How to Treat Upper Respiratory Infections in Cats

One of the most common diseases that kittens and cats get is upper respiratory infections.  There are a few bacteria that cause these.  One of these is a herpes virus.

The herpes virus is usually transmitted from the mother or father cat, or other cats that were around when they were born.  This fortunately cannot be transmitted to humans as it is not a human herpes virus.  It is in the herpes virus family though which means it does basically the same thing in cats as it does in humans.

This virus in cats stays in the nerves and is usually only brought about by stress.  When the cat is really young and their immune system isn’t very good, they tend to get really sick with this virus.  This can cause serious eye problems including corneal ulcers, and the cats eyes can actually be ruined if they aren’t treated.   It is a pretty nasty virus at the beginning of the cat’s life but they do tend to grow out of it.  However if the cat is feeling particularly stressed later in life it may reappear.  This tends to happen if a new cat is around, or if their immune system is lower than usual for some other reason.  You cat will usually recover easily from little outbreaks of this virus but to help them heal faster you can get L-lysine from near any drug store.  This is an amino acid that helps your cat get over an outbreak much quicker.  This is a very natural substance and people commonly take these for cold sores.  This is a pill that you can break apart and put into food that your cat will eat.

Upper Respiratory Infections in cats are serious but they are also quite common.  If your cat appears to have this and L-Lysine doesn’t seem to fix it contact your vet immediately.

Filed under: Cat Diseases

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