Coping With Feline Herpesvirus

About 7 years ago I adopted a shelter cat who brought the dreaded kitty virus into our household and infected 10 cats and 3 ferrets. It was a real mess but I was able to save everyone with a lot of money, time, antibiotics and IV fluids. Now 7 years later one of my babies became ill with a sinus/bacterial infection, even though she was an indoor cat. 3 days later she was dead from pneumonia. It all happened so fast I keep thinking I should have paid more attention, but in reality it was probably harboring in her system for a long time and she did not show the symptoms.

I always try to learn something from a pets death (I have multiple rescued animals), and the only thing I can pass along in this case is that if your cat shows any signs of what you think is allergies, watery eyes, dull coat, sneezing….get them checked out right away. I waited until mine sneezed out yellow discharge and it was too late, she did not respond to any of the antibiotics. Now I have 9 more cats to worry about from the original bunch and one new one who has not been exposed. I am sharing this info with as many cat owners as I can find, in hopes of saving at least one to take the place of my Skippie.