Penny's Eyes
Penny had a very bad upper respiratory infection during the holidays. She got through it fine and is back to her old high jumping, twisty self except for her right eye. She has continued to have a reddish tear drip staining just that one corner. The vet's office thinks it is the herpes virus that kitties get and prescribed Terramycin Opthalmic Ointment 3 times a day for 7 days. Well after 3 days it only seemed to make her eye worse with reddening around the rim and causing excessive watery glassiness. But no improvement at all.
Penny with stained eye
This is what Penny should look like!
To be honest, I think a few of the boys have the same issue, but because Penny is so white, it is so much more noticeable.
Have any of you had this issue? Can you offer any advice?
We'd appreciate your feedback!
~Lisa Co9T
L-Lysine mixed with food every day will help with Herpes virus flare-ups. But I'm not sure about the eye.
ReplyDeleteDerry had an icky eye for ages after I adopted him...One of the vets said it was fine, but at his check and pre-dental last year, another vet (same clinic) noticed it was greenish (bacterial infection). He got antibiotic eye ointment, but I really think it was the antibiotics he got post dental surgery that cleared it up. His eye has been fine since.
But of course antibiotics won't do any good for a virus and shouldn't be prescribed for that, anyway. (Which isn't your case.)
If you're not trying lysine as a regular course in the food, give it a shot. It's just an amino acid that binds to the Herpes virus molecules and helps to lessen the duration and severity of symptoms.
If that doesn't work...A second opinion from another vet? Sometimes that can make a huge difference!
I have 3 cats who have chronic herpes, have been treated with everything from Orbax to Baytril oral, which lessons the tearing and staining but as soon as you stop, or within a few days, it comes back. I have had good luck with L-lysine in the food, I put it in everyone's food, it boosts the immune system and can't hurt the ones who don't have it. I am a cancer survivor my my doctor told me to take L-lysine as well. Hope this helps and I feel for you and for Penny, tho it doesn't seem to cause pain it has to be annoying to them.
ReplyDeleteI have had some luck with an eye med Idoxyuridine, but it is kept refrigerated so it's cold when applied and after a few doses when you open the refrigerator door, you can't find a cat within miles!
I so hope that you can find acure as it must annoy so much.. Still a very pretty girl though.. Hugs GJ xx
ReplyDeleteYes, we have herpes virus in 4 of our poodins. They received it from their mom in utero, and it caused one eye on Sally, Smokey, and Reno to be scarred so you can see the problem very noticeably on those 3 cats. On Obi, he gets the protein leakage daily, and I clean it off with a tissue. I use the L-lysine also. I sprinkle it on their wet food each morning. I was grinding up l-lysine tablets from Walmart, but then I purchased Vet Solutions Viralys. Some vets carry this, but you can purchase it online too. It is l-lysine ground up, and smells a bit fishy.
ReplyDeleteUsing l-lysine daily will help decrease the drainage and respiratory flare-ups, but you probably won't get rid of the drainage. It's there to stay.
Luf, Maw
We are sorry about your ouchie eye, we never had anything like that.
ReplyDeleteOh Penny
ReplyDeleteWe hope the L-Lysine will help.
purrin
xoxox
Oh Poor Penny ! My mom wish she can help but I never got ouchie eye. But I used to get into the fight with other cat and got wound very very close to my eyes. My mom wiped my eye with a weak salt- water damp cloth. Then my wound healed up perfectly with no infections or other problems at all. But She are not sure, You can use it for her.
ReplyDeleteI hope you find out the way to help her eye get better.
A kitty before me had that problem and we used Enisyl-F Oral Paste for Cats and it worked good for him. It is, as you can tell, an oral paste. Good luck to you sweet Penny!
ReplyDeletewe never had this but we sure hope that Penny's eye will clear up soon. Poor baby! xoxo
ReplyDeleteWe don't have any experience with this but others have given you some good advice. We hope you can get Penny's eye cleared up. She's such a pretty girl!!
ReplyDeleteWe're sorry about little Penny's problem. Over the years, we have had many eye infections here and one thing we have learned is how important it is to give the right eye drops/gel for the particular condition. If you don't see an improvement soon, you might consider taking her to see a veterinary ophthalmologist.
ReplyDeleteWe also agree with the comments about Lysine. It is an important too in keeping herpes-infected cats as healthy as possible.
Purrs,
The Chans
We hope it can all be fixed soon! Purrs...
ReplyDeleteis the eye or the conjuntivi around the eye showing signs of infection or is there just the redish tear stains on the face?
ReplyDeleteIf there is some inflammation noticable, then I agree with the lysine.
If it is JUST the tear stains, then there is a chance that her tear duct is blocked up due to the past infection and she has tear spillage. My Eli had several rounds with Calcivirus, and as a result both of his tear ducts are blocked. Tears back up and spill over on to his face. I tried surgery to unblock them, but it did not help. I found a holistic vet who use laser therapy on him, and he is dramatically better now then he was as a kitten.
Lots of good advice here. I use that Viralys powder mixed in with food every day.
ReplyDeleteAlso, some cats react to the ointment base of many eye ointments with increased redness of the inner lids.
If it looks better 12 hours after applying the ointment and then gets red after you do, your kitty may be one of those cats that is sensitive to the ointment base.
You could ask your vet if there is a liquid suspension you could try, but I don't think there is a tetracycline or erythro solution, just ointment.