Jackson’s Herpesvirus Flare-up
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FIRST WEEK’S SYMPTOMS
Day 1 – Symptoms: Jackson was not acting as playful as usual and his appetite was decreased, but he didn’t appear sick yet. I had no idea what was coming!
Day 2 – Symptoms: Fever, lethargy, not eating or drinking, BOOGERS!
Today Jackson’s nose started clogging up and he had a small amount of both clear and white-ish nasal discharge that would run out and he would lick off. Yuck! His temperature was elevated, he didn’t want to move much, and he didn’t eat or drink anything.
In the early evening, I decided to start syringing water into his mouth so that he wouldn’t become dehydrated. I used a 3ml syringe. that I keep on hand, and only did it a few times because I thought he might start drinking the next day, and I wasn’t too worried. I had just made some chicken broth, so I also syringed some chicken broth into him that night. Having just made Echinacea tea for myself, and knowing that it is safe for cats, I gave him a 1ml syringe of my tea.
I had Viralys gel on hand, so I gave him a higher dose than usual. Viralys contains L-Lysine — an amino acid that helps stop the herpes virus from replicating. He did lick that off my finger. I don’t feel that the gel does much for him, so I ordered a Made in USA 500mg L-Lysine capsule to try. I also ordered some Made in USA Olive Leaf Extract since I had read very good things about it fighting infection. I will include an informative link from a study that shows that Olive Leaf Extract (OLE) is effective in fighting Herpes in both cats and humans..
What I did Day 2:
*Syringe water
*Syringe Echinacea tea
*Syringe Homemade Chicken broth
*Viralys gel
Day 3 – Symptoms: Fever, very congested with thick nasal discharge, lethargy, not eating or drinking, open mouth breathing, and he started to cough.
The symptoms of Day 2 worsened, and he also started to cough periodically. His nose was SO congested. Think of your worst cold ever, and then imagine that you can’t blow your nose! Jackson would have a half-inch of white to light yellow nasal discharge hanging out of his nose! He will usually lick his boogers off his nose (YUCKO!), but he felt so bad that they just hung there. Sometimes the boogers would dry right at the end of his nostril and nothing was getting out, so I started wiping his nose every 20 minutes if necessary to keep the congestion from backing up and making his cough worse.
I was trying anything to avoid needing antibiotics. I started taking him to the bathroom, closing the door, and running the shower on hot for 10-15 minutes at a time to break up the congestion. It seemed to help because he could breathe through his nose for a while afterward. I carried him to and from the bathroom because he wasn’t very interested in walking. And, of course, while this was happening, it was over 90 degrees outside!! Great time to steam up the house!
I was getting worried about the color of the yellow mess that was flowing from his little nostrils, but I found an article that made me relax a bit. A virus can cause yellow or even green nasal secretions, so color doesn’t definitely mean that antibiotics are needed. I did not stop watching him like a hawk, but I was relieved that yellow boogers do not immediately indicate a bacterial infection and the need for antibiotics.
I received my order of Lysine and Olive Leaf Extract today, so I started him on these two things. Before giving my little man the Olive Leaf Extract, I needed to find out what his dosage should be. This led to hours and hours of research. You can read what I learned about Lysine Here..
I gave him meds in a 3ml syringe with the tip cut off (I used a utility knife to cut the tip off), and mixed 250mg of Lysine and 4 drops of Olive Leaf Extract into it. I filled 3 of the syringes with Gerber baby food out of the jar, squirted it into a shot glass, and then added the meds and stirred it up before drawing the mixture back into the syringes again. I then slowly inserted the syringe into the side of his mouth and slowly ejected the food into his mouth. It took 3 or 4 squirts per syringe to empty its contents. Sometimes it missed, but he got most of it. After the food, I always followed up with a syringe of water.
What I did Day 3:
*Constantly wiping his nose.
*I was syringing more water – 2 syringes full of water into the side of his mouth 3 times a day
*Gave 250mg of L-Lysine twice a day
*Gave up to 4mg (about 4 drops) of Olive Leaf Extract twice a day
*I cut the tip of a 3ml syringe off at the base, so the hole would be larger, and started feeding him the turkey baby food with Lysine and Olive Leaf Extract. (I included a link to the brand of baby food I used as it contains no onion or anything bad for cats, as well as the Lysine and Olive Leaf Extract I used.) I did this 3 times a day.
*We did three bathroom steam sessions of 15 minutes each. After 15 minutes, I shut off the water and let him enjoy the steamy room for at least 5 more minutes. I had placed him on the toilet seat on a towel, and he was more than content to just sit there until I moved him back to the couch.
DAY 4: Symptoms: Fever, lethargy, not eating or drinking, open mouth breathing, very congested with yellow-tinged nasal discharge, and his cough was more frequent.
Jackson started fighting me wiping his nose ( I can’t imagine why, since it felt like I was wiping it 4,000 times a day!) and I deduced that his little nose was probably getting tender from all the wiping. Since people use Kleenex infused with lotion, I thought I’d wipe a little olive oil on his little nose several times a day. It seemed to help. He didn’t fight quite as much after I started doing it. Poor guy would open his mouth and give this pitiful little meow when I was wiping his nose.
I had been using a warm washcloth to wipe, but I switched to a piece of fleece material that I had left over from a past project. I held the fleece under warm water and then used the warm, damp cloth to moisten the hardened boogers and wipe them away. Then dab on some olive oil! At night he ate a few pieces of hard food, but wouldn’t touch canned food at all.
What I did Day 4:
*Constant nose wiping!
*Syringing water – 2 syringes full of water (sometimes with tuna juice or broth for added nutrients) into the side of his mouth 3 times a day
*Gave 250mg of L-Lysine twice a day
*Gave up to 4mg (about 4 drops) of Olive Leaf Extract twice a day
*Still feeding him the turkey baby food with Lysine and Olive Leaf Extract. I tried some fancy feast with added water in the syringe, but it didn’t work as well. 3 times a day.
*We did three bathroom steam sessions of 15 minutes each. And then I shut off the water and let him enjoy the steamy room for at least 5 more minutes.
Day 5: Symptoms: Lethargy, not eating or drinking, open mouth breathing, very congested with yellow-tinged nasal discharge, and his cough was more frequent.
I was very excited in the morning because he actually stood up to greet me when I walked into the living room!! His fever broke, and his nose was a little less congested. He was still really congested, just not quite as bad as before. He ate a few pieces of food throughout the day, but I also still syringed his food/medicine 3 times a day.
He would NOT touch soft food no matter how stinky it was. I tried putting some in his mouth, thinking the taste would get him interested, but he still didn’t want it. He started drinking water from our water fountain, so that made me happy! We did the hot shower twice today. His cough was getting more frequent, and I was worried that he may be getting pneumonia, but his breathing was still slow and not labored, so I continued to monitor it.
What I did Day5:
*Syringed water only after giving food, since he was drinking on his own.
*Continued with the 250mg L-Lysine twice a day
*Continued with Olive Leaf Extract 3mg (3 drops) twice a day
*Wiping his nose continued all day
*Baby food with the meds 3 times a day.
Day 6: Symptoms: Tired, not eating or drinking much, open mouth breathing periodically, congested with yellow-tinged nasal discharge, and coughing.
Way less boogers today, more movement, and no hot steam room! He still wasn’t playful, but any movement was making me happy! He even ate a little bit of Fancy Feast on his own for dinner!! I stopped syringing anything at this point, as he was nibbling on kibble periodically throughout the day, eating a few bites of wet food, and drinking from the fountain. His nasal secretions were a little bit clearer now, but super stringy.
I started making what I called ‘nose twirlies’, to help remove the boogers. Just take a small piece of toilet paper and hold it against the booger, then slowly start twisting to wrap the booger around the toilet paper as you go. I removed quite large amounts of congestion using this method!! He would get a surprised look on his face when I got a really large one out!! He must have felt it being pulled out of his nose! I tried to explain how to blow his nose, but he just looked at me like I was crazy and did not comply.
What I did:
*Made nose twirlies to pull stringy boogers out of his nose.
*Kept giving the baby food simply to get the meds into him twice a day.
Day 7 – From here he continued to slowly improve. His congestion got a little better each day, he started eating more, and his activity level improved. His Lysine was adjusted to 250mg per day and I started mixing it up into these treats because he scarfs it down like candy! I stopped the Olive Leaf because he doesn’t like the taste, and I wanted to see if he would continue to improve without it. He would still cough periodically, and while the episodes were sometimes longer, the frequency was much less.
What I did:
*I used nose twirlies or just wiped as needed.
*Mixed 250mg lysine per day into treats… 125mg each time.
*Stopped the olive leaf to see how he did.
The Curse of the Chronic Cat Cold – Part 2
What is a Chronic Upper Respiratory Infection? Read more about it HERE.