the name was apt

I named my cat Satine, after the whore in Moulin Rouge. She's stunningly beautiful, LOVES attention, and will snuggle up next to anyone if the price is right. Generally, the price is a scritch on the head or a thorough brushing.

She's had a persistent upper respiratory thing -- lots of cat boogers and sneezing -- on and off for the past three years or so. I took her to a vet over the summer, who prescribed some pills. They worked, but a few weeks later she was plugged back up. And I found little pills that had been coughed back up under the bed and behind various pieces of furniture. So the antibiotic course wasn't completed and she was her old snotty self again.

Back to the vet -- same clinic, different doctor. He listened to the symptoms, checked her breathing...

Herpes.

Feline herpes. Its a viral infection that doesn't have a cure. Satine will be snotty, that is that. He did give me a goopy gel that smells like maple syrup, which should at least reduce her symptoms.

My poor little courtesan kitty.

UPDATE: She's been taking her meds and it seems to be doing the trick. She's not wheezing nearly as much as she was. There's still a little but but she's definitely more energetic and kittylike.

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Other news, the weather has been lovely, so I've been biking again. The 11 mile run up to the gym is completely exhausting -- steep hills the whole way. I love it and hate it all at once. I'm tired, but I feel good.