Friday cat blogging has sunken to an all-time low. I can’t be bothered to charge the camera (or even take down the Christmas tree) and we had an illness in the family.
Sometime a couple of weeks ago, Pablo got a cold. He sneezed like a broken chew toy for a few days and then it cleared up. A few days after that, Merle became ill as well. He started with the same symptoms as Pablo, but then his left eye began to water and swell. Soon it was so swollen that he couldn’t open it at all, and as it weeped pus he labored to breathe. Merle, a generally hungry and surly cat, suddenly couldn’t be bothered to torture the other cats, or to eat or drink, or to get up off the couch. Chef and I left him alone for about a week, but we finally took him to the vet after I worried that he wouldn’t be able to keep his eye.
Really, it was that bad. At the vet’s office he began to sneeze up blood.
“Merle probably has herpes,” said the veterinarian.
Chef and I were confused. “Herpes?” We glanced at one another suspiciously.
“Herpes,” she confirmed. “Most cats are exposed to herpes at some point but it lies dormant. Stress or illness will make it flare up.”
“He has herpes in his eye?”
“Yes, he has herpes in his eye. You’ll need to rub some ointment on his eye every day and steam him every few hours.”
“Steam him?”
“Throw him into the bathroom with a hot shower or put a humidifier where he lays. He probably broke a blood vessel in his nose — that’s what the blood is about — and this will help to break up his congestion.”
“Herpes?”
We took him home and rubbed ointment on his herpes, and lo, no eye patch was necessary.
But I still don’t believe that mere exposure bullshit. PABLO, you slut.
poor kitty.
My boy Cheech has the herpes as well. He’s 4 years old and had it since he was a wee kitten. He’s had to have eye surgery, and his eyes are fine now, but he’s a perpetual sneezer. I’m a vet tech and have had him on every medication under the sun. He’s still quite sneezy, but there is a supplement called Lysine, its an immune-booster, that can help. Ask your vet about it.
You quit slut-shaming Pablo! It isn’t his fault kitten school taught abstinence-only.
oh, poor thing! that looks miserable (not to mention nasty!).
however, i can say “hey, at least it’s not chronic.” like the damn kitty gingivitis my cat has. my boyfriend laughed out loud at the vet’s office when she first uttered the word “gingivitis” in relation to our cat, but we’re not laughing now - steroid shots every three months followed by a week’s worth of oral antibiotics. until…she croaks.
which, given that’s she’s only 4, could be a while. furry little moneypit, she is.
My old roommate’s cat got herpes in her eye, and her eye is permanently messed up. (I think it was some kind of thing that happened when she was a kitten.) I hope your kitty gets better!
Aw, poor Merle. That looks nasty.
I’ve had veterinary issues of my own lately — Junebug broke a nail a few days after I lost my job, and given how FAR the icky-looking quick was sticking out of the broken nail, I decided that prudence required me to drag her into the vet. It’s not necessarily a big deal, but it snowed the day after I brought her to the vet, which means freezing cold on the exposed quick and salty slush burning it (plus the danger of electrocution from utility boxes). And there’s another one about to break in the same place.
Despite all this, they assured me her nails are a fine length. I’m not sure I believe them.
Oh, and I shaved Zuzu’s back. She had a bad case of dandruff and gobs of dead hair, and I have some clippers, so I decided to see what was under there. The skin was a little pale at first, then it got better. Now I have to bite my tongue to keep from laughing at my poor bald cat.
I know this probably isn’t how you intended it, but I couldn’t help but laugh and read that as you two looking at each other “suspiciously” as in, “Okay, have you been fucking the cat?”
This made my night.
Pablo is a dirty, dirty whore. Lock him up!