Behavioural changes and extreme illness
Play
Brat cat yoyo falls sick with a lung infection
THE FIGHT starts without warning, with screaming, yelling and other forms of bad language.
I run upstairs and discover my boy Yoyo. The cat’s back arched, and his tail is bushed out. He’s standing over Angel, threatening the one-eyed girl with death and destruction. She’s refusing to be bullied, and although she’s backed into a corner, she’s raised a paw with claws extended.
She’s ready to protect herself from a very aggressive cat.
It’s easy for me to pull Yoyo away. He relaxes immediately when I place a hand under his stomach and lift him up. I just have to do it quickly enough so that Angel doesn’t have time to swat him with those claws.
Usually he calms down immediately, but not this time. His tail is still bushed out, and the look in his eyes tells me he’s still intent on fighting – anyone will do.
He’s always been aggressive, but this is a new Yoyo, a very unwelcome one. As I put Yoyo in his cage for a time-out, I hear another scream. This time it’s Thong, one of the soi boys. He’s after my white lady Mekhala. Thong is twice her size, and he’s now ready to do her harm.
I pull him away and send him out to the patio to calm down, but for the rest of the day, fights continue. Even Wan-Wan, my little poodle, joins in.
No one goes near Yoyo, who’s in a really bad mood, ready to attack anyone who looks at him. By evening, the dog and the other cats are avoiding him carefully.
Yoyo’s bad mood continues into the next day. He’s claimed the sofa, and no one is allowed to sit on it, not even in a corner.
Then I hear another unwelcome sound. Yoyo has begun to sneeze, strong “a-choos” in succession. I think, perhaps some dust or pollen has entered his nostrils and he’s sneezing to remove it.
The sneezing doesn’t stop. By the following day, it’s grown worse. He’s also stopped eating. He just wants to sleep and curls up on the sofa.
Then I see something I really, really don’t want to see. Yoyo is no longer curled up. Instead, he’s sleeping on his stomach balancing on his “elbows”, as if to support his chest. His neck is raised and stretched out as he rests his head on a pillow.
He’s also breathing heavily with his mouth open, and his ears and body are extremely warm.
I’m not a vet, but I can recognise the symptoms of a lung infection. He’s positioned his body in such a way to take pressure off his lungs. At the clinic, my vet confirms my suspicions. Yoyo indeed has a lung infection, and because he can infect the other animals, she keeps him with her.
With Yoyo absent, the other cats relax, and the fighting stops. Even Angel seems more playful, as if the monster is gone and she doesn’t have to worry anymore.
When the boy returns after three days, the others are apprehensive at first. He looks better, though, although he’s still sneezing and he’s still not eating. Ignoring everyone else, he just wants to sleep.
Gradually the rest of the household adjusts to the even newer (and quieter) Yoyo.
By today, the boy is still sneezing badly. In addition to the antibiotics and antihistamines, he now has to take anti-viral pills.
Slowly, he’s improving. Everyone, I think, is looking forward to his complete recovery, when we’ll see no more new Yoyos, just the old, quick-tempered but lovable Yoyo once more.
