L lysine for cats?

Pumpkinseeds

Poppy was diagnosed with pillow paw(easier to use this term than the medical term) yesterday and I want to build up her immune system. I'm thinking of giving her L lysine and I wonder if anyone has used it in cats, if they found it any good and what dosage I should give her. She's between 3 and 4 kilos in weight. Thanks in advance

miezekatze

I give my cat some L-lysine if I notice she needs a bit of a boost for her immune system (e.g. if I hear her sneezing). I read on a cat forum about it. A friend of mine has also used it when a feral cat they were feeding had some flu symptoms and it really helped. I use the capsules you can buy in pharmacies and just cut them open and sprinkle the stuff on her (wet) food. After a few days you should be able to notice some improvement.

maggiepip

One of our rescue cats had cat flu which he recovered from but from time to time he gets a snuffly nose and has been left with a slight wheeze. L lysine is just brilliant for clearing this when he gets a flare up - does wonders for their immune system. I give him about three quarters of a 500 mg capsule in his food - he weighs about 4 to 5 kilos. It really works.

sambuka41

I was just about to ask where to get this stuff as well! I moved to London a month ago and Jack got flu from the stress of travelling. The vet over here told me about L lysine, he said in future to give it to him about 10 days before a stressful event (a planned one obviously ) Glad to hear that it actually works.

boomerang

L Lysine is great for inhibiting FHV, but I don't know would it help with FPCP?

Anyhoo I get it from www.iherb.com as it's powdered and way cheaper than buying the Sona tablets here (which are an almighty pain to crush) or the Lysine products marketed specifically for cats. Ground shipping is only $4.00. Lysine is pretty tasteless - just slightly salty - so cats tolerate the powder sprinkled on food very well.

http://www.iherb.com/Now-Foods-L-Lysine-Powder-1-lb-454-g/653

The Sweeper

L-lysine inhibits the ability of the herpes virus to replicate. It's not an immune booster.

If you're trying to boost your cat all round for a random ailment like this, try a vitamin c supplement coupled with the best food you can afford. Identify and remove anything that could be stressing your cat. Use a feliway diffuser.

Is the vet using a steroid?

Pumpkinseeds

The Sweeper wrote: »

L-lysine inhibits the ability of the herpes virus to replicate. It's not an immune booster.

If you're trying to boost your cat all round for a random ailment like this, try a vitamin c supplement coupled with the best food you can afford. Identify and remove anything that could be stressing your cat. Use a feliway diffuser.

Is the vet using a steroid?

She's not having any treatment at the moment as her paws are much better since she's been living with us. It doesn't seem to bother her much, except when she jumps down and holds one of her paws for a few seconds. The skin is still thin but the cracks are more like hard flakey skin and not very bad.

They have Appplaws dry food and a little wet food each day. Since it's an immune system disorder I wanted to supplement her with something to try and avoid it getting any worse. She's very happy in herself and energetic, loves bossing the much bigger male cats around:)

Irish Stones

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

Poppy was diagnosed with pillow paw(easier to use this term than the medical term) yesterday and I want to build up her immune system. I'm thinking of giving her L lysine and I wonder if anyone has used it in cats, if they found it any good and what dosage I should give her. She's between 3 and 4 kilos in weight. Thanks in advance

I used L-Lysine for my cat Tom some months ago as part of his therapy for a problem at his eye.
The problem disappeared, and I think that L-Lysine played its role in the process of healing his eye.
The package came with a tiny plastic spoon that was the dose for 1 day.
I put this dose in his wet food every morning until the container was empty, probably 5 weeks.

I have read the Sweeper's answer and I agree. I remember that my cat was suffering from something caused by a herpes virus.

boomerang

Has she been tested for FIV/FeLV, pumpkinseeds? These cats are more susceptible to it.

A course of doxycycline (Ronaxan - antibiotic) can bring about a remission. Although if I remember rightly (and not 100% sure on this) spontaneous remission can also occur.