The day Cleo lost her meow

About 4 days ago, Cleo did not want to eat any kibble.

Cleo is a raw food eater and she gets her BARF twice a day (for breakfast and lunch), then later in the evening, it’s usually kibble as a snack for everyone. Cleo eats it too.

But she did not want to eat any kibble that evening.

The next day, we noticed she seemed a little “off”.

And when she tried to meow, there was barely any sound.

However, she was still eating her raw food and by that evening, she was eating kibble again.

Just that, she had lost her meow (voice).

I contacted our vet and he said it’s probably a throat infection. It might resolve itself, but if there is a runny nose or cough, antibiotics might be needed.

I monitored Cleo all day and there was definitely no runny nose, but she did have a slight cough and occasionally made a choking sound.

Traffic was really bad by then, and Cleo does not travel well in the car. Worse than that, it would be almost impossible to feed her any medicine.

The vet agreed that the stress of travelling in the car would not aid her recovery, and might even make things worse for her.  So, we decided to just monitor her condition. Apart from the throat condition and being voiceless, Cleo was active and her appetite was normal.

I did an internet search and learnt that Cleo’s loss of meow could be due to various causes, ranging from laryngitis, a cold to even growths in the throat which could affect the ability of breathe. Luckily, Cleo did not have the scary symptoms.

By this morning, Cleo seemed more cheerful. There has been no cough or choking sound. She even appeared to be getting some “voice” back. Instead of having no sound at all, she managed to make an “ek” sound when she tried to meow.

I updated the vet and he said a visit might not be warranted if Cleo’s condition did not deteriorate.

Let’s hope it can resolve by itself.

Now, from the “ek” sound has turned into a longer sound, so I hope it’s a good sign. The vet says it could take up to a week for her voice to return and subsequently, it may take a few days before they start to meow again (after a week of not being able to meow, it can become a new habit already).


Cleo is 11 years old. That’s about equivalent to 60 years, by human standards!

But she still looks like a baby!

Extra “manja” when sick…

Good that the alpha-amigos are outside in the pantry, Cleo and Pole get the room to themselves.

Goodnight, people….I need my rest. 

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