I may lose all my cats. =(

I'm sorry if I ramble here. I'm crushed. I don't know how to handle this.

In December of last year I took a new stray cat, barely out of his kitten years, into my home. I'd named him L'il Stinker. Some of you may have read a thread I wrote about brining him in. Well, he came into the home, and very quickly became absolute best friends with Tar Pit, whom he followed everywhere (and often slept on top of!)

Yesterday, Stinker started vomiting foam here and there. He was drinking, but oddly. staring at the fountain. He wasn't eating much, and he wasn't his usualy dynamo of endless energy.

I rushed him to the vet and they kept him overnight, did blood tests and x-rays, urine analysis, and although nothing is yet confirmed, today they're leaning towards the possibility he has infectious peritonitis. They already told me they can't cure him. It's also possible he has infected Scout, Trio, Tar Pit and Plucky.

Stinker was checked out by the vets the day after I brought him in. How could they have missed this? My Stinker may die now, my whole family could DIE now...I'm sitting here in tears just thinking about it.

I couldn't cope with this. Losing Stinker so soon, so early is bad enough. He is a little fireball of energy and cuteness and he took such a huge place in my life already. But to then lose all my bestest, closest friends...it would rip the very life out of me.

Why is this happening??

oh im soooo sorry for you. as a cat owner myself i can totally understand how you feel. hope the little guy gets better.

I'm so sorry too! ( I'm italian so excuse my bad english) Many years ago I took a cat from a cattery (I don't know if it is the right word: a place with stray cats) and about two weeks later I discover he had the infectious peritonitis. I had ten cats at home and so I was so afraid the others could fall sick. Well, nothing happened, luckily no-one contracted the virus! So, try to be positive, I'm sure you'll be lucky too!! I keep my finger crossed for you!

Oh no I'm sorry. Hoping for the best outcome there can be 

I read your other thread about the possibility of FIP in Stinker, and just wanted to add my vibes that everything will be AOK.  My boy, Stinkpot, also coughs after he drinks, and sometimes throws up, not necessarily even hairballs, just has a sensitive stomach, and our Vet never, ever mentioned the possibility of FIP!  I was more concerned about his heart. 

Try not to worry.  What's done is done.  If it's FIP, you'll deal with it THEN. for your whole gang, and especially for your Lil Stinker!

(and to you.  Hang in there)

FIP is not especially contagious. Yes, the virus that causes it is contagious, but most cats have been exposed to that virus and in the majority of them it never develops into FIP. Reasons unknown. So it's not at all likely you would lose all of them even if it turns out Stinker does have FIP. DO NOT let the vet talk you into putting them all to sleep! (I know someone whose vet tried that). that Stinker recovers fast! And that the others remain healthy.

I DO remember your Lil Stinker and am so sorry he is unwell. Honestly, if it is FIP, and hoping not, but it is not contagious! So not to worry there. It really is a genetic disorder and the immune system is compromised. There really is not an exact test to diagnose, The blood test will look for high corona titres but that does not always solidify an FIP diagnosis. I will try to find some more info. for you on FIP but here is an article from TCS to get started. FIP is an awful disease, but your other kitties won't be infected by Stinker. Mega vibes for you http://www.thecatsite.com/a/fip-in-cats OH here is another article http://pathwithpaws.com/blog/2009/03/06/fip-is-not-a-contagious-disease/ and another http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/diseasesconditionscat/a/CW-FIP.htm Again, hoping that Lil Stinker will just be fine :cross: :rub:

Willowy said:

FIP is not especially contagious. Yes, the virus that causes it is contagious, but most cats have been exposed to that virus and in the majority of them it never develops into FIP. Reasons unknown. So it's not at all likely you would lose all of them even if it turns out Stinker does have FIP. DO NOT let the vet talk you into putting them all to sleep! (I know someone whose vet tried that). that Stinker recovers fast! And that the others remain healthy.

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There is no test for FIP on a live cat. But if Lil Stinker does have FIP, it is very unlikely that your other cats would have it from him,

I'm so sorry you are going through this. FIP (if that is what he has) is a heart breaking disease, and there is, sadly, only one outcome.

Well I have been to visit Stinker twice since I first heard about this. Both times he was very, very affectionate (far more so than he normally is at home) and was clearly telling me he wanted to come home! They've run blood tests, urine analysis, done x-rays and today they are doing an ultrasound or echography to see if he has any intestinal lesions or liver damage. As far as I am concerned, if he has no lesions...he has no FIP (he has been eating normally and his litter habits are also normal I am told). He's been at the clinic for 3 days now, has undergone all kinds of tests, and the best they can tell me is "Well we're not sure. We'll know more soon."

If, after x-rays, blood tests, urine analysis, ultrasound scans and 3 days of observation you cannot tell me anything new, than it's time for my guy to come home. Either way, FIP or not, he'll live out his life here with me and with his cat family until it's time for him to go. I love L'il Stinker...he wormed his way into my life in a big way so fast. I just want him to be well. I'll know today.

Thanks everyone.

I'm late to the thread, but as you've already gotten the information I'd share, I'll just add for you, and for L'il Stinker!!!! :rub: :heart2:

GRRRR!!!!!

I'm very, very upset!!!!

Stinker had his echography today. This was the test that was going to be the final confirmation if Stinker had FIP or not. The specialist finally called me back, and he best she could tell me was "He has some mildly swollen ganglions in his abdomen...that's encouraging, it may not be FIP...but I can't rule it out."

After four days, two thousand dollars, and countless pokings and proddings of my beloved l'il guy, the best they can give me is "It may be FIP...then again, it may not."

REALLY?? Gee, thanks. It could also be just a generic infection of some kind, right? "Yes, that's correct." Or it may not be just a generic infection, right? "That's also correct." They then suggested they could do another blood test tomorrow, check his globulin levels and see how he is doing after being on fluids for a third night in a row...and I felt like they were rifling my pockets. I know they care about animals, and are professionals, but I am just boiling mad that they'd been giving me this impression for 4 days now that they were going to provide me with some measurable degree of certainty (one way or the other), and the best they can come up with is "It doesn't look like it, but we can't rule it out."

I feel like they're telling me "Take him home at your own risk." Well, after this masterful fleecing, I'm now broke...so it's going to come down to that anyway. I couldn't afford to do anything else to help my Stinker if I wanted to.

Couldn't be more upset right now.

AW so sorry about this experience with Stinker and four days at the vet. I can't say anything about your "vets" but I do know vets near me that will run up a bill and do tests that were not going to be conclusive in the first place. I am sorry if they ran some tests that they did not discuss in detail with you first or your pre-approval. :dk: Again, FIP is almost impossible to diagnose unless it is the wet form and the abdomen is filling with fluid. Otherwise the only way is to run that blood test looking for high corona titres but even that is not conclusive because high titres could mean he was exposed at one time or another without it developing into FIP. Please keep us posted and I do not blame you one bit for being upset over all of this. It is very, very frustrating and upsetting when you run all of these test and spend loads of cash only to get..... inconclusive results...

Oh I'm so sorry you weren't able to get a definite diagnosis, but..I guess you are running on some terribly high emotion right now. There IS no positive way to diagnose FIP, there is no test for FIP on a live cat, it is only a matter of process of elimination. I thought you did understand that? All those tests were done to find out if there was something else going on, weren't they? They were looking for something treatable. I'm sorry nothing definite was found.

If you hadn't had those tests done, don't you think you would be constantly second guessing yourself?

I'm glad L'il Stinker is feeling better and home is the best place for him. If he needs more fluids, you can do that for him at home. It is not difficult to learn to do.

I hope he gets better and never looks back. FIP is an absolutely heartbreaking disease, the roller coaster of improvements and crashes is, I am sorry to say, a fairly common pattern. I'm not trying to make you feel bad and I hope this is not FIP, in spite of the money spent, I hope he just had some funny bug. Positive thinking is better than constant worry and I pray that L'il Stinker just had some odd bug that he is shaking off now and this will be the end of it.

Thanks folks.

It's not so much the money spent. If I had ten thousand dollars, I'd willingly spend it on my friend.

It's the fact that I am led to believe, by them, that "if we do the echography and he doesn't have any lesions on his intestines, it will be a good indicator he deosn't have FIP". I understand that the only way to determine if a cat has FIP is to look at the symptoms as a whole, and come to a clinical diagnosis. That's ok. Well...how much time do they need? So far, the only "pluses" they have to indicate it was FIP was (in their words) "The slightly elevated globulin count, and his age".

A few days ago, they hadn't mentionned cancer; they are mentionning it now. They had told me that his urine tests revealed nothing; today the specialist said he had a tiny bit of bacteria in his urine. You can't tell me it's FIP or not conclusively, fine; you have NO conclusions after all these tests?

I just don't feel very confident in them anymore. It just feels like they want more tests, more money, and then "maybe we'll know more". Well unfortunately I cannot accomodate them. I have no more money. One way or the other he is coming home tomorrow morning.

I am so sorry.  Is your vet one that specializes in felines?  A lot of times, this makes all the difference.  However, sometimes it is just hard to diagnose a cat.  It could be so many things.  I know it is frustrating.  I wish I could suggest something else that no one else has but everyone seems to have covered what I would have suggested looking into.  So prayers and positive thoughts and vibes for Stinker.

Thanks P3. Yes, this veterinarian is quite specialized. I'm lucky, I guess you could say, to be near what is considered one of if not the best veterinay care centres in the country of Canada. They're open 24/7, have multiple surgery bays, onstaff cardiologists, oncologists, a blood bank, their own pet ambulance service...heck, they even have an MRI machine for pets onsite.

http://www.cvlaval.com/

It's a wonderful initiative. It's all the more annoying to me, I guess, that with all this they still seem so uninformed about his condition.

I'm so sorry to read all your veterinary troubles, and especially that your cat is still sick You haven't mentioned your other cats since the first post, I'm assuming none of them are showing any symptoms? Hope everything works out alright, keep us posted!!

Nope, my other cats are all doing well. I've already prepped a nice quiet room for Stinker, with big windows and a lot of sunshine so he can rest by himself for a while before I let his adoptive brothers and sisters in to see him. I want to be able to cuddle him silly to make up for him being away from home for 5 days now.

Oh my, sounds like such a heart breaking and frustrating situation! Poor Lil Stinker, he must really be missing his family! Hugs and scritches going his way.

About 20 years ago we found out our 1 yr old boy Paulie had the wet form of FIP and he had been playing dad to some new born kittens we had at the time, he was such a good boy washing and looking after the babies Well, when he was diagnosed with the wet FIP I was terrified about the kittens getting it as well, but none of them did, So I'm sending good vibes and keeping my fingers crossed for your other furkids as well as sending good vibes to Stinker and hopefully they will figure out what's going on with your boy soon,
 

Thank you Stormy!

I've basically resigned myself to not knowing what is wrong with him (or even IF anything is still wrong with him) and just bringing him home and hoping. I brought him in because he was sick; and after all the testing, they have not ruled anything out...or in. I was told it could be FIP, or cancer, or liver damage, or a urinary tract infection, or half a dozen other things. After five days, I just think they should be able to tell me something...

Ah well. I'm just rehashing the same concerns. All I can do is bring him home and hope he remains "a-ok" like he is right now.