Chronic URI Rant!

I need to rant so here I go...

One of our dear kitties Fig has chronic upper respiratory infections (everyone's pretty sure it's feline herpes). I have taken him to 3 or 4 regular vets searching for answers (over the past 6 years). Recently I took him to a specialist who suggested a procedure to figure out what virus Fig has. This procedure was highly invasive and expensive and did not guarantee any cure or even diagnosis so I did not proceed down that avenue... THEN I looked into a homeopathic vet. She has come to our house twice (most recently this morning). She does acupuncture and gave him a vitamin C shot and B shot amongst other things. I hope it'll make some difference, but I'm really worried that it won't.

On a daily basis we give him L-lysine, homeopathic saline nose drops and various supplements for stress. I will do anything for him of course, but I can't tell if any of it is really helping. One of my main concerns is we will be going on a 10 day vacation in December. That means I will need to drag one of my poor neighbors into the drama too.

Sorry if this sounds dramatic - I am just so tired and I feel helpless.

Ok I'm done. Now I feel better! :)

Hi Sarah,

Sorry you are having trouble with URI's. They sure are frustrating to deal with sometimes!

I too have a chronic URI sufferer here, also probably herpes.

Are Fig's bouts with the URI's very severe? If theyre just mild, i really wouldnt worry about it. I've tried L-Lysine too with some success..im not sure about the other supplements/acupuncture, but I'll keep my fingers crossed for you :fingerscr

Well I can tell you the vitamin c is useless, cats produce 100% of their vitamin c, unlike humans. Vitamin B (which cats require a lot of) can be gotten from raw meat and egg yolk (don't give raw whites).

It does sound like feline herpes, I would feed only a quality canned food (Wellness, Nature's Variety Instinct) to keep your cat's immune system up to peak and lots of fluids (just like humans when they have a cold). Herpes can come on when the cat is stressed, including sticking to a schedule (feedings, outings, etc.).

Edit: Whoops, I meant keep to a schedule, it helps reduce stress on a kitty, they like the same thing at the same time eveyday

http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm

http://www.nutritionandeggs.co.uk/eggs_nutrition/nutrition1.html

To add to Love4himies advice, I would suggest looking into something called Transfer Factor (http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/tf/s/pets.htm) to help boost Fig's immune system. It's a tad expensive but would be worth it if it helped. Ordinary colostrum from a health food store is another option, and it's cheaper if money is tight.

How well do all your cats get along? Is your household very chaotic? Like Love4himies mentioned, stress can be a big factor.

Stress is a HUGE factor!

Messina has an URI issue and powdered L-lysine in the food seems to work...however, if I have a lot of visitors over, she will flare up :sad:

Seth has chronic mouth issues...you all have heard about them :rolleyes: , however, since he has started allowing me to pet him, his mouth is 100% better, so either he grew out of it or it was stress...

You are all so nice... thank you for the support!

Our house is not busy or anything. There's no parking here so no one comes to visit ;-P We have one other kitty who Fig gets along with very well - they're buds.

I do give him colostrum everyday... he has caught on to this and will sometimes eat out of the other cat's bowl because he knows I 'm messing with his food.

His flare ups have not been really bad lately - not since November. The problem is they will NOT go away unless he gets an antibiotic. Which of course is fine once in awhile, but he literally gets sick every 2 to 4 months... (real quick back story - he didn't used to get sick this often, one of our kitties, Dinah, passed away in September 2008 and he's been sick a lot since then... - not sure if that's just a coincidence...) :-(

I feed him and Mox Wellness canned and pouches, as well as Merrick canned food and they get Stella & Chewy's raw food patties for dinner.

I will definitely look into some of the other suggestions that I have yet to try!

I really love this community - thank you again for being so supportive. :angel:

Best,
Sarah