Herpes
Lizzie’s eyes would occasionally sort of swell shut and ooze a thick, black discharge. On little lily white Lizzie, the discharge is easy to see. On a darker cat, you might have to look a little harder.
We couldn’t figure out what was going on, because she would get real bad and then be fine. It seemed to flare up in times of stress, but we weren’t sure. Well, the hero of this story is, you guessed it: Dr. Susan Kirschner. This was an easy one for the good doctor. Herpes.
Herpes in cats, it seems, is a lot like herpes in humans. Pretty much everyone carries the virus, but not everyone shows symptoms. In cats, all cats have the virus, but most have antibodies that prevent it from causing problems. Most, but not Lizzie.
Also like in humans, the cause of outbreaks in cats can be hard to pinpoint. Some literature points to stress or illness, some to seasonal allergies. Sometimes no one knows. Some flare-ups are mild and go away on their own. Others are very stubborn and require drops or oral anti-viral drugs.
In Lizzie’s case mild outbreaks are controlled with idoxuridine drops, somewhat-worse outbreaks require the addition of L-lysine food supplements, and for severe case we call in the big guns, the famcyclovir tablets.
We have found that as we’ve addressed the distichia problem, her outbreaks have become much less frequent and easier to control.