to check on line for less expensive sources.

I hope Ion feels better and I hope you are doing better too.

.

[GirlinContempt]

17. Just from the drug store

that isn't a high price, in my mind, for 90 500mg capsules. The caps are more expensive than the pills, but I don't really want to have to grind up tablets. *shrug*

EDIT:
I just re-read my above post, it was 90 in a bottle, not 60. I mis-typed Also, I live in Canada, and we tend to pay more for things that people in the US.

[merh]

18. When you need a refill you should try to order from online source

Look at this
http://www.nutrabio.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=P...

again, hope Ion does get to feeling better

[GirlinContempt]

19. Thanks for the site

The shipping actually costs more than the product! anyway, I don't have a credit card, so I probably wont end up ordering online unless I end up giving it to him regularly. Since this is his first flare-up in years, I don't think I'll keep him on it unless it happens again. Maybe if it does I can find a Canadian site with good pricing, but I'll have to borrow a CC

[GirlinContempt]

20. Yikes!

All the Canadian sites I found were like, just as much if not MORE than what I paid in-store. The site you gave me, if I ordered maybe 3+ bottles would be way more worthwhile! Yeesh, I'm glad you posted it. I naturally look to Canadian sellers before US ones, mostly for shipping and duty reasons, but that is a very large price difference between the countries.

[merh]

21. That's what I thought.

I've always been grateful that the L-Lysine isn't expensive.

When I saw the amount you paid I thought - OMG.

[GirlinContempt]

5. Poor poor Ion

He`s not so positively charged today.

[david13]

6. It's allergies or dust or something. Vacuum the carpet. Or maybe just some allergy to trees or

bushes etc. in the new area.
dc

[GirlinContempt]

7. There is no carpet, and there's snow on the ground which has stopped much of the dust.

We're on the 5th floor. I'm pretty sure it's just the herpes virus flaring up again. At first, I was concerned about cat asthma, which can sometimes develop at his age, in which case your suggestions would be right on! But, his breathing is clear (I forgot to mention that above, my bad) there is no wheezing or strange sound. At first I thought it might be because right before i moved in they fixed up the shower and whoever did it didn't clean up after himself, and there was dust EVERYWHERE. But, I had it cleaned up right away, and it's been a while and if anything it's getting a little worse and not better (his sneezing that is). At least he's responding well to the steam treatment in the bathroom.

[GoCubsGo]

8. I am not a vet, but...

...I have dealt with both feline herpes virus and allergies/asthma. I lost my oldest cat to the former. L-lysine did nothing for her. My current oldest cat has asthma that is probably caused by allergies. I have him on the antihistamine chlorpheniramine, a.k.a. "Chlor Trimeton" twice a day. It comes in 4 mg tablets, and he gets half a tablet (2 mg) in the morning, and half in the evening. You can buy it in any drug store. I get the store brand version of it (e.g. Walgreen's WalFinate), as it's less expensive than ChlorTrimeton, and definitely less expensive than the first batch I got from the vet. Here's one web site about it, and you can find others by searching "chlorpheniramine" and "cats": http://www.drcarol.com/Chlorpheniramine-4mg-p/ch4tabs.h...

[GirlinContempt]

10. Thanks for the info

[crim son]

9. Are his eyes goopy?

That happens with the herpes virus too. I've never tried the l-lysine but the vet treated my kittens with antibiotics and eye drops, the virus cleared and then a few weeks later it returned. I babied the kittens but didn't reinstate treatment and they healed just fine. From what I've read, eye damage is a serious concern so goopy eyes should be monitored. My orange tabby, Muezza, is sneezing like crazy right now and I think it's the change of seasons.

Cute Kitteh! And, nice to see you, GirlinContempt.

[GirlinContempt]

11. The first day

his eye was running/watering with just clear fluid, but that cleared up very quickly. Since then his eyes are fine. Most cases of URIs don't require antibiotics, and over use of them can just make the cat develop a tolerance (like people) so unless he seems to develop a secondary infection I'm avoiding them. The l-lysine seems to be helping. His sneezing was getting worse every day, but as of late last night/early this morning seems to be improving! This is my first time using it, so I can't say for sure if it is the reason. but, my Aunt who's had hundreds of cats over the years has had it work very often so I'm hopeful.

I'm watching him very closely... As of this morning, I'm pretty sure I was right about it being a herpes cause URI, and it seems like it'll clear up on it's own. What a relief!

Nice to see you too!

[Sanity Claws]

12. Allergies?

My cat developed an allergy to flowers. He is able to sit outside during high pollen weather without a problem but when I started bringing cut flowers into our place, he started sneezing. It took me a while to figure out that he had an allergy to flowers; he was particularly sensitive to daffodils. Somehow it popped into my head that he might have a problem with the flowers. I threw them out as a test. He was so much better within an hour.
So, all potential lovers out there, please bring me gifts of wine and jewelry; no flowers, thank you very much.

[GirlinContempt]

13. I thought of allergies and late-onset feline asthma

He's 11. But, we live on the 5th floor of this building (no carpet), and it has been thoroughly cleaned. There are no new plants or flowers around, and the snow has effectively gotten rid of all the dust and crap in the air now (my Dad's asthma has calmed down significantly in the past few days, autumn is a bad time for him). Also, his breathing is fine, there is no wheezing or strange sound to it at all, I've been listening very carefully. Generally, either allergies or asthma will cause some of that (though of course not always). So, I'm pretty sure I can rule both of those out, but it's a good suggestion! I'm sorry to hear about your kitty! I'll make sure never to send you flowers

[GoCubsGo]

14. I think he's allergic to molds and/or mildew....

Those are in the air all the time at some level--inside and outdoors. I wouldn't write off the allergies for your kitty. My boy's asthma seems to act up after rainy periods. It's not a seasonal thing, so it's not plant-induced. He doesn't wheeze. He stretches out and coughs, and has a chronically drippy nose (clear, not the goopy herpes virus discharge.)

[GirlinContempt]

15. It's possible.

So far today he seems to be improving quite a bit, which I'm attributing to the lycine, though it could be any number of things I guess. But I'll continue to keep a close eye on him. Luckily he isn't coughing and he hasn't really had any discharge from his nose, or eyes since the first day. I really hope for his sake it isn't allergies I don't want him to have to go through this regularly, poor boy. I'm not exactly writing anything off, I'm just sort of going with what seems most likely based on his symptoms at this point that's all