Herpes

When Theo moved into the household just about a year ago, he brought with him a case of feline herpes. It's a respiratory disease in cats that manifested itself a little differently as it passed from cat to cat. The worst part for all three was it caused each to lose energy and lie around lethargically. For over a month there was always a sick cat in the house and both Thompson and Diego got trips to the vet.

Theo's initial symptoms were mostly a lot of sneezing. For Diego-san it caused discharge from his eyes. Thompson actually lost his voice for a while. And that was very sad because he's such a talkative fellow. He usually announces his arrival into the room with a low meow. His plea for food is more drawn out, a combination of asking and demanding. He grunts when he walks and sometimes when he is sitting at a window or just standing somewhere minding his own business he'll let out a hrumpfh. When he lost his voice he would try to make the same sounds- the ones I've grown to love- only nothing came out. I was so glad when his voice returned. The house was too quiet without it.