4.5 month old kitty had FIP

Hello all,

I just joined this message board today as I am a big cat lover and have enjoyed the company of cats all of my life so really, I couldn't see myself living without cats!

Anyway, here is my story. My husband and I moved here from another province about a month ago. We just purchased a house and already have an adult cat whom we brought with us when we moved. We decided since we had our own house that we should look at adopting a kitty. We found the perfect one - actually he found us. His name (at the shelter) was "Simon". He was an orange kitty full of love but very thin. We fell in love with him and took him home late August 2009. We changed his name to "Jasper" as we thought it suit him a little better. About two weeks go by and during one lunch hour, my husband goes, "What's wrong with his eye?" and I look over and the protective layer of his one eye was covering part of the eye (creepy to say the least!).. we brought him into the vets office and they had no idea what was going on. He was very lethargic, not really interested in doing much and so the vet took some blood and said that he's not "knocking on death's door" and thought perhaps he had a parasite. He gave him some antibiotics and we were on our way. During that next two week period, we were in and out of the vets office basically on a daily basis. We even tried giving him some laxative as he wasn't really using the litter much and not eating either. Perhaps he had something caught in his tummy? Anyway, one night we get a call from the vets office and they leave a voicemail saying they're concerned that it may be "FIP" (Feline infectious peritonitis) which is fatal. Around the end of September, Jasper had a seizure near midnight (and was panting and couldn't breathe) so we rushed him to the vets office just down the street and they stabilized him. The vet managed to stabilize him and gave him some food and water droplets (or whatever it's called where it goes directly into his skin) and said to come back first thing in the AM to get some x-ray's to find out what's the matter with him. He had four more seizures in an eight hour period that night and by 7am the next morning, he was gone. His eyes were open but no one was home. We decided it was for the best and had to put him down. It was exactly a month after we adopted him we had to put him down. My heart felt like it had been ripped into pieces it hurt so much. From what we can gather, we're assuming he had FIP which from what I heard attacks the nervous system (or there's two types of it at least). We have since adopted another kitty (whom was actually at the same shelter the day we adopted Jasper but was two months younger than him) and he has filled that void in our heart.

I am so sorry. I lost my first Smudge to FIP more than 4 years ago and I still cringe when I see those initials. You did the best you could, and loved him to the end.

Absolutely. A few people criticized us for how much we spent on a cat that was dying (hey he was family plus it was less than $1000 which the shelter reimbursed us on) but it wasn't fair at all to just put him down without doing everything we could in our power. He was only four months old when we adopted him and 4 1/2 months when we put him down. I have lived with cats all of my life since being born and have never heard of FIP and my heart began to panic when I began reading about it and reading the words "fatal". No pet owner should go through that, especially having their pet have seizures (which I didn't see myself but heard about it from my husband as he was in the room when it happened).

A terrible disease, but at least Jasper enjoyed love and concern from your family in his last days.

Have you heard about the Rainbow Bridge?

I haven't! What is it?

hi jennifer, sorry to hear about Jasper, know how awful it is

I am so sorry about the loss of your dear little Jasper. I do hope you disinfected your house before bringing in the new kitten?

here's the rainbow bridge poem:

http://www.rainbowbridge.com/Poem.htm

Originally Posted by jraymond

I haven't! What is it?

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Here is a web site (and there are many others) explaining it:

Petloss.com

And here is a poem I have there:

I Awake

You might want to check out the Candle Ceremony there on Mondays.

What a terrible loss.
I am so sorry.

Rest in peace sweet Jasper.

That's so sad - at least he had a loving home and a family to look after him during his final days. RIP, Jasper.

I'm so sorry I'm so pleased that Jasper knew a loving home even though it was a short one

JASPER


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I'm so sorry you lost your precious Jasper to that dreaded FIP. I have 2 furkids with the dry form, so I know how awful it is to hear those dreaded words.

For future reference, if you happen to have a kitty that has the dry form again, ask your vet about a drug called Interferon. My 2 babies are on it, and it has kept them in remission for about 3 years now.

Rest peacefully, Jasper.

KittKatt - do you know what the difference between the wet and dry form of FIP are? I tried to find out as much information about it before when Jasper was alive but it was too late to do anything plus I just became sick to my stomach anytime I read anything about FIP before he was put down. My husband and I even tried to ask our friends who were also vets in another city about FIP and they said there wasn't much that could be done about it, especially at Jasper's age. Looking back at photos of Jasper, he wasn't well at all. He was very thin - in the week before he was put down, I could really feel his spine and it got worse everyday... less eating and more weight he took off. I'm just happy we were able to give him a great chance at life for that one month he was with us. He deserved it! We even told him if he made it through that, we'd feed him tuna every day if that's what it took.

Originally Posted by jraymond

KittKatt - do you know what the difference between the wet and dry form of FIP are? I tried to find out as much information about it before when Jasper was alive but it was too late to do anything plus I just became sick to my stomach anytime I read anything about FIP before he was put down. My husband and I even tried to ask our friends who were also vets in another city about FIP and they said there wasn't much that could be done about it, especially at Jasper's age. Looking back at photos of Jasper, he wasn't well at all. He was very thin - in the week before he was put down, I could really feel his spine and it got worse everyday... less eating and more weight he took off. I'm just happy we were able to give him a great chance at life for that one month he was with us.

He deserved it! We even told him if he made it through that, we'd feed him tuna every day if that's what it took.

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I think the wet form usually causes a buildup of fluid in the abdomen, and the dry form attacks different organs. With RB Smudge it started as a fever and then his eyes got bad, and then his organs started shutting down.

I am so sorry for your loss, but glad you have managed to give a home to another cat.

I lost two foster cats to FIP last year, and I know how devastating it can be. They both had the wet form - one was a four month old kitten, the other an adult stray cat I took in until he could be adopted. Both died within weeks of falling ill. There is still a lot of disagreement about FIP - how it is caused, how infectious it is, and whether cats can ever be saved. You can find a number of articles and opinions on the internet. The only treatments I know of are based on boosting the immune system, with drugs like Interferon or hormonal treatments like Transfer Factor, which can slow down progress.

Good luck - I do hope you never have to go through that experience again.

I don't think he had the wet form then. His abdomen wasn't filled out at all - he was skin and bones. He didn't eat much at all (and the kitty we have now just chows down!) only bits and pieces here and there. He was fine for the first two weeks or so and then all of a sudden he just became lethargic (but still active here and there) and then the protective layer on his eye just stuck out halfway (creepy!!). Once he had fluids (from the vets) in him and antibiotics, he perked up a bit but then bam, it just hit him like that and that's when he had the five seizures in eight hours and he was gone. I don't wish that upon anyone to go through what we did - especially having him be so young. I think the first day I couldn't stop crying - everywhere I looked I could see him still. I don't think I've ever felt that much pain! But we gave him a good home for a month (exactly a month - now that's weird!) and we spoiled him as much as we could.

Symptoms of FIP can vary - my two both had wet, but only one had a distended abdomen, while losing weight rapidly so we could feel his spine. The other was found at autopsy to have fluid filled lungs that didn't show. He rallied several times under antibiotics, had some fever at times, and was very lethargic though only a kitten. It is just a horrible disease and difficult to diagnose.

Eek. Who knows really! The vet didn't give us an indication what type of FIP it was. They just "suspected" that it was FIP (according to two of the vets at our vet clinic). I have lived with cats all of my life and have never heard of FIP or known someone who has had a cat that had FIP until now. Even the vet (initially) didn't know what was going on with Jasper. The blood work didn't show anything, it showed the he was fighting something but the vet thought it was just a cold but Jasper had a VERY high temperature (I can't remember exactly how high it was but it wasn't normal). We even had friends and family members tell us at one point that we were overreacting about Jasper and that he was fine, he probably just had a cold. Even my husband agreed but I knew something else was going on. Jasper just wasn't Jasper (if that makes sense).
The funny thing is I came back to work the next day after it happened and one of the girls was asking me about what happened and I told her what the vet thought it was and she said that her friend had to go to the vet clinic that same week and while she was there she overheard that someone had to put their kitty down because that kitty had FIP as well. In the same week + in the same city!

Your kitty's story sent chills down my spine as it was very similar to my Zoey...although we had Zoey for a bit longer. I, too, shutter at the letters FIP...as I know it is a horrible disease, and also feel that it is misdiagnosed far too often (including in Zoey's case). I also look at pictures of Zoey from before she got ill, and I can now see how sick she really was, even before our ordeal began.

People also thought I was crazy for spending so much ($2000+) on a cat (let alone one we'd only had a few months), but I needed to do everything I could to save my baby girl. In the end, it didn't...and I have many regrets, but giving up is not one of them. I didn't give up until she did, and then I knew it was time to put her to sleep and let her rest.

A couple weeks after we put Zoey to sleep, we adopted two kittens. They have definitely helped fill the void, but will never take her place. I still think about her almost daily.

Rest in peace, Jasper. It sounds like you were a fighter, just like my Zoey. Now you can rest...