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How is FIP fatal? Why can't we just address the symptoms?
- Thread starter morse
- Start Date
Here is one web site that explains it, there are other good ones, http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/health_information/brochure_ftp.cfm
Basically the disease is progressive and will eventually affect all body systems and organs. The process that leads to clinical FIP is poorly understood which is why there is no way of predicting which kitties will develop it and which won't. The virus infiltrates the white blood cells so it spreads through the body and the kitty's immune system is severely compromised.
While it is true that you could keep draining the fluid off the virus will continue to spread and attack organs throughout the body.
Basically the disease is progressive and will eventually affect all body systems and organs. The process that leads to clinical FIP is poorly understood which is why there is no way of predicting which kitties will develop it and which won't. The virus infiltrates the white blood cells so it spreads through the body and the kitty's immune system is severely compromised.
While it is true that you could keep draining the fluid off the virus will continue to spread and attack organs throughout the body.
I don't know how or why, but we and our wonderful vet did everything humanly possible for my sweet little baby Darcy and she only lived about 2 months after first symptoms. It's a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE disease and no kitten should ever have to suffer like that (or the people who love them).
FIP is fatal because it's a progressive disease, and there is no way to fight it. You can drain the abdomen, but you can't drain the lungs - the cat will essentially drown from the inside. Also, consider how the cat will feel, being constantly (and ever more frequently) shuttled to and from the vets to be drained (a procedure that won't be pain or risk free in itself). Meanwhile, the cat will be feeling sicker and sicker, and will become more and more miserable.
I am so, so sorry you're in this position. It's an incredibly hard thing to come to terms with. Please believe me when I say that fighting on with no hope of a cure will eventually haunt you far more than letting the cat go with dignity. I've been there with other illnesses, and the deaths I regret the most are the ones where I fought and hoped too long.
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I am so, so sorry you're in this position. It's an incredibly hard thing to come to terms with. Please believe me when I say that fighting on with no hope of a cure will eventually haunt you far more than letting the cat go with dignity. I've been there with other illnesses, and the deaths I regret the most are the ones where I fought and hoped too long.
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FIP is one of the worst diseases for cats in that there is no 100% sure test for it, but any experienced vet can judge by the progressive symptoms, whether a cat is suffering from it. And suffering is the right word. Breathing becomes more difficult, food cannot be kept down, and the cat becomes weaker and weaker. Once it is diagnosed, the best thing with FIP is to let the cat go before it becomes too much for either cat or owner to bear. I have lost two cats to it int he past, and I am thankful they both went with dignity.
If you put the cat down right away on diagnosis, there's (1) always a chance it was wrong and (2) you and your cat will miss some good times before it gets to be too much for either the cat or you to bear. So many people put their pet down because they "don't want the pet to suffer" when it's really that they don't want to watch the pet go downhill, or they don't want to be bothered doing what it takes to keep them going while they still can. You have to do what your heart tells you to do. One of the hardest days of my life was holding my baby Darcy while the vet did away with her. It gives me so much pain even now to think about it.
Don't get me wrong, maybe I was not clear. I would never advocate PTS as soon as the vet says it may be FIP. FIP does mimic other illnesses, especially in the early stages. But an experienced vet should be able to tell with pretty good certainty once the disease takes hold. If the blood titres for the virus are very high and continue to rise, if there is a lot of fluid in the abdomen, vomiting, lethargy and fever, and if none of these symptoms respond to antibiotics, then the diagnosis of FIP is probably correct. By the time these symptoms take hold, the cat is probably in great distress anyway, and the owner should not, IMO, hold back from making the hardest decision we all have to make. While a cat has any quality of life, then of course we want to hold on and give it all we can, but the cat's welfare must come first, and most people I know who have been through this have said they wished they had made the decision sooner rather than later. But in the end, it is we, the humans, who have the responsibility.
It was not my intention to misinterpret what you said. However, I have heard about vets who will tell the person it is FIP put them down right now. I'm not sorry I didn't make the decision for Darcy sooner. I know I had to make it when I did, but I'm fortunate to have a vet who didn't require me to make an appointment 24 - 48 hours in advance. I don't see how I could do that when she was laying in a sunbeam cuddled up to Swanie.
