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Help!!!...possible FIP
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Hi all, I just wanted to share an update. Soon after my regular vet called with a diagnosis of FIP , I decided to contact another vet who makes home visits. He arrived at my house last Thursday and I gave him all of Iggy's tests and he decided to start him on azithromycin and Famciclovir (anti viral), The results have been AMAZING! His appetite is fantastic, he's jumping around and playing, NO signs of lethargy at all, and he's going to the bathroom like normal!! In fact, I am having to clean his litterbox a few times a day because he has been eating so much more and his bowel movements are very healthy.....TMI, I know lol. I am beyond thrilled! Yesterday I had to stop over at his former vets office to pay for his blood work and as I was standing there, the vet approached me to ask how he was doing. I told her that he's doing fantastic ( wanted to say no thanks to you, but I refrained
and she goes " that's great, we should still watch him because he's not completely out of the woods. You should bring him to me in a few weeks so I can reexamine him" There were too many people around, so I couldn't say too much, but I was burning up inside. Why on earth would I bring him back to this vet when she offered NO alternative therapies to try after calling me with such a grim prognosis? Had it not been for this new vet, my cat would have continued to deteriorate and I would have just thought that it was part of the process with his FIP diagnosis...unbelievable!
and she goes " that's great, we should still watch him because he's not completely out of the woods. You should bring him to me in a few weeks so I can reexamine him" There were too many people around, so I couldn't say too much, but I was burning up inside. Why on earth would I bring him back to this vet when she offered NO alternative therapies to try after calling me with such a grim prognosis? Had it not been for this new vet, my cat would have continued to deteriorate and I would have just thought that it was part of the process with his FIP diagnosis...unbelievable!- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #25
Hi Bluesky,
He's been on it for a week now. I give him 1/2 of a 125mg tab daily. I started to see a big improvement after about 2 days on it. My vet said that we may adjust the dose once Iggy has been on it for 2 weeks. The vet said that the dose and the duration really differs from cat to cat. I hope your little one starts feeling better soon!!
He's been on it for a week now. I give him 1/2 of a 125mg tab daily. I started to see a big improvement after about 2 days on it. My vet said that we may adjust the dose once Iggy has been on it for 2 weeks. The vet said that the dose and the duration really differs from cat to cat. I hope your little one starts feeling better soon!!
Hi everybody, Im one messed up newcomer, here!
Seems like total bewilderment and gut wrenching fear is the norm for all this so at least I feel like I belong here.
Well where to start?
Just got introduced to the term FIP yesterday and already I have a ton of questions, and I know there are no easy answers but maybe some of you can guide me along.
Basically, got a neutered male 15 year old dom shorthair in FAB shape, only preexistings a year ago were the usual crystals in the urine, eating C/D took care of that. Single cat, no exposure to any others. While he is an indoor cat, I am an outdoor enthusiast and he is too, going where I go and doing very uncatlike multi-mile hikes like any good dog when he was younger and even today is demanding that we go out. (this cannot be an FIP cat! sorry, Im in denial, you understand) Always got his vaccinations, and he is a monthly tub bather with topical flea/tick. Totally marvelous shape for his age. Then a year ago he began showing what I figured was some sort of allergic reaction to something. Began compulsive licking of the breasts, hair on the ears fell out, sometimes little lesions . Conjunctivitis and an inflammation of the eye area would come and go. Wondered if it might be mosquito-related, kept him in for two weeks and everything resolved except the licking of the breasts and occasionally an eye issue. It was strange: one eyelid would flare, then resolve, then the other. After two weeks of no mosqitoes, the hair grew back in, was and still is extrememly lustrous. I made my conclusions, and now it seems they may have been wrong, at least in part.
So things began to change about September of 2013. Blood in stool, then quite a bit. He obviously had pain upon defecation and sometimes it was loose but then hard as a rock. Took him in for eval and they did the usual fecal tests, nothing. Still was not asking them much about the eye at this point, though I was beginning to suspect overactive tear duct or something, not a connection between the two. So we did four rounds of pred 5mg/metronidazole 50mg, or about a month's worth. He clearly felt much better but the blood continued. At one point the bloody stool was the only real symptom other than he got choosy with his foods . Still eating plenty, just finicky. Drinking plenty, urine plenty, bowels regular, just bloody and occasional fluctuations in form.
So a few days ago the blood got so bad that I decided to go back in with my boy and go to the next step, which was a full CbC, xray, etc. By this time I was also flushing the one affected eye with saline twice a day and starting to wonder if we weren't looking at some kind of automimmue thing. My mom had lupus, I have Reynaud's, my maternal grandmother has collagenous colitis, so the whole inflammation theme is a frustratingly familiar one.
I was also thinking, the steroid should have worked on the eyelid....what's going on here?
Vet came back in with the "good news" ...wasn't looking like cancer. Since I lost my mom to cancer a year ago, I was foolishly elated. She went through all the bloodwork, the strange absence of anything definitive except low lymphocytes, which were 0.82. then the kicker: he had enough fluid in the abdomen that they didnt do the ultrasound. His weight a month ago was 10.8 and yesterday he was at 13. She then began to slowly explain this new thing to me, this FIP. She had printed up some info, I did not read it until last night and of course then the relief of no cancer evaporated. I would not have been able to drive home had I read it in her office.....
But back on task.....So they sent off the bloodwork for the bigtime analysis but she also cautioned me about the difficult nature of these tests and how they are hardly able to nail anything down. But for now she is suspecting FIP, and it sounds like the wet variant. She also told me about a highly-skilled outfit in St. Louis that might be able to help go further with this, depending on the results of the bloodwork and what we wanted to do. The bloodwork will be back in about 4 days, my doctor is out of the office for the next two, my overly analytical mind is killing me, so I have come to you good folks.
Here are my questions and I am wondering if anyone here has had a similar set of conditions: his organ function is all perfect. Pancreas fine. Liver enzymes, fine. Heart, normal. Kidneys perfect. Ocular exam shows nothing but typical cloudy 15 year old cat eyes, no uveitis or anything. The problems with the one eye are on the lid, the organ itself is fine. No fever. Cat still grooming fastidiously. Interested in usual stimuli but noticeably depressed as you would expect with any illness. Some muscle loss but given the circumstances with the bowel and diet changes, not surprising. So basically all I have are a low lymphocyte count, fluid just getting started in the lower abdominal area, and truly bloody stools. I am having a hard time finding much about bloody stools in the FIP literature, although it would seem to make sense. Everything says FIP symptoms can be vague and varying.
My question is, what else causes fluid in the abdomen and bloody stools? I ran across the situation where the intestines roll up on each other and cause a constriction but hed surely be dead by now with that condition.
I will not deny that I am like all of you, desperate for hope and desperate for information. If he does truly have the wet form then it will progress rapidly and sometimes that is a thing to be thankful for in the end.
But if they are missing something then I am giving up on him prematurely.
thanks so much for anything you can send my (our) way...
wendy
Seems like total bewilderment and gut wrenching fear is the norm for all this so at least I feel like I belong here.
Well where to start?
Just got introduced to the term FIP yesterday and already I have a ton of questions, and I know there are no easy answers but maybe some of you can guide me along.
Basically, got a neutered male 15 year old dom shorthair in FAB shape, only preexistings a year ago were the usual crystals in the urine, eating C/D took care of that. Single cat, no exposure to any others. While he is an indoor cat, I am an outdoor enthusiast and he is too, going where I go and doing very uncatlike multi-mile hikes like any good dog when he was younger and even today is demanding that we go out. (this cannot be an FIP cat! sorry, Im in denial, you understand) Always got his vaccinations, and he is a monthly tub bather with topical flea/tick. Totally marvelous shape for his age. Then a year ago he began showing what I figured was some sort of allergic reaction to something. Began compulsive licking of the breasts, hair on the ears fell out, sometimes little lesions . Conjunctivitis and an inflammation of the eye area would come and go. Wondered if it might be mosquito-related, kept him in for two weeks and everything resolved except the licking of the breasts and occasionally an eye issue. It was strange: one eyelid would flare, then resolve, then the other. After two weeks of no mosqitoes, the hair grew back in, was and still is extrememly lustrous. I made my conclusions, and now it seems they may have been wrong, at least in part.
So things began to change about September of 2013. Blood in stool, then quite a bit. He obviously had pain upon defecation and sometimes it was loose but then hard as a rock. Took him in for eval and they did the usual fecal tests, nothing. Still was not asking them much about the eye at this point, though I was beginning to suspect overactive tear duct or something, not a connection between the two. So we did four rounds of pred 5mg/metronidazole 50mg, or about a month's worth. He clearly felt much better but the blood continued. At one point the bloody stool was the only real symptom other than he got choosy with his foods . Still eating plenty, just finicky. Drinking plenty, urine plenty, bowels regular, just bloody and occasional fluctuations in form.
So a few days ago the blood got so bad that I decided to go back in with my boy and go to the next step, which was a full CbC, xray, etc. By this time I was also flushing the one affected eye with saline twice a day and starting to wonder if we weren't looking at some kind of automimmue thing. My mom had lupus, I have Reynaud's, my maternal grandmother has collagenous colitis, so the whole inflammation theme is a frustratingly familiar one.
I was also thinking, the steroid should have worked on the eyelid....what's going on here?
Vet came back in with the "good news" ...wasn't looking like cancer. Since I lost my mom to cancer a year ago, I was foolishly elated. She went through all the bloodwork, the strange absence of anything definitive except low lymphocytes, which were 0.82. then the kicker: he had enough fluid in the abdomen that they didnt do the ultrasound. His weight a month ago was 10.8 and yesterday he was at 13. She then began to slowly explain this new thing to me, this FIP. She had printed up some info, I did not read it until last night and of course then the relief of no cancer evaporated. I would not have been able to drive home had I read it in her office.....
But back on task.....So they sent off the bloodwork for the bigtime analysis but she also cautioned me about the difficult nature of these tests and how they are hardly able to nail anything down. But for now she is suspecting FIP, and it sounds like the wet variant. She also told me about a highly-skilled outfit in St. Louis that might be able to help go further with this, depending on the results of the bloodwork and what we wanted to do. The bloodwork will be back in about 4 days, my doctor is out of the office for the next two, my overly analytical mind is killing me, so I have come to you good folks.
Here are my questions and I am wondering if anyone here has had a similar set of conditions: his organ function is all perfect. Pancreas fine. Liver enzymes, fine. Heart, normal. Kidneys perfect. Ocular exam shows nothing but typical cloudy 15 year old cat eyes, no uveitis or anything. The problems with the one eye are on the lid, the organ itself is fine. No fever. Cat still grooming fastidiously. Interested in usual stimuli but noticeably depressed as you would expect with any illness. Some muscle loss but given the circumstances with the bowel and diet changes, not surprising. So basically all I have are a low lymphocyte count, fluid just getting started in the lower abdominal area, and truly bloody stools. I am having a hard time finding much about bloody stools in the FIP literature, although it would seem to make sense. Everything says FIP symptoms can be vague and varying.
My question is, what else causes fluid in the abdomen and bloody stools? I ran across the situation where the intestines roll up on each other and cause a constriction but hed surely be dead by now with that condition.
I will not deny that I am like all of you, desperate for hope and desperate for information. If he does truly have the wet form then it will progress rapidly and sometimes that is a thing to be thankful for in the end.
But if they are missing something then I am giving up on him prematurely.
thanks so much for anything you can send my (our) way...
wendy
wendy-
I just read this thread for the first time because of another fip-related thread.
how are you?
I just read this thread for the first time because of another fip-related thread.
how are you?
Hello mycatwasthebest...
Your screen name saddens me as I notice it is in the past tense. I hope your feelings of loss have eased a bit. I do owe you a sincere apology for taking so dang long to respond.
My story took a turn for the better, I am one of the lucky ones, and as time slipped by I forgot about my initial post.
In the week or so after my posting on this thread, I got no response other than a courteous greeting from the admin (hello! and thank you!) and after much thinking I realized that my note was just me pleading for anyone at all to throw me a bone and somehow tell me my boy would be ok and this "wet FIP" was not a death sentence...and of course no one could do that since it IS a death sentence. Any response would have either been a lie to save my feelings or else the truth, and I was running from that.
But again, I feel almost bad for writing this update to an FIP thread because I still have my boy, and if you've rubbed shoulders with FIP then you don't have your babies.
After a ton of testing and panic and weighing for more fluid accumulation, we slowly found a list of reasons to doubt the wet FIP diagnosis. Mainly to me, he simply wasn't going down hill fast enough. He tested negative for exposure to corona, which of course is only a plus, not a guarantee. And after much steroid dose fluctuations his weight and fluid began to stabilize and then slowly decline. All the other lists of tests began to tilt the hunch away from FIP and towards something else....cancer. Again, the only symptoms he presents, even now, is SEVERELY bloody stools, skin irritations and an ongoing inflammation around one eye. We are still in the process of upping the steroids to seek a lowest effective dose and we are doing it slowly as should be. But Friday, yesterday, the vet called and said the markers for cancer were next to nothing...we are focusing now on this possibly being a severe case of ulcerative colitis from an unknown cause. My mother had lupus and other "myalgias" so I know a bit about how vague and frustrating systematic inflammation can be to treat.
Aside from the obvious discomfort he has when trying to defecate, my boy is mine again. At his age he should be happy to just flop on the couch all day like other old cats but he's playing tag, chasing me through the house, begging for another hike in the woods, just general back to himself. He gets bored and he lets me know it is time to PLAY. The steroids are not so high that this surge in activity could be a result...he just feels so much better. He is on a prescription IBD food and boiled chicken and eating /drinking as normal as ever now.
We are still weighing for the fluid and it seems to be going ever so slightly down. Tried for an abdominal tap a few weeks ago but the fluid was not localized anymore and we felt it would be too stressful for the limited results, plus it was already decreasing on its own, but very slowly. His rib cage is altered in the xrays from the displacement so we caught this in time.
All I can say is that we were very very lucky to avoid the FIP diagnosis we were considering. We now know there is something else at work here, but that week or two where I knew nothing but expected the worst based on what little he had to go on ...and how he was acting....let's just say I believed my moments with my best friend were ending before my eyes and regardless of our stay of execution, I am still in solidarity with you all if you are on this thread for the same reasons I initially was.
Never lose faith in the ways of nature, things always work out in the end though it may take time to accept this. Don't be afraid to grieve and do your best to love them for every second you are blessed to have them.
best wishes
Wendy T.
Your screen name saddens me as I notice it is in the past tense. I hope your feelings of loss have eased a bit. I do owe you a sincere apology for taking so dang long to respond.
My story took a turn for the better, I am one of the lucky ones, and as time slipped by I forgot about my initial post.
In the week or so after my posting on this thread, I got no response other than a courteous greeting from the admin (hello! and thank you!) and after much thinking I realized that my note was just me pleading for anyone at all to throw me a bone and somehow tell me my boy would be ok and this "wet FIP" was not a death sentence...and of course no one could do that since it IS a death sentence. Any response would have either been a lie to save my feelings or else the truth, and I was running from that.
But again, I feel almost bad for writing this update to an FIP thread because I still have my boy, and if you've rubbed shoulders with FIP then you don't have your babies.
After a ton of testing and panic and weighing for more fluid accumulation, we slowly found a list of reasons to doubt the wet FIP diagnosis. Mainly to me, he simply wasn't going down hill fast enough. He tested negative for exposure to corona, which of course is only a plus, not a guarantee. And after much steroid dose fluctuations his weight and fluid began to stabilize and then slowly decline. All the other lists of tests began to tilt the hunch away from FIP and towards something else....cancer. Again, the only symptoms he presents, even now, is SEVERELY bloody stools, skin irritations and an ongoing inflammation around one eye. We are still in the process of upping the steroids to seek a lowest effective dose and we are doing it slowly as should be. But Friday, yesterday, the vet called and said the markers for cancer were next to nothing...we are focusing now on this possibly being a severe case of ulcerative colitis from an unknown cause. My mother had lupus and other "myalgias" so I know a bit about how vague and frustrating systematic inflammation can be to treat.
Aside from the obvious discomfort he has when trying to defecate, my boy is mine again. At his age he should be happy to just flop on the couch all day like other old cats but he's playing tag, chasing me through the house, begging for another hike in the woods, just general back to himself. He gets bored and he lets me know it is time to PLAY. The steroids are not so high that this surge in activity could be a result...he just feels so much better. He is on a prescription IBD food and boiled chicken and eating /drinking as normal as ever now.
We are still weighing for the fluid and it seems to be going ever so slightly down. Tried for an abdominal tap a few weeks ago but the fluid was not localized anymore and we felt it would be too stressful for the limited results, plus it was already decreasing on its own, but very slowly. His rib cage is altered in the xrays from the displacement so we caught this in time.
All I can say is that we were very very lucky to avoid the FIP diagnosis we were considering. We now know there is something else at work here, but that week or two where I knew nothing but expected the worst based on what little he had to go on ...and how he was acting....let's just say I believed my moments with my best friend were ending before my eyes and regardless of our stay of execution, I am still in solidarity with you all if you are on this thread for the same reasons I initially was.
Never lose faith in the ways of nature, things always work out in the end though it may take time to accept this. Don't be afraid to grieve and do your best to love them for every second you are blessed to have them.
best wishes
Wendy T.
wendy-
u r one ell of a writer!
so glad it's not fip!
u r one ell of a writer!
so glad it's not fip!
Five years ago, I went down the FIP road! I had a beautiful kitten pass away from FIP. His belly was very bloated, and from the time of the diagnosis until the end was one month. It progressed very quickly. There is excellent advice on this board, especially, that most cats get the Corona virus, and their immune systems take care of it! Very encouraging news of the blood panel being normal! Recently, another cat of mine (who wasn't even born yet when my other kitty had FIP) had a garden variety of symptoms, and the Vet said he had FIP! I never even winced, I wasn't buying it! He did not have FIP. Long story, but he recovered from a hairball blockage, dehydration etc..! All the best..fingers crossed! The proof will be in the pudding!
I will say that the wait for test results, when everything you are told with this disease is that those same results might well be inconclusive, coupled with the thought of "am I putting him through this , for an inevitable ending, and only increasing his suffering?" is what made it hardest for me.
After losing my mom to lung cancer just a year and a half ago I was in no rush to go through that again.....
and that recent history makes a non-FIP outcome that much sweeter.
After losing my mom to lung cancer just a year and a half ago I was in no rush to go through that again.....
and that recent history makes a non-FIP outcome that much sweeter.
FORGET about the diagnosis of FIP for now!! Continue to focus on.... giving your baby intensive supportive care....get your kitty tested for Giardia, given the lose stool....you have to ask for this test .....it's not in the regular stool sample testing...However, I caution... test results OFTEN come back negative. Ask your Vet if they will treat for Giardia based on symptoms...Pancur worked in my situation and wasted a lot of time with Metronidazole which is only successful 67% of the time! I've been to hell and back with FIP :-( and ended up having a false diagnosis with another kitty, who is quite alive and well to this day! :-)
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..I wanted to tell you of my own nightmare that I am in right now...not to scare you since I have not read all of the posts. I have a 10 month old ragdoll that I got from a breeder back in October of 2013....when I got him home he developed diarrhea and was sneezing a lot. Took him for multiple fecal and urine and blood tests. All were negative. They noted no problem with respitory and thought it was the new environment. His diarrhea and sneezing went away but now I know the virus was non-symptomatic for months while it attacked my baby boy's organs. A few days ago I noticed that his third eyelid was prominant and that he seemed tired all the time...no interest in playing but he was eating. Took him to the vet and they told me he may have conjunctivitis so he was put on lysine...next morning he looked terrible..took him in for blood work to find that he is severely anemic, high protein level meaning inflammation etc....took X-rays yesterday to find enlarged heart, kidneys and lymph nodes. I am being told it is most likely fip......not wet..there was no liquid accumulated. He has deteriorated very quickly...he hardly opens his eyes, the third lid is seen, he is eating a little...otherwise sleeps all day. He does not want any interaction, although i have brushed him and he still enjoys that. I believe that he was infected at the breeder and was sick since I got him. All she had to say was that she kept his sister and she is beautiful...I told her he is beautiful too, but he is dying. I cannot express how sad I am that my little boy is enduring this. I am waiting a few more days to see if he improves any but then sadly, I know I must play God. Prayers to anyone here who is enduring this pain or who suspects their loved ones are sick too.
very very sorry, catwoman might say there's hope
I'm sorry about all of this stress. Cats and humans have many medical problems, and it can get stressful if both are happening at the same time.
@mags I apologize for the thread hijacking here, but thought you wouldn't mind one post directed towards a new member.
@Kona13 You might want to start your own thread regarding your situation okay?
I am so very sorry for what you are going through now. FIP is one of the 2 most sneakiest, ugliest diseases, the other being panleukopenia however that IS preventable, which puts FIP right at the top of the very worst.
The enlarged heart, kidneys, lymph nodes doesn't look good, and does point to possibly FIP.
Can you possibly post the blood test results here so we can view them?
I would love to be able to give even a small amt of hope, but unfortuantely I can't always do that realistically.
FIP is not an easy disease to diagnose, and there is no definitive test to do that. I believe, as well as many experts do, that FIP is often to blame for other health issues that are unknown, due to it's many characteristics and symptoms.
But there are some that will point in that direction, which is why I asked about the blood results.
Did the vet happen to do an antibody titer to check for coronavirus exposure? This is extremely useful in that, if a cat was never exposed to coronavirus, then it is not going to be FIP. It is this virus that must show presence for the FIP mutation to have taken place.
I highly suggest having this done asap, because he is only 10 months old, and at least you will know. Chances are he was exposed, due to a breeder being a multicat place where it is a much greater chance.
This doesn't mean that if he does have a positive titer, that it is definitely fip, but a positive titer result, along with his symptoms and x-ray results, would certainly point to FIP.
Very scary, sad, frustrating, and heartbreaking.
@Kona13 You might want to start your own thread regarding your situation okay?
I am so very sorry for what you are going through now. FIP is one of the 2 most sneakiest, ugliest diseases, the other being panleukopenia however that IS preventable, which puts FIP right at the top of the very worst.
The enlarged heart, kidneys, lymph nodes doesn't look good, and does point to possibly FIP.
Can you possibly post the blood test results here so we can view them?
I would love to be able to give even a small amt of hope, but unfortuantely I can't always do that realistically.
FIP is not an easy disease to diagnose, and there is no definitive test to do that. I believe, as well as many experts do, that FIP is often to blame for other health issues that are unknown, due to it's many characteristics and symptoms.
But there are some that will point in that direction, which is why I asked about the blood results.
Did the vet happen to do an antibody titer to check for coronavirus exposure? This is extremely useful in that, if a cat was never exposed to coronavirus, then it is not going to be FIP. It is this virus that must show presence for the FIP mutation to have taken place.
I highly suggest having this done asap, because he is only 10 months old, and at least you will know. Chances are he was exposed, due to a breeder being a multicat place where it is a much greater chance.
This doesn't mean that if he does have a positive titer, that it is definitely fip, but a positive titer result, along with his symptoms and x-ray results, would certainly point to FIP.
Very scary, sad, frustrating, and heartbreaking.
