Feline Infectious Peritonitis (Wet)

Hi, This is my very first post here. I found this site while I was researching treatment options for my kitten (9mos) who has been diagnosed with FIP. I found this out on Saturday (June 15) and have since started homeopathic treatments for her. She has had two doses of supplements thus far. I have not yet noticed a difference in her eating or temperament. She still wants to be fed and "talks" to me in the morning while I am making my coffee (which I love) but sadly when I put her food down she nibbles a bit and then loses interest. I am definitely throwing out a lot more food now than I did when I first got her and there isn't as much happening in her litter box as there used to be.

I have done extensive research on this disease since the diagnosis (losing sleep and using the slow time at work to seek out others going through the same thing) and have found few success stories. Is it crazy to say that these few success stories while they still end sadly give me some hope that I can keep my Nena comfortable for a little longer?

Beyond the developing disinterest in her food the other symptom she has is the swollen belly while still being thin. We are still waiting for her blood work to come back and have a follow up appointment with the specialist on Saturday with her.

I know that it seems crazy but I still want to fight for her. I can't just sit back and watch her deteriorate can I? I have reached out to many individual regarding homeopathic treatments and new drugs for this disease. I started homeopathic treatments for her last night and am hoping, praying, and I will admit begging for a second chance to keep my little one alive.

Any thoughts, supportive comments or links to informational sites is welcome.

Thank you!

Big sigh......I am so awfully sorry you have to go through this hon, and my heart goes out to you. 

I have been through this several times over the years, and while it is not actually considered a common issue, it happens, and there is really nothing that can be done to avoid it, or even predict it.

Which is tragic.

I will speak brutally honest okay? I don't know your relationship with your vet, I know that they can vary a great deal, some are as honest as they should be to pet owners, others will be semi-honest but are driven by money, and may keep a glimmer of hope that different things can be helpful and you might get lucky. The vet can give treatments but realistically, only for a small number of cats it MAY allow a very short term stall of progression, but the same ending.

I have never, no matter how early the FIP was caught and diagnosed, ever had a cat survive it.

It is a silent, sneaky and vicious disease, and the result is always the same.

Wet form is faster than the dry, just so you know.

All you can do is support your kitty until the time comes to have her gently euthanized.

Please do not allow her to suffer. FIP causes short but enormous suffering, and cat's are so amazing at hiding this until they can't bare it any longer. It is a self destroying disease, attacking organs, etc. Fluid accumulation causes the cat to not be able to breathe well. Imagine that feeling....

When you see it progress, do the right thing out of love for her. Believe me when I say, that step is so hard to make, I know. I would have given anything I have, anything, for just a little more time.

There is a little something I might be able to say here that you will find even a small amt of comfort in...

Your cat does NOT fear death. We fear it, but to them it is a natural part of life. They accept it easily when it's their time.

They don't feel heartache thinking about how much they will miss us, we do this.

All you can do is love her and support her until it's time to let her go. At least know that she has you to be sure she is not allowed to suffer until the FIP takes her life.

This is the kindest most loving thing you can possibly do for your little girl. 

I promise that the minute my boyfriend and I see Nena suffering we will take her to get euthanized. While I am the optimist he is the one who is doing better with easing the kids into the reality of the situation. He has spoken to them and me at length about it telling us when the time comes it is only fair to let her go instead of holding on to her just because we will miss her.

My vet is new to me. While I have had pets before it has been several years and I am new to my area. Because of Nena's special circumstances she has a specialist that she is seeing in Verona, NJ. I believe that our appointment this weekend is sort of a D-Day situation to see how she is doing.
 

I am not going to pretend that this isn't killing me. It definitely is, which I will admit surprised me. I hadn't expected to react so emotionally to this. Even being an animal lover I never considered what it would be like to have a pet go through something like this.

I guess I am still hoping for my little miracle.

I forgot to mention my vet was very honest with me and told me that there really wasn't any hope. She did not push euthanizing her on me but she said the most I could do in her remaining weeks was show her a lot of love.

I'm glad (not really glad about anything with this thread, it's so tragic) but, that you understand, and your vet is being honest about this.

I am the same way and it is natural for us to face a dire situation with hope, there is nothing wrong with hoping for a miracle, but as long as we know deep down that it is unlikely it will come.

I hated saying what I did because I really don't know how you are, or if I was going to crush you with the facts of FIP, and I am relieved to hear your feet are on the ground.

I am so sorry, as I shake my head and am truly sad for you, or anyone else who has to face this horrible disease.

It's so unfair.

Hugs to you, I wish the best.

I am so sorry to hear this. I had my Tim, aged 15 put to sleep last Friday with the wet form of FIP. He was a semi feral cat so I think he must have had the coronavirus all his life, and it recently developed into FIP. His symptoms were exactly as you describe, and when the vet drew off fluid from his very swollen belly, there was little doubt. We had him put to sleep before he came round. I have never experienced this before and was gutted when it was diagnosed in Tim. He was very fit otherwise. Even worse now is the fact that Sam, our now one year old cat, (who was bred in a home that takes in feral cats and kittens) is living under the FIP shadow as he has been living with Tim since last November. So we will always live in fear of it returning in Sam.

Taxido, sorry for your loss as well.

It's just an awful disease.

I do want to comment on what you mentioned about Sam.

While the coronavirus is where the fip originates from is highly contagious, most if not all cats at some time in their lives have contracted this mild virus.

It is in an individual cats body where it can mutate to become fip.

It is HIGHLY unlikely for a 2nd cat in the home to come down with fip as well, and if it ever does happen, is most likely a sad coincidence.

You have nothing to worry about

I am hoping and praying that the diagnosis is wrong, and it turns out to be something treatable.

"Taxido, sorry for your loss as well.
It's just an awful disease.

I do want to comment on what you mentioned about Sam.
While the coronavirus is where the fip originates from is highly contagious, most if not all cats at some time in their lives have contracted this mild virus.
It is in an individual cats body where it can mutate to become fip.
It is HIGHLY unlikely for a 2nd cat in the home to come down with fip as well, and if it ever does happen, is most likely a sad coincidence.
You have nothing to worry about "

Many thanks for this information. I hope Sam remains healthy. I reckon Sam has already been exposed to the coronavirus where he has come from anyway, and the fact that he had a feral mum. I have been so shocked by what has happened to Tim, I am obviously getting paranoid!

Thank you all for posting on this thread. Sadly we lost our little girl this past Friday. When we arrived home from work and she didn't come out to greet us I knew something was wrong. The FIP had caused what appeared to be paralysis and severe disorientation. We immediately took her to an emergency faciltity but sadly there was nothing that could be done. I believe Taxido is the poster that described the loss as feeling "gutted". That is a very accurate description. There is now a piece of all of our hearts that is no longer with us.

We have another kitten that we adopted at the same time from the same shelter. He is bigger, more active, and stronger than our delicate little girl was. I am hoping that those are all signs that he will not eventually develop FIP as well. I did an extensive amount of research on this disease and from what I have read it appears that the Coronavirus is present in nearly all felines as it is a mild disease that they catch from being with other kittens. This mild virus is most of the time fought by the kittens natural antibodies and eventually is "cured" out of their system. Once this happens the kitten no longer has a risk of catching FIP. If the kitten's immune system is not strong enough to fight the Coronavirus then it mutates into FIP. There are still a lot of unknowns about this disease. Some doctors believe that it is a disease that some kittens are genetically pre-disposed to. Another factor that can contribute to the development of this virus are stress on the system (i.e. living in a shelter). The more research that I did the more I found conflicting information about the disease. It appears that many owners are unaware of the disease until severe symptom begin to develop and at that point it is often to late.

My kitten only survived for 6 days after she was diagnosed. Diagnosing the illness without symptoms being present is difficult/impossible from what I have read. The best defense to this disease if you rescue a kitten/kittens from a shelter is to keep at least one litter box per kitten in the house. When we inquired at the pet store how many we would need for two kittens all associates said that it would be ok to have only one litter box. This is not true as the coronavirus/FIP is passed through feces. Maintaining litter boxes for each kitten is very important. It is also important to have a set of food dishes for each kitten. The virus is also believed to be spread through Saliva. Another important step that I did not see mentioned but I believe is extremely important is providing your kitten with the appropriate vitamins to keep their immune systems strong. My kitten was always thin and small. This may not have been a contributing factor in her developing FIP. All of the research indicates that kittens have weak immune systems and therefore cannot fight off the virus which is why it works so quickly through their system. If upon adopting a kitten you begin providing vitamins (Pet-tinic: read the reviews this is a wonderful supplement to give any of your pets) I believe that they are less likely to contract viruses.

Please keep in mind that this is just my opinion based on what I have read. I am not promising that a kitten will never become ill with supplements but why not provide them with everything we can just in case?

I know that this has been a lengthy post and if you have taken the time to read through it I hope it was helpful. If you are dealing with a kitten that has been diagnosed with FIP I wish you the best of luck and my heart goes out to you. No one should have to deal with such a tragic loss.

NewKittenMama:

So sorry for your loss.  What a wonderful person you are to take the time to educate others about what you went through, especially since it was so heartbreaking.  Here's to many, many years of joy with your other kitty.

Ondine,

Thank you for your post. I wish I could do more and will be looking into fundraising efforts for research of this disease as well as possible volunteer opportunities. I am donating all of my kittens medications that went unused to our local specialists as well in hopes that they will be able to help someone else's family. If my experience with FIP can help one just one other kitten then i will be able to sleep easier at night.

I am so, so sorry for your loss. 

In your comment about the more you read, the more conflicting info there is regarding this awful silent sickness.

That is so true, because there is so much about it that is unknown, a mystery.

In fact there is not even a 100% accurate test for diagnosis, for dry form, it is symptoms and ruling out other illnesses, for wet form it's usually the dreaded yellow fluid building up in the tummy that is a tell-tale sign.

Wet fip takes them very fast, 3-7 days is what I have experienced.

Just an fyi, the reason I have dealt with fip several times is the sheer number of cats/kittens I have rescued.

A couple of years ago I attended a symposium at UC Davis Veterinary Scool of Medicine in CA. There was alot of lecturing time about fip, and they are one of the best in the country in education.

So I tend to hold faith in what they teach about fip, as well as other medical professionals, despite some varying opinions from a few others.

While basically all cats at some time are exposed to coronavirus, only a very small number will actually have it mutate into fip. This is usually in weaker cats as yours was.

This does NOT mean that anyone with a small/fragile kitty needs to worry, and my own personal gut instinct tells me there is some way it is surely a pre-disposed genetically allowed mutation that occurs.

I have had fosters who had a cat/kitten pop up with fip, both wet and dry, who also were fostering immune compromised/more fragile kittens/cats, and made themselves sick with worry that it will hit them as well, and it never did. This is why I believe it is somehow genetic in some way.

So please don't worry about your kitty now, as I said in my first post in this thread, if there has ever been 2 cats in the same household who did get fip, it was simply a rare and unfortunate coincidence.

Hugs to you, I know what you are going through now.

Thank you so much for your post. I know that I am not alone in what I am going through with my family. The house seems so much emptier now with out our little one running around. She had a collar with a bell on it so we always knew where she was. I guess that is why everything seems so much quieter. I am doing some research to see what is in my area in terms of education/volunteer efforts for FIP fundraising etc.

The sheer lack of knowledge surprised my boyfriend as well. He came with me to the emergency room and every question that he asked the doctors there they simply did not have an answer for him/us. He just couldn't believe that there was no way to prevent or treat this disease.

Our other cat is a very strong little boy and now that I have faced this disease once I hope that my eye is a little sharper now for its symptoms.

We just miss our little girl so much!

I know that the kids will eventually want to adopt again. My boyfriend and I are both apprehensive about it. I think that we will eventually just because there are so many kitties out there that need a good home.
 

I'm so sorry for your loss I've lost 2 kitties to that horrible disease

NewKittenMama said:

Ondine,

Thank you for your post. I wish I could do more and will be looking into fundraising efforts for research of this disease as well as possible volunteer opportunities. I am donating all of my kittens medications that went unused to our local specialists as well in hopes that they will be able to help someone else's family. If my experience with FIP can help one just one other kitten then i will be able to sleep easier at night.

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I first found this post after admitting my cat Snuggi into the vet clinic for two days. She is still undiagnosed. She is under the thread Snuggi the Medical Mystery. The Vet said FIP is not ruled out yet, so I was following your post. I am sad and sorry to hear of your outcome. Although i was told at this time its the only one possible. Still sitting on Snuggi waiting to see how she turns out. Your post has helped. Your bravery in facing a certain fatal disease is inspiring to others who come after.

AMCM74 - Thank you for your post! How is Snuggi doing? The biggest tell for our Nena (means little girls in Spanish) was the swollen belly and her significant drop in weight. I will say this we found out about her disease by chance. We were taking her to get spayed and the vet told us about the fluid then. Had we never taken her to get spayed we would have never known what the cause of her death was.

That being said in hindsight there were definitely signs. She was thin, which I honestly just thought was just how she was. We were able to feel the bones in her spine almost always but they were more noticeable after she was diagnosed ... or maybe we just happened to notice them more because we knew she was sick. She had become pickier with her food which I originally thought meant she was just bored with it but in reality she was losing her appetite. She had stopped playing with her adopted brother, which we thought was again just part of her personality.

I am going to take a look at your thread and see what you have there. Maybe I can help.