Feline Herpes

Just like humans and well pretty much everything including coral, cats get herpes!

Dead coral (top) : Alive coral (bottom)

But unlike the herpes that is killing coral, cat herpes is more like the human form that causes cold sores (type 1) versus the more serious genital herpes (type 2). Cats transfer their version of type 1 herpes pretty easily to other cats. In fact, pretty much all (85% or so) cats have this form herpes.

Any kitten whose mother has it contracts it. Any cat that meets up with a stray cat gets it. There's a vaccine for it, but sometimes it doesn't work and well, if your cat already carries herpes, the vaccine doesn't get rid of it.

Most cats who have strong immune systems and aren't constantly exposed to other felines with herpes won't display the common symptoms of FVH-1. The common symptoms are the same as the human cold and/or other symptoms like conjunctivitis in the eye.

If your cat is displaying the symptoms of herpes, treatments are only for the symptoms as there is no "cure" for herpes. So if your cat is congested, the vet will give you decongestant; and if your cat's eye is swollen, the doc will give you something to help soothe the pain. Only time will finally cause the herpes to die down, but naturally, alleviating the pain of the symptoms helps to make your cat feel better and heal faster.

So don't worry so much about herpes. If you've got a young one, get the baby vaccinated, but overall cats are pretty resilient and most of them are infected already!

To get more info, consult your local vet. A quick search of the internet provides a font of information as well. Examples include animalhealthchannel.com and personal blogs sites from other cat parents.

Just an aside about conjunctivitis: the swelling of the eye can be caused by many things including a virus, but also by bacteria and foreign objects in the eye, etc. Please don't always assume that if your cat's eye swells up, or if the third eyelid won't retract, that your cat has herpes. It could be a bacterial infection (not so common, but often vets will give you an antibiotic just in case); it could be something stuck in your cat's eye (then you/vet need to remove it and get some eye antibiotic), or there could be no swelling, but the third eyelid won't retract which is an indication your cat has a bug in its digestive system.

If a cat's eye doesn't get better in 5 days or so, it's best to take your cat to the vet for diagnosis. Also, try to monitor your cat and get in tune to your "healthy" cat so you know right away when your cat isn't feeling well. You're your cat's best defender at the vet and it will help if you know your cat well and can describe your cat's symptoms clinically.

For example, if we look at the two *ick* gross pictures, the cat on the right has a severe case of conjunctivitis where the cat on the left is displaying milder symptoms.

It's obvious what's wrong with the eye on the right, but how do you tell what's wrong with the left cat? Disregarding the cat's sad expression, note the right eye closing up because it's swollen and the crusty secretion in the corner. And note the left eye's third eyelid creeping up from the inner corner of the eye.

Please don't let your cat's eye get so far you can't tell it's an eye anymore!

Update Jan 2010:  Turns out that your cat can get herpes and it can stick around for a lot longer than I ever thought.  I've got one feline friend who's had it for going on 6 months.  Kitty missed his shot by one month and ended up showing signs.  Even with vaccination 10 days after signs show, he's still sneezing, still wheezing, still pulled eyelids after 6 months.  After kitty turned out allergic to eye antibiotic, he got oral L-lysine medication, but nothing seems to be working.  Lesson learned: vaccinate ON-TIME!

Update May 2010:  Finally upper respiratory seems to be cleared and eyes are pretty much normal (very little pulling of the third eyelids).  However, kitty did lose weight -- due to the herpes?  Not sure, but he ate heartily the entire year so something is keeping his weight down.