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Feline Herpes Simplex
My husband and I have a 14 year old male domestic long hair at home. He is the love of our lives. He is very friendly to people but has no exposure to other animals. I adopted him at 6 months old. Our 14 year old has NEVER been sick except for bladder stones. The CD Cat food controls that fine. He is an indoor cat.
Last week, i went to my vets office for some cat food and came across a 4 month old female (we were originally told it was male) that looked EXACTLY like our male cat at that age with a terrific personality. We fell in love. When we met with the vet and the cat on saturday, we noticed that her eye was cloudy. Turns out that she and her sister, also up for adoption, had contracted feline herpes. The sister lost an eye and she has eye ulcers. I researched this serious disease on line and have learned that it outbreak again like people when the cat is under stress. It often requires antibiotics and as a somewhat preventive measure, people give cats lysene and interferon in their food. I also hear that you can get other cats immunized against it but that it just lessons the symptoms and doesn't prevent it. We would just die if something bad happened to our male cat.
Are we crazy for thinking of adopting this cat that we have fallen in love with?
A further complication, we are due with our first child in April 2010 and work full time so we don't want to be faced with excessive vet bills or frequent vet visits with a newborn to attend to.
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Maybe give some free advice about: Pets?
This is a very complicated question, espcially involving your health and the health of your unborn child. YOu don't say whether or not you have checked to ensure that feline herpes is NOT transferable to humans. This is very important. BEcause just like in the cat, herpes can cause blindness in newborns. So first you must check that out. I also know that BHT, a preservative, can help prevent outbreaks of herpes. It works in humans, and maybe it will work in pets. You can order BHT online as a food supplement. Research the issue on the site called www.earthclinic.com
That is where I found out about the BHT. They also have pages on pet diseases and problems. Maybe a cure or treatment for feline herpes is addressed there.
YOu do know about toxomplasmosis right and you are not the person who changes the cat litter. Right? Pregnant women should avoid handling raw meat and emptying cat litter boxes. Because of the chance of exposure to the toxoplasmosis spore.
Good luck to you and your family.
Michele
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