Is lysine safe for cats on meds, kidney diet, and appetite stimulants?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! There is no research on giving L-lysine to nursing kittens. It seems safe to give to pregnant and lactating queens. It can cause an upset stomach. Since whether L-lysine is controversial whether it even helps for feline herpes I wouldn't risk giving it to such a young cat. I hope this helps!

Historically, Lysine has been encouraged to be used among cats, especially those that tend to have upper respiratory flare ups due to underlying viral disease. Lysine was thought to be an immune-booster and thought to help prevent these flare ups from occurring or reduce the symptoms when they did. Majority of evidence that exists supporting this is anecdotal, with those in the scientific community more on the fence about its effectiveness. We know quite surely it isn’t causing any harm in most product formulations. Bottom line is that the majority of cats function and live long healthy lives with or without Lysine. Proper diet and exercise are all that should be needed to obtain the nutrients necessary to thrive.

While there have been no interactions found between lysine and prednisone, it doesn't mean that interactions do not exist. To be safe, I'd wait to give Lio the lysine until he is off the prednisone completely. I hope this helps.

It is if there is a potential for viral involvement! It certainly won’t hurt at least. Most upper respiratory infections may need an oral antibiotics as well. You can try a 1/2 teaspoon of children’s Benadryl as well twice a day which may help. If he isn’t improving, lethargic, or loses his appetite, I would have your vet take a look at him. I hope this helps!

Yes you can use human grade lysine for cats, but getting a cat specific one is easier in terms of getting Nabat to take them because they are flavored. If you use a human grade one, you can cut a 500mg pill in half and mix it in with her food twice a day. For the cat ones, Enisyl and Viralys are both good brands, and can be purchased over the counter without a prescription - just follow the dosing instructions on the label based on your cat's weight.

I would have to respectfully disagree with that statement. I have used Lysine for years and many cats have improved with it. The limitations are that it probably only works for Herpes infection (not other upper respiratory viruses in cats, and we don't often do testing to know for sure that it is Herpes virus causing the clinical signs), and it only works to slow down the replication of the virus (not eliminate the infection). I have attached 2 handouts below which discuss using Lysine in feline Herpes virus. (The first one discusses how Lysine works.) https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1327 https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=613 I hope that answers your question and was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

No it is not safe to give your cat Vitamin B human grade b/c this would overdose him. In fact Vitamin B12 is not absorbed readily by mouth and must be given by injection to pets. This also isn't much of an appetite stimulant, but mostly helps with intestinal malabsorption. I would suggest that you ask your vet for anti-nausea medication (Cerenia) which is actually labeled to use for cats with kidney problems that have decreased appetite. It also help with nausea, which in turn can increase his appetite. Also you can look into Azodyl supplements to help lower his kidney values, which in turn can help with the nausea as well and manage his kidney disease better. https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=azodyl&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=241645664779&hvpos=1t1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14854120277917394511&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028263&hvtargid=kwd-3477607953&ref=pd_sl_7qkvgeqbgm_e Best of luck with your pet Tikvichko and I hope he manages his kidney disease well here moving forward! Take care.