so, we took Mercury to the vet today.
The vet listened as we listed her symptoms, started checking her over, opened her mouth and said basically said, ‘Ah-ha!’
What she has is called Feline Calicivirus, or according to many internet sites, ‘cat flu’. The reason she wasn’t eating or drinking (and the reason that the vet figured out what was wrong with her as soon as he looked in her mouth) is that one of the most common symptoms is tongue ulcers…basically painful, torn open blisters on her tongue, so even though she was hungry and thirsty, it hurt to eat or drink. *sniff* Other symptoms include: runny eyes and nose, lethargy, depression, and drooling if their mouth hurts a lot.
Anyway, it’s a virus so there is no medication to make it go away, HOWEVER, it is rarely fatal except in very young and very old cats, or cats with compromised immune systems (have some other disease that makes them too weak to fight off the nasties)…the real danger is from the lack of food and water, and we had been making sure to get some liquid and nourishment into Mercury over the past couple of days (I made her chicken soup). The virus is very common — about 50% of cats are carriers.
And the good news is, this morning, before we even went to the vet, Briggs put food in the cat dish and Mercury woke up and ran over…she sniffed disconsolately at the hard food and mewed at us, but I gave her some tuna and she wolfed it down. Yay! When we came home, she napped for a while, but this evening she was up and wandering around the house and wanting food again (she has spent most of the past few days sleeping, and if she was picked up and moved, she’d just stay there). She’s still not back to full capacity, and we will be feeding her soft food until her mouth is better, but she’s so much better, and will soon be back to her usual perky self!
Oh, sorry, I mean…
In other news, Briggs and I got me a coffee maker, grinder and coffee today, so I can join K in her Breakfast Blend addiction. Also, a dish drainer and stuff to make cookies with. 
