He's been sick for about 6 weeks now, our boy, Mr Gin - short for Mr Ginger Snap. He's a handsome, BIG neutered male ginger who weighed in at close to 4.5 kgs. That was before.
He started with an obvious hacking cough about 6 weeks ago.
"Cat flu", said the vet. "Some cats make it, many don't. He looks strong. Not much really that we can do."
We put a little box on the dining table that he seems to feel comfortable in.
He has constantly weeping eyes and a terrible snotty nose. I clean his eyes and nose several times a day with colloidal silver to stop it crusting up too badly. Poor baby has been sneezing and snotting badly for weeks.
And he sort of lost his voice. His meow has become quite husky and gravelly, and he's been mostly quiet. We think it's hurting him to meow.
I've heard a lot about cats having Covid and it's because of this that we're quietly nursing him at home. If he WAS found to have Cat Covid here in Thailand, he'd be hauled off to somewhere "safe" and both my daughter and I might also have to go to the mandatory "Camp Covid" facility. Never gonna happen! We talked about the pros and cons of testing him and going back to the vet, but there are too many cons and risks in this Covid paranoid world.
The last few days he's been unbelievably clingy; he doesn't just want to be on my lap - he wants to sit high up on my chest, regardless of what I'm doing. I'm such a softy that I've been doing lots of tasks reclining on my bed with my laptop, so he can have the cuddles he seems so desperate for.
The biggest worry seems to be that he's not really eating and has noticeably dropped A LOT of weight the last week. And so today we started him on what I call "Cat Smoothies" - the creamy cat treats full of calories that he can lick without them really seeming to hurt his throat. He managed 3 tonight and didn't vomit, gag or cough afterwards, so we think creamy cat "smoothies" might be a good option for getting some nourishment back into our boy when he's obviously very depleted and unwell.
His breathing has been laboured and raspy for a week or so but tonight, after the cat 'smoothie' he purred. Tomorrow morning I will give him another dropper full of both colloidal silver (anti bacterial) and colloidal copper (anti viral) and my daughter will get some more of the cat 'smoothies' into him.
His litter sister, Miss Cinnamon, also has a cough, but despite being the runt of the litter who has always appeared weaker and more fragile and just a tiny bit disabled in her back legs, she's kicking it off well and romping about as per usual. Sadly our old black rescued stray, MD, has been Missing In Action for 4 days now - we HOPE he's off courting a young kitty in the neighbourhood and not just holed up somewhere, sick & alone. He LOOKED fine when we saw him last, he ate well and he hasn't had the cough. Sending out prayers for him to wander home tomorrow.
It's so hard when our fur babies are unwell. The thought of losing him is a terrible one, and we have friends who have lost many cats to the dreaded cat flu. Me? When I listen to him cough and see how much mucous he's flinging out and how laboured his breathing is, I'm sure he has Cat Covid. Hoping we can turn him around and get some weight back onto him, and hoping to see him perk up after some nutrition.
Grateful for every day with our boy, Mr Gin.
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