Kitteh tales in bullet form:

• About a month ago Smokey gave me a bouquet of tulips. I put them in a vase and set it on my desk. Fast forward: the cats decided that tulip leaves, stems, and blossoms were yummy.
  

  A very dead and chewed tulip blossom.

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• Act 2: Last week Smokey gave me some potted tulips, which I put on the windowsill next to my desk. Fast forward: kittehs decide that tulip leaves are their favorite.
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• Act 3: I moved the pot to the window sill above the kitchen sink. So far, so good…
  

  

  Notice the  pink bud emerging in the right-hand photo.
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• Speaking of kittehs, Thelma, the kitteh with the viral URI, has been rechristened Gurgles because that’s how she sounds. She has been through three (four? can’t even remember) courses of antibiotics, which we all knew would do nothing for the viral thing but did clear up the green snot.
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• By “cleared up” I mean the green snot became clear-ish, not that snot went away.
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• We still have to clean up her nose at least once a day, plus brush the dried snot out of her fur. I will spare you a photo of her nose, before and after booger removal.
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• We have gotten mixed advice from two of the vets at our clinic. The younger, recently-graduated one recommended Lysine for the viral ailment, the older one commented that he was dubious but willing to try it. Research on its efficacy is mixed to unproven.
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• I like to think this Lysine treatment is one of those things that may only work on some cats, perhaps given their individual DNA, strain of feline herpesvirus-1, phase of the moon, etc., etc., etc.
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• Smokey got Lysine in capsule form. We sprinkled it on some canned cat food, and Gurgles had zero interest. I even tried giving her a little butter, thinking that if she licked that up I could mix some with the Lysine and administer it that way. Once again, zero interest.
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• We attributed this lack of interest to her difficulty breathing and, presumably, smelling.
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• At last vet appointment (with older vet, whom we like very much for the loving care he has given all our animals for the past 20-ish years) he prescribed a Lysine gel that comes in a squirt-top can and smells of fish.
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• Gurgles hated having it administered forcefully, but last weekend I had a brainstorm after seeing her persistently licking her nose and chin after forceful administration. Instead of holding her by the nape of the neck with one hand and squirting the gel into the corner of her mouth — I got really, really good at this method what with the three (four?) courses of liquid antibiotics — I squirted it onto my fingertip and let her sniff it, meanwhile hoping against hope that the fishy smell would penetrate her stuffy nose.
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• Success! She daintily licked my fingertip clean!
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• We are on Day Four of this treatment, probably too soon to see results, but I am hopeful. This is a much easier regimen, too; I keep the squirt-top can next to my bed, and when Gurgles has settled in to snuggle while I read, I stick my gel-covered fingertip under her nose. Works every time.
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• Even though the virus is highly contagious, Louise has not contracted it from her step-sister. Yay!