FIP and depression

Hi all, new to the forum today and in need of advice!

My my 14 month old Burmese coco has been diagnosed with FIP (best as it can be diagnosed) it seems she has dry FIP she seems comfortable and stable, eating, good bowel movements , since she has gone on tablets to suppress her immune system she seems to have turned a corner (so to speak.)

My query is that she seems very depressed (and rightly so I can't say I blame her) but what can I do to help her? If anything? If she wants to fight its my duty as her mum to do everything I can to help her, is there anything in anyone's experience that worked for the depression? I just want to make her as comfortable
And as happy as possible

Thanks for any help you can give!

What do you mean by depressed?  Is she just not herself or is she hiding?  It might be that she is in some discomfort - I have never had an FIP positive cat so don't know but it would seem this is a possibility.  Other than that, I would recommend giving her lots of attention, talking to her softly and stroking her, and playing with her.  My cats really love Da Bird - this is always guaranteed to bring them running.  I don't really have any experience helping a cat get over the blues and maybe someone who has some experience will chime in but did want to reply.  I hope she feels better soon - we all want the best for our babies and when they are not 100%, we worry.

My experience with an FIP kitten was that she started to do a few things...

1. Sought out heat (slept on my computer modem

2. Hid wherever possible. Behind the monitor, in my closet, even in the litter box (Things she never did before)

3. Stopped eating

I believe it was the wet form in Tsuki's case when she did all these things. Sadly it was all signs she was dying already. I'm sorry to hear you got such a diagnosis FIP is a horrific disease.

geekgirl1984 said:

Hi all, new to the forum today and in need of advice!

My my 14 month old Burmese coco has been diagnosed with FIP (best as it can be diagnosed) it seems she has dry FIP she seems comfortable and stable, eating, good bowel movements , since she has gone on tablets to suppress her immune system she seems to have turned a corner (so to speak.)

My query is that she seems very depressed (and rightly so I can't say I blame her) but what can I do to help her? If anything? If she wants to fight its my duty as her mum to do everything I can to help her, is there anything in anyone's experience that worked for the depression? I just want to make her as comfortable
And as happy as possible

Thanks for any help you can give!

Click to expand...

Can you tell us what lead to the diagnosis?

What are her symptoms?

Of course! Sorry that was all very vague it's been a very over whelming couple of weeks im so glad to
Have found somewhere where I can talk!

It all started on the Sat 29th of May, Cocos right eye seemed slightly closed. Having had many cats in the past I assumed either she had been a bit boistois with her play mate (they are extremely close and very playful) or some kind of eye infection brewing so was going to take her to the vets on the Monday. However the very next day she was quite listless, completely off her food and her third eyelid was half way over her eye and it was continually watering so I took her straight down to the vet she was so lifeless it scared me.

I have to say I say the oncall weekend vet and wasn't happy. He put some dye in her eye said he couldn't see anything. He said either she had some grit in her eye or perhaps it was something to do with her teeth, that she could have gotten an abcess between her mouth and eye (my sister in law had just gone through this with one of her cats) gave me some noriclav some eye and sent us on our way.

Two days later she had rapidly declined. I could see extreme weight loss, she was drinkkng and peei g a lot more then normal (kidneys was my immediate thought) and her eye was getting puffy. Her coat had also gone dull and coarse. So we went back. They said herpes. Ige had cats who have had clamydia in the eye so I knew that these things happen, we got a stronger eye cream, doxycycline and Metcam as they said her intestines were slightly swollen. She was also weiged and had lost 0.3 kg since the first visit - Coco Was a tiny cat she is now skin and bones. They did blood work also, my vets are a hospital as well so I got the results that evening, they said everything was normal apart from a slightly high white cell count.
The next day she has terrible diahrea, barely eating listless so back we went! More bloodwork, a steriod eye drop as she now has an ulcer on her eye. They test the pressure of her eye and its 35, over the acceptable limit (her good eye was 12) so the steroid eye drop should help. I also notice that she is making a terrible grinding voice when she eats. They do more blood work and I am told about About toxiplasmosis (again ive had a cat who had this but he was 16 at the time) and I hear about FIP. Even as an experienced cat owner I'd never heard of it. My vet says we have to rule out toxiplasmosis first so we have to wait for the blood work to come back. This took a week to get due to having to be sent away and public holidays. In the mean time we start a course of Antirobe just to start in In her system (she is still having the doxycycline and metcam and steroid eyedrop. The metcam goes on and off as im told not to give it to her if she had diarea as it goes through the kidneys.) she also has a constant fever that we seem to be unable to treat.

She starts to pick up. More lively, eating more, the eye looks better. She goes for a check up before the results are in her eye has gone back down to 22. Wel all feel a bit better.
Three days later the results are back (this has, despite the epic post only been around three weeks time frame) we go back and they say it's not toxoplasmosis, im given more reading on FIP and her eye pressure has gone up to 52. She is rushed off to a specialist referal hospital. The eye specialist can't believe she hadn't been refered before now, she gets an overall body scan, an ultrasound the works.

The results are, one enlarged kidney (which doesn't surprise me she is gulping down water) swollen lymph nodes and some fluid in her stomach, but there was t enough for them to test. They also found debris and protein in her other eye which they would expect in an older cat by not a young one.
Drain and test. Im not going to lie when I was being told of of this I had to hand the phone to my father as I was too upset to be able to talk. He explained to me afterwards exactly what FIP was. She's now on prednisolone (5mg tablet in the morning half a tablet in the evening) and ocuflux for her eye. Five days after the results I took her back for a check up and her eye pressure has gone down to ten.

She has improved her stools are normal
She eats a lot more then she was (still very skinny) and the crunching in her jaw has reduced (they are putting this down to stress there is no physical reason as to why she is doing this) she just however seems completely uninterested in life. She has the odd half hour here and there where she will come
Sit on my lap, but I can't remember the last time I heard her purr. It is heart breaking.

Phew sorry for the extremely long post!!!

I'm really not an expert in these things but it sounds like you've done everything right for her. Even so, I'm wondering if it's worth a call to the vet for some feedback. She (btw, what's her name?) does sound like something's wrong. Poor baby. Maybe she is just stressed from everything she's been through and as time progresses and meds work, she will feel better. In the meantime I would just give her as much love and affection as she'll accept.

Tsukiyomi said:

My experience with an FIP kitten was that she started to do a few things...


1. Sought out heat (slept on my computer modem
2. Hid wherever possible. Behind the monitor, in my closet, even in the litter box (Things she never did before)
3. Stopped eating

I believe it was the wet form in Tsuki's case when she did all these things. Sadly it was all signs she was dying already. I'm sorry to hear you got such a diagnosis FIP is a horrific disease.

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Yes horrific is the right word, I know im loosing Coco, it's odd when your pleased she has a good day but not getting better. I just want to make what time she has as comfortable as possible, if I could lift her spirits a bit it would lift mine!

I'm so sorry you and your baby have to go through this. Horrific is right, and NO kitten should ever have to suffer from this horrible disease.

Has anyone taken her temperature?  I'm assuming they must have.  When Darcy first showed signs she wasn't feeling good I suspected maybe getting a cold and took her to the vet. Her temperature was nearly 1.06.  We started having blood test, ultra sound, etc., everything the vet could think of until it looked like it was definitely FIP.  It is devastating to hear that, as you already know.  Darcy had some good days after that, but she was never the playful kitten she was when we first got her. So maybe your girl is not depressed, but just tired and worn down from this. If her temperature is up, that could account for it. In general, she's probably not feeling up to par, so might seem depressed to look at her

I'm not expert, but having been through it, my best advice is just to love her while you can and do whatever possible to make her as happy as you can. My Darcy lasted a couple months after diagnosis, but when she went downhill it was fast. 

Sorry my last post didn't seem to go through,

I read about Darcy, im so sorry for your loss and in fact it was your story that prompted me to join here, I wanted real experience not text book answers.

Her temperature is taken every visit it ranges from 102-106 (106 was when she was particularly ill)

I can see why she would seem miserable, it's just heartbreaking

geekgirl1984 said:

Phew sorry for the extremely long post!!!

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Thank you for the very sad post, clearly she is very ill and you are doing everything you can.  I hope you can get some quality time with her still.

geekgirl1984 said:

Sorry my last post didn't seem to go through,

I read about Darcy, im so sorry for your loss and in fact it was your story that prompted me to join here, I wanted real experience not text book answers.

Her temperature is taken every visit it ranges from 102-106 (106 was when she was particularly ill)

I can see why she would seem miserable, it's just heartbreaking

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I'm so sorry.  Sadly, high temperature that doesn't respond to antibiotics is a sign of FIP.  We just kept praying it was something we could treat and heal, but it wasn't to be.  We had her on steroids which did help her regain some of her spunk for awhile. It's only temporary, but you just have to love them while you can.  I hope you're baby is around for a good while longer with a good quality of life. 

I agree, that's how I found this place ages ago - looking for real experience and there are so many people on here who have been so helpful to me. Whenever I see a thread that I think I might have something that can help, I will jump in.

Misty8723 said:

I'm so sorry.  Sadly, high temperature that doesn't respond to antibiotics is a sign of FIP.  We just kept praying it was something we could treat and heal, but it wasn't to be.  We had her on steroids which did help her regain some of her spunk for awhile. It's only temporary, but you just have to love them while you can.  I hope you're baby is around for a good while longer with a good quality of life. 

I agree, that's how I found this place ages ago - looking for real experience and there are so many people on here who have been so helpful to me. Whenever I see a thread that I think I might have something that can help, I will jump in.

Click to expand...

Thank you, yes ive completely accepted the fact that it's FIP its just hard to accept that there's nothing I can do, very frustrating!! Coco did have a cuddle and a purr this morning (haven't heard her purr for a month) so at least j know she's feeling somewhat content! Thank you all for your advice it's so nice to talk to others about it!

My personal opinion, after having experience with 7 FIP cats over the past year, is that as soon as they start to go downhill, it is time.  When they stop eating, it's a sign they are suffering.  Cats hide pain well.  If purring causes her to cough, she is probably getting fluid in her chest.  Choking and air hunger are things you need to spare her from.  If she were my cat, it would be time.

Plan ahead with your vet, make sure they do the kindest form of euthanasia, which is to just give your cat a quick shot of preoperative medicine that will allow her to slowly go to sleep in your arms as you sit in a chair in the exam room (my vet always brings me a big soft chair).  The vet checks back in 10-15 minutes and by then the cat should be totally out of it, sound asleep and completely relaxed.  Only then do they shave the arm, find a vein and give the final shot, which she does not feel.  No struggle, no fear.  Not every vet does it this way, so be sure to ask ahead.

Here is a link to a place near us that does in-home euthanasia, and that may be an option for you also if you can afford it.  You can click on the tabs and get answers to a lot of your questions here.  My heart goes out to you.  FIP sucks.  Make sure she gets to the Rainbow Bridge before she suffers.

http://www.sweetdreamsgeorgia.com/

it turns out sadly last night was time and I oddly just ..knew. I went in to check on her and she put her head on my hand and I just thought...she's done she's exhausted. Rest in peace my gorgeous girl x

I'm so sorry. Knowing it's coming doesn't make it any easier.

Rest in peace, beautiful girl

I'm so sorry about Coco. She knew she was loved and that's so important. It's so sad when we lose our sweet babies. I hope with time your memories will make you smile again.

Thank you everyone, in the last difficult week this place has been a valuable source of information and comfort

On behalf of the Cat Site Moderating Team, we are truly sorry for your loss. You may wish to post a memorial to Coco in our Crossing the Bridge Forum when you feel able to do so. The link is here. http://www.thecatsite.com/f/19/crossing-the-bridge As a sign of our deepest respect and condolences I am no going to lock this thread.