Help with dry FIP diagnosis

My cat is diagnosed with dry form of FIP in mid January. His symptoms include loss of appetite, weight loss and vomiting. I have also noticed he is breathing a bit louder and his breathing rate is higher. His blood work shows a very high level of globulin 9.6g/dl and A/G ratio of 0.3. Besides globulin, everything else is within acceptable range and in additional to blood work, we also did an Xray and nothing interesting has shown.

It has been three months since the first sign of loss of appetite and two months since his first fip diagnosis, he has been behaving normally otherwise and loves to watch birds. This makes me hopeful that it may be something else.

I guess my questions are two fold, first do you guys think there might be something else on with my cat other than FIP? He isn't showing any typical dry FIP symptoms such as fever but my vet said he is 95% certain that it's FIP and I am not sure what else I can test for at this point. Second question is if you guys think my cat might have something else, can any body suggest a good internal specialist in San Diego area? My vet has recommended Veterinary Specialty Hospital but the reviews online is quite mixed.

Hi Ducky19, it's been a couple years since I saw a feline specialist about FIP to find out about it in relation to a kitten I was considering (her brother died of it).  

So when I read your post, I was concerned that you had a 'diagnosis' as somewhere hazy in my memory is that FIP cannot be diagnosed conclusively except by autopsy.  Also, FIP is bad as they die REALLY quickly - your guy is hanging around a lot longer.  So I did a quick search to see if my memory was serving me well, and I found this:

 At this time, there are no specific diagnostic tests short of autopsy that can determine definitively whether a cat has FIP. The blood tests that are available simply determine if the cat has been exposed to the coronavirus. Exposure to the coronavirus, however, does not mean necessarily that the animal has FIP; typically, the coronavirus leads to other minor disorders, such as intestinal problems like diarrhea and vomiting. 

http://www.upstateamc.com/Feline_Infectious_Peritonit.html

Click to expand...

So I hope your guy doesn't have FIP.  And I hope someone with more experience can come along and give you some more ideas or another avenue to get a further consult...

Hi Tammy,

My vet mentioned that the dry form progress slower than the the wet form. He is slowly deteriorating mainly due to not eating enough. From what I understand is that high globulin simply means there is an infection going on and I want to make sure on the slim chance of misdiagnosis, I do provide my cat everything he needs to fight it.

I think giving him an immune boosting supplement like lactoferrin or lactoferrin+colostrum could help him.

I'm trying to remember what my vet said about the coronavirus - I think he said to expect your cat to have it if they came from a barn or shelter (ours did) but it's rare to transform into FIP. There are a couple of different strains of coronavirus and just one causes FIP, but they can't test for it.

Check into Polyprenyl Immunostimulant. It is new and is approved to treat the dry form of FIP.

Hi Ducky

I'm so sorry to hear that your kitty is unwell.

We lost the fight with our little Otis on Sat just gone, he went down hill very quickly within a 2 week period from the Dry form of FIP, this was most apparent to be FIP when he was in the last week or too!

FIP is a scary and horrible disease, like you when we were given the initial suspected diagnosis of the disease a few weeks before we lost him, we researched everything we could, and spoke to a number of feline specialists,

The signs to look out for and lists are long for suspected FIP, but the issue is it mirrors that of the Calci virus right up until the last stages,

Our little Otis was showing signs of neurological issues in the last couple of weeks relating to FIP, such as lamness in the back legs and hind, it seems your kitty has not developed this !, hold out for the little chap, our Otis, also lost his temperature spike in the last week, before we lost him, and he only stopped eating 3 days before we put him to rest.

If you would like to see the case for Otis, the history of his symptoms and how we tried to care, with foods supplements let me know and I will send you a private message, as it a rather long and detailed story.

Kim x

Hi Kim,

I am so sorry about your loss, the thought of losing my little buddy bring tears to my eyes and I can't imagine what you have just gotten through.

If you don't mind I would like to know more about Otis ' case. Feel free to pm me or even post it here. I feel the more information is shared publicly on the Internet, the better people will understand about this horrible diseases, but do whatever makes you comfortable .

Thank in advance

Hi Ducky

Thank you for your kind words, we are missing him teriibly.

Below are our notes on Otis during his illness, we logged it for the feline specialists and also as it may help other people who are facing FIP.

~~We homed Otis from a rescue centre when he was 10 weeks old, he is an amazing little cat with the sweetest calmest, confident nature. At the foster home he was living with 10 other cats all of different ages and there was some health issues with some of the other residents. When he came to live with us and our 2 other cats aged 4, he had no health issues at all, and

He had all of his kitten injections at around 14 weeks. He has always had a very health appetite and eats well with the other 2 cats at set meal times in the morning and evening, food is down for all 3 cats all day, so they can have a nibble whenever they feel like it. Otis has always loved his food, especially fresh meat such as ham or chicken. Our other 2 cats can go outside when we let them, but Otis has not yet left the house 3 weeks ago Otis was not himself, we noticed on the Friday morning he was quiet but he came down to breakfast, by the evening he was still a lot calmer but still ate dinner. On sat he was really subdued and we made a massive fuss of him and checked he was using the litter tray as normal no upset tummy issues. By sat night we were really worried he could barely open his eyes and was curled up in a ball,

First thing on Sunday we rushed him to an Emergency vets, not our usually vet as they were closed. We saw a young vet who checked him over and confirmed that he had a really high temperature, swollen glands to the neck and bad breath, she suspected he had a virus of some kind and advised us to go see our own vet on the Monday, she gave him a steroid injection to help with the fever and a 24hr hr. antibiotic. We took him home and kept him comfortable.

On The Monday morning we took him to the vets first thing, vet checked over again and had the faxed notes from the emergency vet on Sunday, he was still running a very high temp, and she believed also he was trying to fight a virus of some sort, she prescribed him Loxicom oral with the syringe and advised on the correct dosage, she also gave us antibiotics for any secondary infections that might come along, we needed to look after him keep him fed and comfortable and see how the week went for him.

At this point Otis weighted 2.7kg

We saw some improvement this week, he ate, toileted and seemed to be picking up by the Thursday night, still very sleepy not his usual self but better. On Friday we returned home from work to find him waiting for us but with huge dilated eyes, moaning and walking painfully and wobbly on the back legs, he looked like he had stroke and he was completely blind and disoriented. We had a terrible night with him he seemed afraid of the dark jumpy and scared.

First thing sat we took him straight back to the vet, we saw the same vet as the Monday, he is now very tender, we can barely touch him without him screaming, vet checks over eyes and temp, his temperature is now back to normal. Poor Otis cannot see a thing, vet claims she suspects him to have FIP due to the slightly swollen stomach, eye hemeriage and the tenderness of limps, she takes bloods, warns us its fatal and we will have results on the coming Monday, she also tells us to be prepared for the worse as he is case book FIP. We left with antibiotic drops for his eyes and told to continue with the Loxicom.

All weekend we cared for him, drops to eyes 3 times a day, helping him to toilet food act, we were devastated and convinced we would be putting him to sleep on the Monday. Back to vets on Monday, Otis has now developed a sneeze, and congestion, eyes somewhat improved, and his vision if back slightly. We saw a different vet on the Monday, the day we thought would be his last.

Vet gave him the all clear on the bloods claimed he was clear for FIV, FELV that his bloods, and kidney function good, however the results did indicate he had been exposed to Calcivirus. His illness has been a mystery because it seems now that he has some sort of Neurological issue, he has an inch in the tail that cannot be touched as it causes him great pain and the front right paw seems to be lame, vet advised to try him for a day without the loxixom and see how he responds.

We booked a follow up visit the following week after being advised that the cat was the only one who could fight the virus and we need to keep him calm and content to see if the nerves heal in the tail and the poor. We left feeling that we would fight this virus and he could heal from the neurolcal issues, he is eating fine at this point loves his food in fact drinking plenty of water and using the tray, we have had no vomit, not diareah at this point. We have a good week with him he moves around a little, pleased to see us home, still having eye drops, resting, but his tail is very tender and his hind legs are week.

Fast forward to the weekend, he stops eating, he is still congested, sneezing stops, we spend hours trying to tempt him but he’s not interested in anything other than water. We take him to vets on Monday he is very weak discuss issue for the last 24 hrs not really interested in food but drinking lots of water.

Vet believed Loxicom is the issue tells us to stop giving the daily dose as it may make his stomach sick, give him a steroid pick me Up1, meant to boost his metabolic rate, kick start appetite back, so he will eat to get the strength up. We leave take him home, within 1 hr he is panting swaying head, heart rate super-fast and we thought he was going to die. We spent all night up with him soothing him giving him water, very next day call the vet in the morning tell him what has happened vet now thinks that he has had a reaction that he hoped would have helped with the steroid injection, I leave work early afternoon to be home with him and he has vomited, he is very weak and hiding, this is not like his behaviour at all! He wants to drink water often.

On the evening he seems to be interested in food smells meats, and pouches. I blend this up and make chicken broth fresh and we start syringing this and kitten milk into the evening. On wed morning he has some improvement, we continue with the syringe feeding, milk, broths and food, I researched vitamin c and Lysine he now has some supplements in the syringe food. This morning he is really poorly again, can barely walk and sitting on his front, we have another vet appointment this evening. I have said to partner no more Steroids and intrusive drugs, his little body can’t handle it, if we are to get him over this nutrition is the only way.!

It the vets on the evening, we were dealt some very worrying news, our vet had spoken to the top feline specialist in Ireland, he had sent across the bloods, and observations of the last few weeks and sought her expert advice.

The vet looked over Otis, he still has neurological issues, h's eyes are huge again, and he is very tender to touch and weak on the back legs, the vet stated that he could see platlets to the back of the eye retina and increases there belief of FIP more so, this was a sign that his antibodies were attacking his body, also he inability to eat correctly was suggestive that his jaw and throat function is affected also, his temp is normal.

We discuss Lysine and Vit C with the vet and he advises that from what he can see Otis time is limited due to his fast decline.

We take Otis home and it breaks our heart, we discuss making the right choice when his quality of life declines.

We had a good night on Thursday , we syringe feed him and he cuddled all night, he was now however become rather restless, he can only sleep a few hours before having to move around.

Friday was the last night we had Otis, he ate for the fist time in a week himself, but he was having trouble walking, he wasn't really interested in any interaction and became withdrawn. We believe that he is in pain as this point and had a few more seizures throughout the night, by sat morning we had slept downstairs all night with him but he was bit really with us, we had to carry him to the toilet  - Otis was put to rest first thing on sat.

Dry FIP come on very fast and the symptoms towards the end are very clear

Hi Kim,

Thank you again for sharing with us you experience with this awful disease. I have made an appointment with an internal specialist next Friday (I am currently out of the country) and I will keep you guys posted.

I just lost my kitty on Monday, still dont know what happened , but they suspected FIP. Im still waiting for the lad and diagnosuis. He had a a yr and half ago Alb/glob level at 0.3 and a test for fip came back neg. Now he is dead. He stopped eating and was jaundice. COuld I see your lab work or story of your kitty to get this solved in my head. Im so very sad and looking for answers.

Thank you

Lori