Fergus was one of Maeve's kittens; see her story for his origins. He was a very sweet, gentle, quiet cat; he had his rambunctious play times as a kitten, but as he grew up be became much more retiring than his brother Fedlimid. Fergus got along well with other cats, and remained close to his siblings and his mother.

After Findabhair died I was afraid that her siblings would go the same way, because there is often a genetic susceptibility to FIP. And Fergus was the one I was most concerned about, because he was so very quiet -- he was cheerful and appeared healthy, but never seemed to have much energy. FIP attacks primarily young cats; 80% of cases are in kittens under a year old, and almost all the remainder are in cats under three years. (There are some cases in elderly cats whose immune systems are declining.) Fergus and his brothers were old enough that I was hoping they would pull through, but in late October of 2014 he got sick, and it was evident pretty quickly that he had FIP. Since there is no cure and no effective treatment, all you can do is put them on medication (steroids and some other supportive meds), which can sometimes knock it into a brief remission, generally no longer than a month or two. Fergus had a month and a half, and I made sure he had all his favorite things and was as happy as possible during that time.

I suspect he might have had a latent infection for a long time, where his body was able to keep the virus in check but not get rid of it; that might have accounted for his general lack of energy. Findabhair was a bit more active, but still far less than Fedlimid and Conchobar, who are hellions.

Fergus was a sweetheart who loved to curl up beside me, purring, making little chirps, and giving me very gentle love bites when he wanted to be petted. I will miss him very much.