2 + 2 + FIP = crisis

I recently moved myself and my two shelter cats (Ruby, who's been with me 11 years, and Lucy, 8 years) into another household with two rescued cats of its own (Gizmo and Nuke, both about a year old). The strangers are still segregated from each other, with the newcomers confined to a previously cat-free zone. Trouble is, Nuke has only been in the household about 3 months now and was quite thin when adopted. He's been acting a little off lately, a little slugglish, and after a few weeks of trips to the vet, no response to antibiotics and treatments, he abruptly declined over the past weekend. I can't believe how quickly he just started to waste away. Febrile, not eating, completely lethargic. 2 days ago, after a delay to get bloodwork results, the vet dropped the bomb that she believes it's FIP and gave him the usual poor prognosis. 2 days in, we're seeing all the improvement on prednisolone that would be expected, he's eating, has more energy and acts like a cat again. Bully for that, he is comfortable, and we will do whatever we can for him, for better or for worse. In the meantime, I'm having a total crisis about what to do about the 2 cats I moved in. How do I provide for all four of these cats at the same time? It's more or less a certainty that both of my shelter cats have already come in contact with coronavirus from their year-long residency at the shelter with numerous other strays, and of course Gizmo is in that same boat and is also apparently healthy as an ox. I can keep Ruby and Lucy separate indefinitely, but not permanently. I have a friend who is willing to foster my cats temporarily in her intentionally animal-free household, but can we even safely integrate my 2 cats with Gizmo later, after a thorough housecleaning, if Nuke follows the expected course? I'm really not sure what I should be planning for. I was so looking to having a big happy family and would appreciate whatever guidance can be given to keep these kitties safe and healthy.

I'm so very sorry about Nuke. FIP is a horrible, cruel disease.

All I know about it is because of the shelter where I volunteer. We have 4 young cats (under a year) who have been exposed to FIP from a litter mate who died from it. These cats are living in isolation in a separate room. Only certain staff are allowed in there, and they wear protective gloves and shoe shields. This has been going on for some months now, and my understanding is that it will be many more months before it will be reasonable to assume these 4 won't come down with the disease.

I did a lot of reading on the Internet about FIP, but your best bet to get the advice you need is to discuss the situation with a vet experienced in dealing with it.

Wishing the best of luck to all of you.

Robin

Hi,
Sorry you are going through this... One thing to keep in mind, is that there is no diagnosis in live cats for FIP, so there is really no way to know your kitty has it... It seems to me that once a vet runs out of options in a young cat, a lot of times that "diagnosis" is thrown out there... I have seen it plenty of times... I would not lose hope... Also, IMHO, in a cat with FIP, you wouldn't see an improvement as you are seeing it now- you would keep seeing a decline, or at least he would stay at the same level then decline.
I am tempted to tell you to seek a second opinion... I am one who don't settle for a FIP diagnosis easily. What tests have you ran so far?
Oh, FIP is not contagious, it is a mutation of the corona virus, and there is no way to know if the virus will mutate in a cat or not...

I went through a similar thing a couple of years ago, when I lost two fosters to FIP and was terrified, both for the other fosters and for my own cats, although I keep my fosters separate. I gave all the fosters transfer factor to boost their immune systems, and told prospective owners to do the same. None of htem have developed any symptoms, though all test positive for coronavirus. I kept my cats out of all areas that had been affected and cleaned everything several times with bleach and disinfectants, throwing out all litter trays and bedding that had been used. Since then, my cats have all been fine. Good luck, FIP is horrible.