I adopted a kitten from the shelter and was told she was 3 months old.
She has been sneezing and wheezing for a few days now and over the weekend her eyes started discharging, yesterday they were swollen shut with discharge. I took her to the vet and it turns out she is 6 months or older and has a very bad case of Feline herpes and now has at least 2 ulcers on her cornea and might lose an eye if the meds dont fend it off.
has this happened to anyone’s cat before and how bad did end up?
i love the girl, and hope she does not end up a pirate.
Our youngest cat has herpes. She has outbreaks now and then, and when we first brought her home, she was given the same grim diagnosis and given some eye meds. It was a thick, gooey antibiotic that we had to rub into the corners of her eye, and work it in gently.
Today, she has both of her eyes, and no vision problems whatsoever. She has mild allergies and sneezes a lot sometimes, but she’s fine. Occasionally, she’ll have an outbreak, but they only happen once a year or so. She gets little red sores on her lip and her eyes goo up a little, but they’re not too bad. She usually weathers it in about a week or two. The vet usually just prescibes antibiotic for her eyes again, but it’s never, ever been nearly as severe as the day we brought her home.
I fervently wish the same for your new cat - I hope she doesn’t have to lose an eye. Poor thing. Good luck!
I had no idea this afflicted animals until quite recently when a report came out that Pimlico has had a number of horses come down with it and that it’s much more serious, possibly even life threatning, for them and has necessitated euthanization of two and an animal hold order on the track. Tragic stuff.
i certainly didnt know, i just thought it was discharge from her kennel cold that came back. i was shocked when i took Sha’ri to the doctor and found out it was feline herpes.
we have administered 2 rounds of drops and it seems to helping the redness, and is certainly helping the swelling. i hope that after a week,it all clears up.
if i knew how to post a picture on this site i would post a picture of her.
My last two kittens had severe upper respiratory infections (URI’s), most likely herpes related. Herpes is also known as Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis, (FVR), it is one of the components of the annual feline vaccine known as FVRCP. There are actually 3 common upper respiratory diseases and another one that is becoming more common. FVR, Calici and Chlamydia with Bordetella becoming more common.
The first URI kitten I took in was very sick when I got her. I gave her a full course of antibiotics (orally and another in her eyes), her eyes cleared up but she kept having sneezing and a nasal discharge. I started her on an oral lysine supplement which is supposed to help with herpes. It would get a little better but not completely. The I tried an antibiotic for chylamydia, another upper respiratory disease, and she improved more. She got better for a while then started having severe oral ulcers, she’s lost several teeth and the ulcers keep reoccuring. She may have something called eosinophilic granuloma as this started improving when I started giving an antiinflammatory steroid. She’s probably one of the more rare cases that has almost constant problems. I think she’s had so many problems because her immune system was so compromised. She does not have feline leukemia or immunodeficiency virus. She could have had calici, another URI, it causes more oral problems.
The second kitten I took in had such a bad infection in one eye that it had sealed shut. We tried forcing it open and found the eye had such a severe ulcer that it had ruptured and sealed back up. We tried leaving the eyelids sealed but it kept filling up with fluid, possibly because his the naso-lacrimal duct had closed up. It was so swollen that I finally had to have the eye removed. He still has occasional tearing in his remaining eye and the occasional snotty sneeze but he’s pretty healthy otherwise and very, very active. He never really had use of his other eye so he hasn’t had any problems compensating.
My kittens were probably a bit worse off than some others. Many can get through with good care and occasionally have reoccurances. You can try the lysine supplements (ask your vet), they do make a tasty oral gel for cats that is easy to give (mine just lick it off my finger). It helps cut down on outbreaks. Another thing to remember is that if it is the viral URI, it has to run it’s course. We give antibiotics for the secondary infections so it may take a little longer to clear up.
Good luck.
One of my kitties has herpes. She had it in one eye when we adopted her as a kitten. It cleared up pretty quickly with regular applications of Magical Prescription Goo. She’s about 4 years old now, and has one slightly watery eye, but is otherwise fine (except for the luxating patella and struvite crystals and hating her prescription food).