FIP got my baby

I lost my Monet to FIP a few weeks ago and am just heartbroken, here is a note I sent to my friends. >>>>>

Monet is gone.  He started limping on his left front paw and would hold it up when still, on Friday.  Saturday morning it took him to the Vet and he had a fever of almost 107.  Since I had been feeding him twice as much since his diagnosis of FIP, about two weeks ago, he still lost more weight, so we decided to let him go.  I am absolutely heart broken, it was just too fast, I was not ready.  I held him as he went to sleep and just cried and cried.  My Maltese is 12-1/2 years with lots of medical problems, I’m ready for her time, but not Monet.

When I went to the lobby, with his carrier, a sweet little girl asked, where is your puppy, and I said he went to heaven and she asked why and I said he was a very sick little kitty.  She then walked up to her Grandma who was checking out with her dog and the little girl ask her why she was crying, well you know that made me cry more, such compassion.  When she left she said, “I’m sorry for your loss”. 

It is such a waste, he was so full of life, very playful, social and made me laugh a lot, he was so funny, not to mention how beautiful he was, his markings were so unique.  I really think my other cat knows, as when I came back home and of course I was crying, cried all day, he went and laid in Monet’s favorite spot.  Then he stayed in the bed with me all night, he has never done that.  Even today he is not as lively, I sure hope it’s just a little bout of missing Monet like with me and he gets past it, there is no way I could handle losing him.  I am so glad that I have quite a few videos of Monet playing with his lighted ball in a circle, he just loved it and of Monet and Mir playing together and the two of them watching birds and lizards with their tales flicking and them making sounds, Mir taught him that. 

I thought I was doing better today, until I took the litter boxes outside and washed them out.  Monet hated to be in them so he would stand on the side of it, dig a hole and then balance himself on the side, then standing back on the side of it, cover it up,  I just thought that was so funny.  Anyway, as I was washing them, I could see him hovering on the side of it and it made me start crying again. 

I bragged all the time how lucky I was that I had such great, well behaved cats as these were my first two and I’ve heard such horror stories.  My Maltese will be next and then it will be just Mir and Sophie (My LashaTu)-she is 8 years old, she was a puppy mill rescue so she’s always got problems.  Mir is 4, so since it looks like his health is good, from what I hear they can live 15-20 years so he better stay with me, I just couldn’t handle losing him.

The more people that know about this illness the better.   It is my hope that if more people are aware of the illness it will help to get someone working on at least a treatment if not a cure. 

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I am so sorry for your loss. It is never easy to say goodbye to our pets but it seems worse when it comes on suddenly.  How old was Monet?  I love his name.

I also lost my pure bred siamese  Jax to FIP in March just a month shy of his 3rd birthday.  When I got him it didn't take long to realize he was infected with the coronavirus and the vet said he had a chance of getting FIP for the rest of his life.  And he did get it.  I had never even heard of FIP before Jax. 

Sorry again for your loss.

Thanks for your comment and I am sorry for your loss.  Monet was 2 weeks away from 2 years old.  He was diagnosed two weeks before that when I took him to the vet and asked if I was starving him as he was getting so skinny and you know Ragdolls are big.  He was a rescue and had such beautiful coloring that I thought he looked like a painting, which is when Monet popped in my head.  I started a Facebook page for him Monet Ragdoll with the hopes that people would add to it and researchers could see what was being said.  I have sent the link to it to any Vet School or Hospital I can find.

I am so sorry...I know that feeling of void and our other kitty still howls during the night 3 weeks later thrown off by her routine I think. She did get to give Min a lick on the forehead afterwards... I was hoping that meant she processed what happened. Just takes time. And of course you will have all the silly reminders of the things that made you love your baby's personality... Eventually you will smile without the tears [emoji]128522[/emoji]

I am so, so sorry to hear about Monet and Jax. I am going through the exact same thing - I had to put my darling buddy Rufus to sleep on 5 September.He would have been four next month. I miss that little guy so much, it feels like my heart has been ripped out.

He was diagnosed with FIP after being sick for several weeks. We tried and investigated everything, and the vet was amazing (he had every medication you can imagine, loads of blood tests, surgery etc., second opinion, and every time we thought it had fixed him, but then he just got worse) I wasn't convinced that this is what he had. But then he took a sudden turn for the worse and couldn't breathe well - the vet discovered that his chest cavity had filled with fluid - a classic sign. All in all it took five weeks from him first seeming sick to getting to this stage.

He was so sick, and we all knew it was time. We had the most amazing, peaceful last day together, the memories of which I will cherish forever. Although the shock has faded, the longer it is since I've seen him, the worse the missing him gets. I can just SEE him everywhere - running around the garden, doing all the things he loved.

We got his ashes back two weeks ago and planted a beautiful Acer tree in a large pot (we just mixed a small amount in with the soil, as apparently too much can be bad for the PH levels). It's lovely to have a small reminder of him out in the garden where he loved to be. We are also (slowly) making a photo album; looking at his sweet little face and remembering all the love we shared helps quite a lot.

Argh...now I am crying again!

I had never heard of FIP either - it's just devastating. 

Thinking of you x

I'm so sorry to hear about this. It's so heartbreaking to lose a kitty. Take it easy on yourself during this time! Eventually the pain and loss will become a little bit less acute. So very sorry that you lost your beloved kitty like this. 

The Mod team join me in expressing our sorrow and condolences for you loss. FIP is an awful disease - I have lost two cats to it in the past. Out of respect for Monet I will now close this thread, and I hope you will open a new thread in the bridge Forum, where people can express their sympathy.