We adopted our sweet Belle back in January of 2025. Enzo had a one-year checkup in December, and while at the vet Chris saw Belle in their cat room. It was an instant click. She loved us right from the start and had no problem adjusting to our home. Chris and I were told that she had lived with a family for most of her life, but was suddenly dropped off. Soon after she was adopted by another family to be an outdoor cat again, but they returned her after one week. They claimed she was a bully, but the vet was under the impression that was just an excuse.
One thing we were told right away was that she had some breathing problems (it used to sound like snoring all day long). It didn’t impact her demeanor, but didn’t sound great either. We took her to a different vet for a second opinion and she said Belle has FHV, or feline herpes virus. It’s more or less a chronic condition where symptoms can flare up when triggered. Unfortunately, she’s always dealing with at least one symptom. On a positive note, we’ve found a few things that have helped lessen her symptoms to give her more comfort.
L-Lysine Supplement
There’s a variety of debate on whether this supplement helps or not. Some studies have shown it helps boost the immune system so the cat can fight the symptoms. On the other hand, some veterinarians say the findings are inconclusive or could even disrupt normal immune functioning due to a change in the body’s amino acids. When we gave Belle this supplement, it did improve symptoms. It wasn’t a cure of any sort, but it helped make her “snoring noise” happen a little less. The exact L-Lysine supplement we got Belle is listed here.
The main problem we had was that Belle hated the supplement gel SO much. The instructions recommend to put some on your finger or on the cat so they bathe, and consume it naturally. Given Belle most likely has never had wet food or a variety of foods in her life, she had zero interest in trying something new. We would put it in a little syringe and squirt it into her mouth. This would make her very mad so she’d run away from us whenever she realized what was happening. However, it seemed to help nonetheless.
Cerenia
This was another beneficial route we took, but required a trip to the vet. It’s a mild anti-inflammatory and is supposed to be easier on the kidneys. We don’t know the state of her organ health since we adopted her at 10.5 years old, and the vet said forcing her through testing could put so much stress on her she could pass away. That’s definitely not worth it to us, so we never tested. After the first dose, we noticed that it helped right away. However, it did make her excessively tired. We tried giving this to her for a while, but she’d fight it each time we gave it to her. Between that and her sleepiness, it was difficult to want to keep up with it.
Air Purifiers
Given the main symptoms of FHV are respiratory, it’s important to have clean air in the home. We’ve always had air purifiers in our house, and we noticed as soon as we brought Belle into our home her eye problems got better. She’s still half-blind, but her eye no longer has any goopy discharge. Simply getting her into a clean environment that gives her all the love has been a big help. The purifiers we use in our home are the Levoit brand on Amazon.
Better Nutrition for Belle
This has been our biggest saving grace. When she first came home, it took a while to figure out the food she’d tolerate the best. I’ve always checked the ingredients of all the pet food we buy. I know there’s debate on kibble vs. fresh vs. raw food for pets, but our animals get a mix of foods and we always have a kibble on hand for whenever they want.
We were getting nervous because Belle was losing weight pretty fast and we couldn’t tell why since we thought she was eating. Well, simply switching to a different kibble made a world’s difference. Finding a food that she loved to eat with quality ingredients seemed to revive her.
The kibble that first changed everything for us was the I and love and you Naked Essentials Dry Cat Food in the Salmon and Trout flavor. She loved this one, and is also enjoying ORIJEN Six Fish Dry Cat Food. Belle’s favorite treat that she yells at me to grab for her are freeze dried pork bites from Stella & Chewy’s.
I’m not saying that all of these are the only FHV solutions. This is purely what seemed to help our sweet Belle. You should absolutely consult a veterinarian or professional of your choosing if you think something serious is going on. Although we adopted a senior girl, we are hoping she has more years left. Since making these changes, she’s been feisty and full of life. On a daily basis she meows (more like yells) at me to get her “pork bites”. She’s also been super playful and loves chasing the cats’ feather toy around. I’m so happy she’s made such a big improvement and can’t wait to see what the future holds for our Belle.