[Leesa]

Hey guys......Question, My lil one (Jack Thomas 2 yr old) has a watery eye. Not both just one and not all the time. He was extreamly sick w/ a snotty nose as a kitten. I mean seriously snot flew everywhere when he sneezed!!! On the walls, on the chairs, on the other cats, on the furniture etc..It was gross!!! He outgrew this w/ antibiotics and vitamans ! But what would cause 1 watery eye?? Not all the time just every now and then?? Allergies maybe?? Thanks! ~~Lisa in PA:jump

 

[Kobster]

Its possible that his kitten-hood illness was caused by a virus, like the Feline Herpes virus or similar. These have a tendency to cause horrible illness inistially, then lie dormant in the cats body for the rest of its life, and flare up again on occassion with much much milder symptoms, like watery eyes or light sneezing. That would be my first suspicion. Cats can get hayfever like symptoms from allergies but its pretty rare. If you want to confirm a diagnosis, when he is having a watery eye day, take him to the vet for a Feline Upper Respiratory PCR test. They will swab his eyes and throat and sent it to a lab to determine what viruses may be present.

or

you could just treat it like it is herpes which won't hurt anything. Since its a virus, there is no cure, but supplementing his diet with L-Lysine helps lessen severity and duration of symptoms. They make Lysine supplements for cats that your vet may carry, or you can purchase OTC at a health store.

 

[edieparnaby]

My new kitty has been having sneezing fits for about a week now. The other cat in the house is a herpes carrier, and even though the new cat had the rhino vaccine a week after he arrived, the vet said he could still have caught the virus. Anyway, she gave me Lysine for both cats. Have you ever tried to administer Lysine to a cat? It comes in a gel and must be given on an empty stomach. This means you have to contrive to squirt this gel into a cranky cat's mouth! Not fun!

 

[laurief]

Have you ever tried to administer Lysine to a cat? It comes in a gel and must be given on an empty stomach. This means you have to contrive to squirt this gel into a cranky cat's mouth! Not fun!

I don't know about the specific gel the vet gave you, but L-lysine most definitely does NOT need to be given on an empty stomach. In fact, Plumb's (the veterinary drug reference that most vet clinics use) specifically notes mixing lysine with food as an option in its dosing guidelines, and it also mentions that stomach upset can be avoided by mixing lysine with food.

You can purchase L-lysine anywhere vitamins are sold. I buy mine at Walmart or K-Mart. A 500 mg tablet can be crushed and mixed into canned food. Most cats will eat it willingly that way.

Laurie

 

[maggie23]

L-lysine capsules

yeah, i just get the lysine capsules from the health food store. apparently it CAN cause a bit of diarrhea, which we definitely discovered the first time we used it!

all we do these days is open up the capsule, sprinkle a little powder on her food and mix it in good with a bit of canned pumpkin which helps to counteract the diarrhea. hasn't hurt her, but it hasn't seemed to help with the runny eyes and nose yet either unfortunately. it's possible i'm just not giving her enough lysine, though. i got a bit paranoid when she had diarrhea the first time around.

i still end up cleaning her eyes and nose almost everyday with some saline solution on a cotton ball, anyway.

 

[edieparnaby]

I'm glad to hear I can get Lysine in tablet or capsule form. I was worrying about having to give him the gel again. I wish vets would tell you these things. But of course the gel costs $22 which is probably way more than the pills and the vet wants you to buy it from them...

 

[Leesa]

Jack was on the gel for about 8 months or so (give or take a month). Maybe I should call and see about getting another tube. He's so use to have pills administered w/ a pill gun, he's use to it!! He was on antibiotics for awhile also. If I remember correctly I think he was tested for the herpes viris and he was neg. He also has a blood pannel done around the same time, she checked him out pretty good! Thanks everyone!