Questions about FIP,,,

tom w

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Hi, I lost my Tuffy to FIP 4 weeks ago, I had him for about a year before he died. We have 4 other cats that lived with Tuffy. I sure hope it don't happen but how long would it be before anything shows up in the other cats if any of them got FIP from Tuffy? Like I said Tuffy was here a little more than a year and died 4 weeks ago today. I would hate to have to go through watching FIP do to another of our cats what it did to poor Tuffy. I felt so helpless at first because we did not know what was wrong with him and by the time we figured out it was FIP I knew nothing could be done for him but try to make him the most comfortable we could. It should be called RIP/FIP because that is the bottom line on this disease.

So far the others all seem fine.
 

sashacat421

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Tom , I just saw this. You will need to get them ALL checked. There's no other way. You must. Especially if they shared food, water bowels, and slept/groomed together.

Sasha didn't die from the coyote - he lived strong...but our little Freddie died of FeLV the year before and I can't help wonder if Sasha's Lymphosarcoma was something that....might just have developed in relation to FeLV in our house.

FIP is elusive, it's different in every single case.
 
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tom w

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I thought there was no way to tell if they have or will get FIP? That is what I was told when Tuffy was sick.
 

sharky

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I beleive there is a antibodie test for it ... Hopefully one of our recent experts will chime in soon ... I also say they all need to get checked
 

booktigger

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when I lost Tigger to FIP, the first vet she saw said that Ginger would need to be tested, but by the time she died, they had changed their mind and told me to just keep an eye on him - he is still here 3 years later. Because of the way FIP works, if your cats have a very good immune system, they will all just shrug it off, good immune systems means it may stay dormant in their system, poor immune system means they can develop dry FIP, as it mutates slower, and a very poor immune system means they can develop wet FIP, as it can mutate quicker. I know in the UK, we have a place that can do a fairly accurate test, it does more than just a titre test, there are 4 parts to it, but I dont know where it woudl be available in the US. Even getting a titre test on all yours wont tell you anything conclusive, although you may have a better chance now than if you had done them straight away, due to them being able to shrug the corona virus off.
 

cathyc

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Tom I am so sorry about Tuffy. I followed the thread and so hoped for a better outcome. A few years ago I had a worry about one of my cats having FIP. From everything I read and in talking to the vet the most common way it is transmitted is through feces especially in indoor cats. I think from licking their paws after using a shared litter box. That's why it's crucial to keep a clean litter box. It can also be spread through saliva...especially bites... but it's not as common as the fecal/oral route. It's also seen more in younger cats and older cats. I can tell you that many years ago I had 3 cats and one had FeLv. These cats shared food and water dishes their entire life and I just knew the other 2 cats had it too. He died really fast and i was terrified to get the other two tested. The vet finally convinced me and they were negative! Hopefully your other kitties are fine and I would think since you had Tuffy for a year they would be showing symptoms by now but I really don't know. You did such a good job taking care of Tuffy. He was so blessed to have someone love him as much as you did.
 

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I'm no expert on FIP, but my friend had a kitten who died from it. Her other cat, Salem, was around this kitten from the first and has never developed FIP. It's been about 9 years since this happened and Salem is still in great health. From what I've heard, it's a hit and miss type thing when it comes to FIP. I hope your other kitties will be fine! I'd be worried too, but my hopes and prayers are with you and your babies!!! I'm so sorry for your loss.


Devlyn
 
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tom w

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I guess I kind of answered my own question in the first post, If any of them do happen to get it there isn't much that can be done anyways, so why worry about something that probably won't happen.

We talked about vaccinating all of them after we figured out Tuffy had it for sure, but the vet checked into it and learned that the vaccine is not fool proof and it might bring on FIP if any of them do have the virus instead of preventing it so we decided against it.

Has anyone else heard this about the FIP vaccine?
 

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Originally Posted by Tom W

I guess I kind of answered my own question in the first post, If any of them do happen to get it there isn't much that can be done anyways, so why worry about something that probably won't happen.

We talked about vaccinating all of them after we figured out Tuffy had it for sure, but the vet checked into it and learned that the vaccine is not fool proof and it might bring on FIP if any of them do have the virus instead of preventing it so we decided against it.

Has anyone else heard this about the FIP vaccine?
I'm so sorry to hear about Tuffy, Tom, as I saw how strong the love between you was in every post you made.
I'm familiar with the FIP vaccine. It's only administered after a negative test for the corona virus, a mutation of which causes FIP (meaning even if a cat tests positive for exposure to the virus, that doesn't mean the cat is doomed to die of FIP). The vaccine is a clear, pinkish liquid that is dribbled into the cat's nostrils (most hate that, but if they really struggle, it can be dribbled into the inner corners of their eyes, where their tear ducts are). There are a lot of debates about its effectiveness; I've read reports of 60% effectiveness, while other reports say around 80%. It is suspected that the vaccine, if administered to a corona+ cat, could cause the cat to develop FIP, but I haven't come across any statistics for that.
 
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tom w

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My vet was telling me about testing for that virus, She said they have found that if a cat was sick with anything that most times they will test positive for the virus in some form. She said it is hard for them to find a cat that they test that don't show positive for the virus. So they kinda gave up on that test as anything that will tell them much.

I have no idea if this is true all over, but thats what I was told by Tuffy's vet in there clinic.
 

sol

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I'm sorry to hear about your Tuffy. However, try not to worry about your other cats. FIP isn't contagious. FCoV is contagious and most indoor cats will test positive for FCoV if tested (at least at some point of their life). Usually cats don't get very sick from FCoV, but when it mutates to FIPV... well, that's when the cat will develop FIP. The mutation happens within the individual cat and don't spread.

You cannot test for FIP, you can only test for FCoV and your other cats will probably test positive for FCoV and that will not help you at all as long as they're healthy. It may be useful to test for FCoV if you wanna controll that the FCoV titres in your cats drops, talk to your vet about that and. It's mostly breeders that check their cats titres since they have many cats and cats that live under a bit more stress than the regular cat (and stress is one of those things that can trigger FIP).

The FIP vaccine only works on FCoV negative cats and as far as I've understood the only time when it's recommended to vaccinate against FIP is when you have FCoV free kittens moving to a FCoV contaminated home.

Clean the litter boxes thoroughly and don't expose your cats to unnecessary stress and I think they'll do just fine.
 
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tom w

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Thanks for all the help with this everyone. I would think if anyone of our cats would have problems is Missy because of her age. Wife says she will be 19 years old soon. Yvonne has had Missy for almost 10 years longer than we have been together lol.
 

beckiboo

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I lost Festus' sister Mattie to FIP. I actually didn't realize how sick she was, because Festus was bathing her and keeping her clean. Mattie shared bowls and litterboxes with Festus and Garfield, and they were all under 6 months old. Garfield had survived distemper, and has feline herpes, so he is not what one would consider a kitty with a strong immune system.

My vet said FIP is caused by a mutation in the coronovirus, and most cats carry coronovirus. They did not test Festie or Gar, stating that they would test positive for coronovirus, but it would give no indication of whether they would develop FIP. Two years later, they are both going strong.

I believe that all you can do is manage the stress in the kitties lives. High stress can allow FIP to develop. Although fostering is stressful to cats, since I have done it since mine were kittens, I chose to continue. Otherwise, I try to keep a low stress environment for my animals, as much as possible.

Also, FIP is a mutation of coronovirus. So any multicat household with coronavirus can develop FIP. The actual mutated virus is supposedly not spread between cats very easily.

I worried after losing Mattie, especially since Festus became a potbellied girl! Could it be FIP?!?! But she is just a fatty patty...watch your other cats for loss of energy or listlessness. Otherwise, try to relax and realize that most likely Tuffy did not pass FIP to the others.

I am sorry for his loss. Watching Mattie fade away from us was very difficult. She did have a certain peace about her, though, even in her illness. Tuffy is with her, now. She had a very short life, so it will be good for her to hear his stories about the ups and downs of his life. I'm sure he had many adventures!

 

spiritedstef

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Originally Posted by Tom W

My vet was telling me about testing for that virus, She said they have found that if a cat was sick with anything that most times they will test positive for the virus in some form. She said it is hard for them to find a cat that they test that don't show positive for the virus. So they kinda gave up on that test as anything that will tell them much.

I have no idea if this is true all over, but thats what I was told by Tuffy's vet in there clinic.
I was told the same thing - especially in a multi-cat household, they will probably all test positive.

We lost Morgan a few weeks ago, and the necropsy results didn't confirm anything. We suspected either FIP or toxoplasmosis, but none of the other many, many cats in our home became ill.
 
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tom w

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Maybe some day they will figure out some kind of treatment for FIP. I can only imagine how bad Tuffy must have been feeling the last couple days of his life.
 
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