FIP and bringing new cat into the home. Please share ONLY your OWN experience, not what you've read

Apologies, I know this topic and question comes up again and again. This time, I want to hear from YOUR OWN ACTUAL EXPEIENCE. Not opinion based on what you've read but what happened in your home in circumstances like mine.

My circumstances are this in mid October my four-year-old cat Charlie suddenly became ill misdiagnosed accurately I believe with F IP and I put him to sleep about 10 days after the initial symptoms showed It was devastating. This is an evil illness. I am still quite heartbroken however I have a remaining cat, Paris, she and Charlie were inseparable for four years and in general she is very social and tends to get along with many other cats . At first I don't think she specifically grieved the loss of Charlie, fact she appeared sort of cold and not even look around for him or noticed that he was gone. But now I do sense that she's getting restless for a playmate and some kitty cuddling. Even additional attention from me but I'm home isn't the solution to making Paris happy. She is becoming somewhat Solon which is the opposite of her personality and I'm concerned for her emotional well-being

For Paris's sake I want to bring a new cat into the house soon, likely by mid December. My home is soon to be out of the eight week range in which the coronavirus can live in the environment. I will of course do you a very vigilant cleaning of every crack and crevice of my apartment for any bits of litter from the former sick cat Charlie. Lots of items have been bleached already and I'll do everything possible to make my home environment safe for this new kitten.

I know that bringing a new cat into a house can cause stress on the remaining cat and in this case my cat Paris may very well be carrying the coronavirus FCoV that in a small percentage of cats mutates into FIP. pAris may actually be a carrier who has a strong enough immunity system all these years to have fought it off. Sometimes I'm concerned that Charlie perhaps got the coronavirus from her and his immunity system wasn't strong enough to prevent the virus from mutating into FIP. As those of you who've experienced this devastating illness there are so many question marks in the equation with no definitive answers.

Standard rule of thumb is that before you bring a new cat into a home where there is already a cat who has possibly been exposed to the coronavirus that you wait 3 to 6 months before introducing a new cat. In this period of time you can watch to see if your current cat develops Symptoms of FIP.

Another rule is that if you think the cat may have been exposed to the virus you've got to keep the environment low stress. My problem is that Paris is getting increasingly down spirited for lack of feline company and I think that's that causes her stress rather than the introduction of a new kitten to the house which brings her joy.

So that's just one half of the equation being concerned for Paris's health. I did have her tested with a titer test and the results were very good and the doctor said it looked all clear. But again we know that this can change over time and that these tests are not definitive. But right now she looks pretty clear of the virus.

The second part of the equation is who I want to bring into the house as the new cat. I believe the Paris does best with kittens specifically male kittens now of course kittens are the most susceptible to catching viruses and not having fully developed immune system to fight off the virus that could flip and become fatal such as the coronavirus going from being benign turning into FIP. The kitten I am curious to get is in seemingly good health, has vaccinations, is not coming from a cattery or large adoption center which means he has been not crammed into small spaces with tons of kittens spreading disease as we know happens. He has not had a blood work up and I'm inclined to spend some money to get him a blood work up before I even agreed to adopt him. Now of course that costs money but if it's blood work turns out great it's worth the money and if it doesn't turn out great it's worth the money because then I'll know if I should bring him into the house or not.

Part of me just wants to face the reality that whats gonna be is gonna be. There was no way for me to know that my four-year-old Charlie would get sick and die in a week it was an anomaly and we have no control over such things.

I suppose if I wanted to really play it safe I could wait another four months to see if any symptoms of FIP develop in Paris and then adopt an adult cat with a strong immunity. But Paris will adjust easily to a kitten, and the sooner the better as I see her mood sinking.

It's a gamble though bringing in a six-month-old kitten to a household with an adult cat who may have had exposure to the coronavirus but currently isn't showing any signs of illness.

I don't want to create a recipe for disaster but I feel like if it's going to happen it's going to happen and if it's not going to happen it's not going to happen

Does that make sense? Wth this mysterious disease, who knows the reasons why some cats live and others die.

What I would like from all of you is if you have personal stories of introducing new cats into your homes after one cat has died of FIP and the remaining cat continued to survive. And if anything happens to the new addition. I'm not looking for answers about bringing a new cat into a house that had FIP but no other cats living there anymore.

I'm sum: can I bring this 6 month kitten home to live in my bleached, vacuumed home along with my loving cat Paris whose recent blood work showed no indication of having the coronavirus (did titer tests). Not that they are ever totally conclusive.

Am I playing with fire? I just want Paris to be happy again, she needs a new little brother soon.

THANK YOU ALL IN ADVANCE FOR ANY ADVICE YOU HAVE TO OFFER. [emoji]128062[/emoji][emoji]128062[/emoji][emoji]10084[/emoji]️[emoji]10084[/emoji]️

I do feel for you, you have been through a terrible time and have obviously done a lot of research. As you say, nothing is ever conclusive. And as 80% of cats carry the virus, it is very difficult to isolate it in a multi-cat household. As you want personal experience, I will try to give you mine. At the time I had 6 cats of my own and I fostered kittens and cats prior to adoption. I kept the fosters in a part of the house away from my cats. I had one family of kittens in a large cage and an older kitten and an adult stray that were unrelated and had the run of the room. The older kitten became ill, was eventually diagnosed with FIP and died within about 3 weeks. I went through all the cleaning routines, monitoring evveryone for fever etc. I thought we were Ok when suddenly the adult stray started vomiting. To cut a long story short, he went downhill very quickly with fluid in the abdomen and was PTS after 2 weeks. I was then terrified for the 5 kittens, who all had adoptive families arranged. I moved them to another room, upped all the hygiene, and we did titre tests. They had the virus, but at low levels and seemed clear of the disease. I know it is controversial, but after discussing it with my vet, I put them all on Transfer Factor to try and boost their immune systems. They all eventually went to their furever homes. My daughter adopted two of them, so I have been able to follow them. They are now 5 years old, and apart from one of them surviving a bout of pancreatitis two years ago, they are in very good health..

I don't know if any of this might help you with a decision, but I think it all comes down to the individual cat. And I can understand if you want to get a kitten who is free of the virus, though you might spend a lot of money on blood tests and still be unlucky.

In having a cat rescue group for many years, meaning thousands of fosters under my and my volunteer group's care and homes, so we have had fip cats/kittens.

After a good initial cleaning, I carry on as usual, as I have my fosters do, and have not had any incidents where it was contracted by a former fip cat who lived there prior.

There was one litter of kittens where 3 out of 5 died of fip, but am quite convinced there was some genetic play with them. Even the 2 who did not get fip had issues.

I have a personal theory based on what I have seen though, while you can read that immune weak cats are more susceptible, which I fully agree with, you don't read about the fact that all cats who came down with fip, had a certain amt of stress, whether shyer, meaning stress there, or less of an outgoing personality, more subdued, not the kind who will reach out to people at adoptions through their crate bars tagging people, no, it's the ones who will curl up and nap during adoptions as their way of getting through those 3 hours.

Am I making sense at all?

Stress causing their immune systems to be less stealthy basically.

I believe stress plays a huge part in whether the mild virus mutates or is expelled.

So I think it's a crap shoot but at least the chances are low, and adopting a carefree, confident and social kitten should be just fine all around.

Jenny R and Catwoman thanks both for answering with your thoughts.

This is such a tough decision. I mean, th odds of me having another cat come down with FIP are so slim. And my house is clean, and my remaining cat's bloodwork looks great right now. And I think she will be less stressed out by the introduction of a kitten not a groiwn male. I just want everyone (including me) to have as little stress as possible. FIP makes you paranoid. I will always be afraid that Paris or a new cat will get sick. Burt then again, cats get sick from other things and we dont expect it. Just as humans do. I do want a younger cat, like 6 months, but its such a taboo in FIP discussions. Hearing personal experiences like yours and also your experienced opinions help a lot.

Again, thank you so much !!!!!

Courtney