FIP and/or pneumonia???

nowonder

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Long story short-have a 7 month old kitten-she was fine on Wednesday. Thursday pm she looked like she had an upset stomach (assuming from the roundworms she had) and then I noticed her ears completely filled with a yellow pus, which I cleaned out. By Friday am she was very weak, and very sick. No prior signs. Took her to the vet, had a low temperature, very congested, pneumonia, and possible, FIP. Today, she looks very sick still, ate a little in the am and afternoon, and drank water in am. Took back to vet for more sub q's. She is normally, very strong and very healthy. And within the last 36 hours it looks like she has been battling a disease for months. Anyone experience this? Or FIP or pnuemonia? It is horrible seeing a perfectly healthy cat become so sick so quickly...Thanks!
 

sweetkara

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I had a kitten the same age die from FIP (wet form)- he had no pus in ears and didn't sound congested.

Is she walking and/or using the litterbox? After about 24 hrs mine stopped doing those things.
 
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nowonder

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She is very weak and limp. Occassionally, she will try to get up and move somewhere. But she isn't near her litterbox, her brother is in that crate, and we don't feel like we should put her near everything that he is using. But she is too weak anyway. The vet told us yesterday she can't see either. She was fine 2 days ago, and she could see, but now her eyes are not really responding because she is so sick...SweetKara what were the signs or symptoms that your cat had with FIP? Was it sudden or gradual?
 

sweetkara

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My kitten was just less playful for a week or so and then took a sharp decline over 24 hrs. His symptoms over that last 24 hrs were:

Not eating or drinking
clenched jaw
not using litter box
not walking
stiff legs/couldn't stand
really wet/soaked nose
eyes always dilated
felt very cold

I hope that helps!
 

kluchetta

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For what it's worth, when my first Smudge had FIP, he had a horrible fever that wouldn't come down with antibiotics. It manifested because he had just been neutered. Did your kitty have any physical or mental stress recently?

I'm hoping it's really NOT FIP because that is such a horrible disease.
Vibes that she is ok.
 

zoeysmom

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I'm really sorry that you are dealing with such a sudden onset of a horrible illness...whatever it is. I know how it turns your world upside down!

My Zoey was diagnosed with FIP last March. We ended up putting her to sleep because she couldn't fight anymore, but I'm still not sure that she actually had FIP. In any case, I learned a lot about FIP while dealing with Zoey's illness, so hopefully I can give some information that could be of help.

You may know this, but FIP is very hard to diagnose, and is often misdiagnosed. I am not saying that your poor kitty (name?) does not have FIP....but just be a little weary of the diagnosis. I just feel that FIP tends to be the "we don't really know what's wrong" diagnosis for vets. We can't prove that they don't have it, so why not use this diagnosis? It's not good enough for me and I would definitely be trying to get more tests.

Please look at post #7 of this thread...it is quite long, but really sums up all my thoughts about FIP....most of it was written back when my experiences with Zoey were ripe in my mind (I'm a little foggy about everything now): http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...&highlight=FIP

The sudden onset is a symptom of FIP...it happens very quickly. I think my Zoey had problems with her eyes...or so the ER vet (who was...I'm sorry...an idiot) told me...but her eye problems seemed to go away after a day (my vet said she was seeing fine). She had difficulty walking. Neurological problems can be a symptom of FIP. As can fluid build up, but usually it is in the abdomen, not the lungs.

Never in all my reading about FIP have I heard about pus coming out of the ears. And typically cats have a persistent HIGH temperature with FIP...so it strikes me a bit that your girl has a low temp. However, FIP is a strange disease with various manifestations...I'd still be looking at differentials.

What tests have already been done? If it were me, I'd be getting:

- a full blood workup - including serology to check proteins (specifically alubumin/globulin - these often get out of whack with FIP)
- a coronavirus titre (although a positive titre DOES NOT mean she has FIP - but it will give you some indication of whether it is a possibility)
- a swab of the fluid in her ears (and whatever tests they can do on it....it sounds like she could have an infection of some sort....difficulty with balance/walking can go with ear infections)
- x-rays or ultrasounds, especially of her chest
- if you have the means, some sort of picture of her head....although I'm sure you'd have to go to a specialist for this
- ask for information about antibiotics/steroid treatment - yours is a tricky case in that your kitty has a low temp (usually high temps go with infections), but I would certainly be asking about it....

Please visit and post about your kitty at this group: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/FIPCatSupport/ . The people there are VERY knowledgeable about FIP and can often give differentials about what else to test for.

I hope this helps and that you get an answer soon, and that the answer is not FIP.
 
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nowonder

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Thank you for all the info zoeysmom! I agree that the vets throw out the term "FIP" when they are baffled-because they have done this a few times in the past, and I am not sure that everyone they said "FIP" really was. Whatever it is that Sissy has, it is heartbreaking to see her be so sick, as it is heartbreaking looking online and hearing so many stories about older kittens being attacked by FIP, or any other diseases...It is so unfair that this even happened, and still so shocking, because she truly was just fine!! Today she does not look good still, we gave her another dose of Clavamox, if it were only pnuemonia, we are hoping the antibiotic can kick in. As far as testing and everything, the vet reluctantly gave her sub q's yesterday, saying it was more for us than the cat-so she really has deemed this cat as "dead." From our perspective, we only get one shot to fight this, so we are going to give it every last chance, in case it really was only pnuemonia and not FIP. Her temperature still seems low, we put the heating pad on low at intervals to try to help her. We just lost an older 12 year old cat last Sunday, to some very odd illness and possibly from a stroke, so after caring for him for the last 6 weeks, and trying to move forward and focus on something else, this certaintly came from the far left field. One week later I would NEVER think that a perfectly healthy cat would be in worse shape than the 12 year old cat that was battling an illness for weeks. We need another miracle for little Sissy!! All we can do is say a million prayers and continue to try to give her everything she needs, and HOPE HOPE HOPE that this can turn around.
 

zoeysmom

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If your vet has considered Sissy "dead", I would suggest seeking another opinion! It'll be hard getting anything from a vet who doesn't think it's worth trying.

Good luck to you and Sissy!
 

mews2much

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Do you think she became very upset when the other cat died.
My Meeko got very sick after Yoshi was pts from Kidney Stones and they think dry Fip.
He lasted 8 months.
Meeko became ver sick a few weeks later with a fever of almost 105 and she would just lay there and do nothing.
She had clavamox and some kind of shot to get her to eat but it took a week before she ould eat. I had to force food down her.
After Stormy was pts she became very upset also.
I hope your cat will get better.
 

taterbug

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Originally Posted by nowonder

Long story short-have a 7 month old kitten-she was fine on Wednesday. Thursday pm she looked like she had an upset stomach (assuming from the roundworms she had) and then I noticed her ears completely filled with a yellow pus, which I cleaned out. By Friday am she was very weak, and very sick. No prior signs. Took her to the vet, had a low temperature, very congested, pneumonia, and possible, FIP. Today, she looks very sick still, ate a little in the am and afternoon, and drank water in am. Took back to vet for more sub q's. She is normally, very strong and very healthy. And within the last 36 hours it looks like she has been battling a disease for months. Anyone experience this? Or FIP or pnuemonia? It is horrible seeing a perfectly healthy cat become so sick so quickly...Thanks!
My first thoughts after reading this was that it sounded like an extreme case of earmites, with ruptured eardrums. I mean...where else would the yellow pus come from?? I wouldn't think FIP?? Bad ear infections are so painful, and can include enough pus to clog up noses and affect eyes on cats, and then spread down into their lungs. Had she ever been treated for them?? Did the vet culture the pus from her ears??

Poor little baby...I hope she pulls thru this!
 
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nowonder

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Sissy did not make it
I came back around 2:00 pm and checked on her and it looked like she had just went. This am we gave her clavamox, but she did not look well at all. We tried everything in these last 3 days to help her and give her every chance to fight this sickness. I am going to figure based on all the previous things, it was FIP (the wet one). Absolutely horrible!!! Our older cat died last Sunday, and three weeks ago a 4 month old kitten froze to death outside that I was trying to catch and was unsuccessful. So this December has been BAD!!!! And this with SIssy came from nowhere. She was absolutely fine on Christmas eve. Now her brother Bipper is depressed and lonely, he knows something isn't right. It is horrible to see him in his crate all alone!!! This should never have happened...
 

jessiecat

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I am so very, very sorry. You did everything you could. Continued prayers for you and your family and little Bipper. Such tragedy you have gone through in such a short time.
 

faith's_mom

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My boy, Jade, died last year from FIP; he had no puss in his ears, and the main symptoms were distended abdomen (from fluid in chest), lack of appetite, fever, and lethargy.

There is also no real way of testing for FIP; my vet drew fluid from Jade's lungs, which did pretty much confim FIP (along with his other symptoms, and negative tests all the way across the board, otherwise). The fluid is straw colored.

I would clean EVERYTHING that the little girl was around, with a light bleach concentrate; fortunately FIP is easy to kill...

I am so sorry your Sissy didn't make it long enough to figure out what was wrong...
 

lovetheduns

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Oh I am so sorry.

I also lost a baby on 12/18/2008 in my opinion to FIP-- the ER vet did not diagnose him as FIP but the dramatic downturn in his health and the distended belly I am pretty sure it was FIP.

I have to tell you it has made me watch the others like a hawk-- and my poor little obese Zoey is getting tired of me patting her belly to see if it has a certain hollow sound to it (a clue someone from either here or catfanciers provided to me).

FIP is a horrific disease-- so fast and so cruel.


My heart and prayers go out to you.
 

hissy

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Just for future information- if her brother comes down with similar symptoms tell the vet you want zithromax, not clavamox. What his sister had sounds virile, giving a kitten with a virus clavamox is like giving her a placebo. It won't work. Although the zithro might not have kicked it either, it would have at least given her a chance to work through the virus.

I am sorry you lost your kitten- it happens, more than you know and it is always painful to lose them. Did they test her for anything? FeLV- distemper anything? Or did they just say "It's FIP" and throw their hands in the air?
 
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nowonder

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I have a second kitten 4-5 months old, displaying same symptoms as Sissy. Fine yesterday, sick today!! Took to vet, but now he looks very bad!! He had NO contact with Sissy at all!

IS THERE A WAY TO STOP AN FIP VIRUS??? Please help, I don't know what to do!!
 

hissy

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IF it is FIP there is no cure, and no way to stop it. But FIP mimics many diseases (many of them heridatary). I would run full panels on this kitten along with testing for all diseases. best of luck
 
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