Lysine
Update 1: We are going to start the 500mg x2daily regime for a flare-up...
Update 2: It is week 3 now on this dosage, and Kato has had some improvement. He has more energy and is asking to play vigorously. His coughing has decreased, but still there some nights. His eyes are not noticeably inflamed, glassy with tears, blinking constantly, or with a yellow/green discharge. His eyes still do produce 'sleep' in more than normal amounts. We started the lactoferrin in addition to lysine yesterday, so still expecting more improvement.
Update 3: With things going well, I dropped back the lysine to 2x250mg doses in a day, plus lactoferrin. But just late last week, Kato started coughing at night. Not much, but we still emailed our vet. While we waited for her reply (and the possibility we'd start another course of antibiotics), I again doubled the lysine. In just TWO days, his coughing has gone! We continue to monitor...there is also the possibility he has asthma.
Update 4: 1 July 2014. We are still going strong with the 2x500mg dose of lysine, plus 2x125mg lactoferrin. No return of cough despite terribly cold weather (and he still insists on a daily walk!). Eyes are clear, energy is great, no sneezing. We will keep on this dose, as discussed with our vet.
Where to get Lysine
The bad news about enisyl-f oral paste for cats is that it is very costly. Especially as Kato needs it indefinitely. From our vet, it is about $50 for 100g, and this is comparable or CHEAPER than internet options once we factor in shipping. Given to two cats (Ava has just one 250mg dose), the 100g lasts approximately a month. So expensive!
I have been trawling the net to try and find a cheaper way to get my hands on this paste, which seems to be very difficult for Australians. I have written to the manufacturer's reps in Australia to see if they can come to some arrangement with me - I will update this too, if I get any good news (nope, they didn't even reply). And in the meantime, I have done several 'pot-luck' Amazon orders to see if American suppliers will ship to Australia. I'm no tech-head, so I find Amazon very annoying in that I have to go all the way through and order to find whether that supplier will ship to me or not. Time-consuming and frustrating. But I did 'bingo' onto one provider: http://www.amazon.com/Vetoquinol-Enisyl-F-6-Pack-Paste-100ml/dp/B00D6FFRGS. They aren't the cheapest in the Amazon listings, but they will ship to Australia, for $18 - quite good. And at the complete $AU price (including shipping) of $162 for SIX x 100g, that works out at $27 a tube. Hopefully I'll receive everything easily.
Update1: Received by expected date! Will try these guys again when we run out in 6months!
Update2: (Aug 2014) Well, my second order of lysine from Amazon got stopped by quarantine. I had a very frustrating week trying to get it through. It only required a very simple explanation - from the manufacturer - of ONE ingredient (what fish the 'fish oil' came from). But the manufacturer gave me the run around saying they couldn't help me because they don't sell directly to pet owners. Well that's fine, I wasn't asking them to sell to me - just to provide information to Australian Quarantine so that a customer could keep using their product for the next 15 years. Their response was maybe I could ask the retailer. I explained that Australian Quarantine wanted the information from the MANUFACTURER...and then I got complete silence from every contact I tried within Vetoquinol. SO, dead end, and I had to return the lysine before it got destroyed by customs. Fortunately, Amazon were excellent, and I was able to get my money back.
Have I been able to find another money saving route to getting Kato his lysine? Not quite. You see, the bottles from overseas have 'fish oil' listed on the ingredients. But the ingredient list is DIFFERENT for bottles sold within Australia, stating 'cod liver oil'. Clearly, Vetoquinol supplies information or alternative packaging for retailing in Australia, and we are forced to pay double what other countries pay.
Naturally, quarantine can't pick up every package, so perhaps I might be lucky with another shipment? In the meantime, I have bought lysine powder from the chemist (very cheap), and have tried halving the amount of Vetoquinol paste and mixing the lysine powder in so that I get the full lysine dose...delivered in that tasty medium that Kato loves. And that's the important thing - that Kato likes to eat it and it isn't stressful. This is ok, but because I want him to have the lactoferrin as well, there is too much powder to mix into the tasty paste.
The cheapest online retailer of enysil f (Vetoquinol's lysine paste) in Australia that I could find still costs $42.50 per bottle : https://www.ovedshorseandpetstore.com.au/enisyl-f-oral-paste-for-cats-100ml?search=enisyl%20paste
Lactoferrin and where to get it
Update 1: I managed to find an Australian supplement company and have ordered Jarrow's Lactoferrrin (60 x 250mg capsules). I will be giving it a go, with a dosage of 125mg x2daily.
Update 2: After two emails to this 'Australian' company, I finally got a response from them saying it was normal for delivery to be 2-3weeks (odd). Eventually, as of march 28, I received the lactoferrin...from AMERICA! At least the shipping was only $6.50 and hey, it got through customs....I have so far given 2 doses. It doesn't taste bad to me (milky), and Kato really investigated while I was undoing the capsule - he got a bit up his nose, but came back for more sniff/lick lol. So it's good that it is not unpleasant. I have been mixing it into his lysine doses and he still thinks it's a yummy treat. So far, so good on the administering side of things.
Update 3: So, does it work? Yes, I think so! I was just reading how Kato was on the doubled lysine, and this let me know that we certainly did have more improvement with the addition of lactoferrin. His cough went away. Some days he even has no sleep at all in the corners of his eyes.
Update 4: 1 July 2014. I've given up on the 'Australian' company posted above. Tried another order, and still had to chase them up over a month later. They were good enough to re-ship, but I'm going to give these guys from New Zealand a go (cheaper too, with free world-wide shipping). And they've been really helpful and FAST in answering my questions!...Received the product quickly from them - happy customer :)