Follow-Ups to Answer from Expert Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf

---

Julie wrote at 2011-04-19 18:47:29
have you tried L-Lysine?   I get the gel from any number of online pet meds sources, (check prices, they vary) in a tube called ViraLys.. it works WONDERS for my cat w/ terrible skin ailments, varied bald belly, scabby, scaly patches on whole body, behind ears, and more... Also at one time he got a bad case of conjunctivitis, at which time took him to an eye specialist vet, where she tried Lysine.  Eye cleared up nicely (after a lot of other trial and error, and scraping and staining the eye, and terrible 'drug' eye drops, nothing worked.. till...) LYSINE..

As a wonderful 'side effect' the skin stuff started clearing up almost immediately, and as long as he gets a couple cc's per day, he's great.  I KNOW THIS WORKS, cause if I stop it, he comes in from outside with the 'bucky bronco' syndrome: twitching, jumping licking scratching, etc... He's got NO 'bucky broncos' when he's on Lysine.

Also helps a couple of my other cats w/ constantly teary eyes!  I'm sold.  Some cats love it (so I'm told) and one or two of mine at first loved to lick it off my fingers, but now that they NEED it, dont want it.. but I give it w/ a 3cc syringe (anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 cc per day) and if you get quick at it (but not so quick they gag it back up) it works fine.  Try to place it near back of throat, give 1/2 dose at a shot, close mouth so they will swallow, then they dont have to taste it.  Tuffy has tolerated it very well for years now; he must know how much it helps him.  I was at wit's end for Tuffy.  We had tried EVERYTHING!  I have a holistic vet too, and she does chiro, and acupuncture, and successfully uses lots of herbs etc for many problems, but nothing really helped Tuffy except for short periods of time, then the misery would be back for him! I am so grateful every day that Lysine worked for him, and we found it almost by accident (treating the conjunctivitis, which the eye specialist vet suspected was from Herpes!) SO glad we never had to resort to steroid shots!

Two (teary eyed) guys are fighting the gel so much that I have recently tried switching to pills (from Health Food Store)... they are 500 mg. and I am giving 1/2 pill twice a day.  So far, so good, as far as I have witnessed.  But I'd try the ViraLys first.  If you read about it online, you'll find lots of anecdotal stories about cats who wont even eat their dinner til 'mom' puts lysine on it!

Only really acute problems need 500 mg twice a day, per another one of my vets who absolutely swears by lysine.  He's seen amazingly great results for lots of cats w/ lots of 'issues'...   I believe my skin problem guy Tuffy, and Brownie and Blackie with sometimes severely watery eyes all respond so well cause these problems are all caused by Herpes virus.



(we know Lysine works for humans w/ cold sores.. -- herpes -- right??!)

GOOD LUCK with your kitty!



Julie from Montana

---