Diaminohexanoic acid (L-lysine) and mitigation of severe Coronavirus (FIP) outbreak in cats.

Introduction:

Capturing feral cats is sometimes associated with increased stress in the population, and domestication of feral cats is thereby sometimes complicated by their immune response and the prevalence of easily spread Coronavirus (worldwide), but also with it’s propensity to “mutate” into a more severe outbreak of Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP).

[FIP manifests in a “wet” form and a “dry” form. Signs of both forms include fever that doesn’t respond to antibiotics, anorexia, weight loss and lethargy. In addition, the wet form of FIP is characterized by accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity, the chest cavity, or both. Cats with fluid in the chest exhibit labored breathing. Cats with fluid in the abdomen show progressive, nonpainful abdominal distension. In the dry form of FIP, small accumulations of inflammatory cells, or granulomas, form in various organs, and clinical signs depend on which organ is affected. If the kidneys are affected, excessive thirst and urination, vomiting and weight loss are seen; if the liver, jaundice. The eyes and the neurologic system are frequently affected, as well. Diagnoses of FIP is complicated, and while some progress has been seen towards testing for wet, most usually the progression of either, wet or dry, and the poor rate of survival, presents evidence itself of the disease, with the dry form offering only limited post-Mortem biopsy opportunities in various organs for assessment. (WebMD Veterinary Reference from the ASPCA.)]

Wet FIP is considered 99-100% fatal in cats, with limited survival for dry.

This paper proposes Diaminohexanoic acid (L-lysine) is an amino acid and FDA approved supplement that may be 100% effective in mitigating all signs of wet-FIP and with possible ramifications for dry, starting with expedient abatement of fever (within 60 minutes or less), followed or joined by normalization of increased respiratory rates, reversal of tell-tale inner-eye drift and general abatement thereafter of conjunctivitis in all stages with continued minimal dosing for a short time, showing no adverse side effects. Indicators are also, with the similarity between Coronavirus in cats and humans, that L-Lysine may prove equally effective in treatment of Coronavirus in humans.

After 10 feral kittens about 2-3 months old were captured in 2019, one was eventually presented to local veterinarians with 40 and 35 years in practice respectively, together at the same clinic, and tentatively diagnosed with FIP, progressing thereafter with what now appears to have been dry FIP (loss of appetite, sustained fever and what was likely kidney failure). Treatment consisted first with dewormers and oral antibiotics (Clindamycin), to fend against bacterial infection, with no apparent response to the antibiotics.

Two other kittens then quickly followed with wet, also unresponsive to antibiotics, and expired from Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). Of the remaining seven, all showed signs of inner eyelid displacement as had the first three, and four showed severe conjunctivitis with high fever and accelerated respiratory rates consistent with early onset of ARDS.

Treatment of the remaining seven with Dronset (a dewormer) and Lixotinic (vitamins), administered orally upon diagnoses of conjunctivitis, attempted to assist immunity via nutrition and, in those able to be handled (three) combined also with antibiotic ointment applied directly to the eyes. And while evidence showed the worms were irradiated with success, no significant results otherwise were observed in their conditions, with elevated fever and accelerating respiratory rates in those with fever persisting, and conjunctivitis not responding to antibiotics.

In assessing the continued challenges as likely viral and contagious (FIP) rather than bacterial, and finding no known treatment for FIP suggested by regional authorities (Cornell University or Tufts) nor found in review of recent literature, consideration of Diaminohexanoic acid (L-lysine) was given in attempt to boost immunity, and a vehicle soon found already manufactured for cats (to assist those with urinary track infections), and despite hesitation in that the vehicle utilized was with a hydrogenated base of soybean oil, the remaining seven were administered as per manufacturers recommendation.

Additional ingredients in the supplement mix were DL-Methionine, helping to acidify their urine, Cranberry extract, to maintain the natural acidic pH of urine, and Oregon grape extract, to provide antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.

Results were generally that all symptoms were reversed in all subjects, starting with high fever—within an hour (or less) in four of the seven of those able to be checked, as at least two were too feral at the time to be approached by hand for a temperature check, but did accept the Lysine. Also, normalized respiratory rates in all were noted and continued, with quick abatement of conjunctivitis over the next couple of days. One subject with severe conjunctivitis did sustain what appears to be a somewhat permanently clouded eye, but did retain vision in his other eye. Following a brief routine of L-Lysine treatment of about 100 mg per day each, for 2-3 weeks, all subjects were since clear of illness and are extant one year later. In all, this appeared to have completely reversed a severe outbreak of lethal virus unverified by testing or autopsy as Covid, but was noted rather as symptomatically consistent with Corona-FIP diagnoses, with three fatalities prior to administration of L-Lysine, and no fatalities afterwards.

Given that no autopsies were performed, skepticism is warranted for this review, although results of autopsy do not always prove definitive and are still problematic for assessing FIP. The fatalities of the first three kittens also do not support the sudden existence or severity of a newly fatal herpes infection that may cause similar trouble with conjunctivitis and breathing in cats as FIP. Strong consideration of L-Lysine might therefore be made as a possible treatment and preventative for Covid related viruses, and a launching point here suggested therefore, in testing it against Coronavirus inVitro. As L-Lysine is also already an FDA approved supplement, with no serious side effects for extended use up to one year, consideration should thus be given as well to its immediate inclusion on the CDC list of Covid-19 immunity support, especially in light of its suggested benefits to fighting dementia and Alzheimer’s in older populations.

Assistance in working with cats through 2019 involved treatment and conferring with Cornell University Veterinarian School, as well as treatment and counsel by practicing veterinarians at Millstone Veterinarian Clinic, Eastview Veterinarian Clinic, both of Yates County, New York, the Lakeside Veterinary Services of Montour Falls, in Schuyler County, New York, and the Humane Society of Schuyler County.