A member of our sphynx community posted recently about her kitty having had feline herpes virus which went untreated for a while because the vet didn't recognize it and now her cat has permanent eye damage as a result.
Unfortunately this is an all too common situation - if left untreated feline herpes virus can cause a host of problems for your cat.
There are a number of very specific symptoms to look out for that are indicative of this virus. These include:
Watery eyes
Continual repetitive sneezing with up to 30 sneezes in a row
Eye ulceration
Skin Rashes (on hairless cats you can see rashes develop on their skin especially in the neck and forearm area)
These symptoms, especially in combination with each other, are tell tale signs of the herpes virus. The best thing you can do is take them to the vet and have them do a Feline Upper Respiratory PCR test. This involves taking swabs of their nose and eyes and throat to determine if the feline herpes virus is present or if it is another bacteria or virus. Only then can you treat the symptoms accordingly.
Unfortunately, conventional medicine does not have a lot of options to treat this virus effectively, but the good news is there are some natural products that have been successful in managing feline herpes. Our immune boost powder and vitamin c are extremely helpful in fighting this virus especially when combined with this multivitamin. Building a strong immune system coupled with a healthy diet is one of the best defenses in fighting off chronic viral infections.