- Cat Allergies with Dr. Jean
- Obesity in Cats with Dr. Jean Hofve, DVM
- Kidney Disease in Cats with Dr. Jean Hofve, DVM
- Cat Conjunctivitis and Cat Herpes with Dr. Jean Hofve
Cat Conjunctivitis and Cat Herpes with Dr. Jean Hofve
Originally published Jun 20, 2012
Thank you to Dr. Jean for taking the time to talk to Floppycats about cat conjunctivitis and cat herpes.
Learn more about cat health by reading Dr. Jean’s book, The Complete Guide to Holistic Cat Care: An Illustrated Handbook.
Dr. Jean also covers Feline Conjunctivitis on her site as well.
You can listen to the podcast of Cat Conjunctivitis and Cat Herpes with Dr Jean Hofve (click here) or you can read the interview below.
We've now done several interviews with Dr. Jean, feel free to check any of them out:
Cinde Shields
This is great information Jenny. Thank you for sharing these terrific vet interviews with us!
Shirley Iseman
I have a blue cream retired show cat that has herpes. His nose is bleeding and vet tells me nothing why that is going on and what to do for it. He is now 12 years and I have taken him many times to the vet for different shots and we are retired and it is costing us a lot. How can we help him? He is my sweetie and I don`t want to lose him.
Jenny
Hi Shirley, our Facebook page serves as a better forum for answers (although I wish the site did more). Nonetheless, I have posted your concern on our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/floppycats/posts/10153928664613038 - this is a dedicated link to your comment and I would check it again in 24 hours as more people reply from around the world. Please email me directly should you need further help.
Beth
Thanks for the interesting discussion! We've only had two kitties with chronic runny eyes and nose. One was Little Pretty, a very inbred Himalayan rescue; the vet mentioned both herpes and LP's "smooshed" face. 18-year-old Holy Tara has been troubled with the same symptoms lifelong (thankfully, much less in her older age). We tried the lysine treats with no results. I'm interested in Willard Water, but I have a question. Our cats' drinking fountain has a charcoal filter... that would probably destroy whatever benefits Willard Water has, wouldn't it?
Patti Johnson
Great re-post and video, Jenny! Always great interviews with Dr. Jean! This information is so important and I have this post and your video bookmarked for future reference. 🙂 <3
Big hugs!
Patti & Miss Pink Sugarbelle 😉 <3
Jenny
i hope so - only have a few more of her videos to go =). trying to spread them out.
Patti Johnson
Thank you for this great post full of very helpful and interesting information, Jenny! I have this one bookmarked for future use and reference (along with many others you've posted regarding health issues).
Big hugs!
Patti & Pink Sugar 🙂 <3
jolie cosette
Jolie is an anomaly. When exposed to environmental allergens, she has some of the symptoms one associates with rhinotracheitis and conjunctivitis--watery eyes, runny nose and sneezing, yet she doesn't have the herpes virus. She also doesn't experience gut reactions to environmental allergens. If I draw her blood during a flare-up, her white cells show a typical allergic reaction. Jolie's IgE antibodies to certain plant pollens, dust mites and cat dander are incredibly high.
Because Jolie is an immunological wreck, I rarely put her on corticosteroids. Benadryl used to be my first line of defense, but now I use HEPA filters -- lots of them.
Katie
I read through the cat conjunctivitis this morning. My cat has a blocked tear duct (she saw kitty eye doctor) and my dad is an eye doctor so we have dealt with this for awhile. She has always been constantly "flaring up" but mainly every 2 weeks or so will have sneezing attacks with it that has yellowish-green snot and in large quantities. She only has this problem in 1 eye and 1 nostril. Very sad to see, but she manages very well with a spunky attitude! I am going to try the Lysine on her and slowly increase dose. What brand do you recommend? Plus, I just wanted to add that warm compresses on the eye a couple times a day, or a least once a day, is helpful to these cats. For Gumdrop, I mainly do the compresses to help clean the surrounding eye lid/hair and it also helps in her case to sometimes sneeze out the buildup of snot in her nostril that accumulates due to her blocked tear duct/conjunctivitis. I learned that surgery was not the answer as this is rarely done on cats and is fairly traumatic. Plus, a person/cat should not be antibiotics/steroids too much for a variety of reasons. Thus, my treatment has mainly been just to treat the symptoms as best I could.
A second question I have is what wet cat food do you recommend? Gumdrop is an especially picky eater so its difficult to find stuff she likes regarding wet food. She has a mix of dry and wet food daily, but after reading the article and struggling with my other cat Lollipop's weight issue I am leaning in the direction of more wet food. (I had a mix of both wet and dry foods for my first cat that lived to be 19yrs old).
Your advice would be much appreciated!
Rochelle
I didn’t know cats can show allergies by having upset tummies and digestion problems until my vet told me. I thought my cat was sick but she had allergies to something in her food. I’m glad it wasn’t something worse. I keep it under control by only feeding her the natural balance L.I.D. cat foods, and I don’t give her anything else, but love and snuggles!