My three kittens were diagnosed with fip this past week

martell

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My three kittens were all diagnosed with fip last Wednesday. The vet had done bloodwork to check for underlying disease. They are 16months old, 14mo, and 7 mo. They were being treated for ringworm that has not cleared after treatment with medicated baths, topical meds, and six weeks of griseofulvin. The vet wants to continue with the griseofulvin and now lime sulfur dips biweekly and see my cats in two weeks. At that point the second round of ringworm cultures results should be in.

I am devasteted and have very little support at home. I will call my vet tomorrow with more questions about medications and how he conducts his euthanasia protocol. My husband and son are only home during weekends due to work. So i fear that i will have to go through whatever comes on my own. I want to make sure i do the best and give them the best veterinarian care possible. I am in Miami and dont know who are the compassionate vets if any in here. I have the fear that my vet may have written them off.
 

margd

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I'm so sorry to hear this.  How horrible - to have all three kittens FIP positive and to face it practically alone.  
  You can always post here as you go through this - the people here are very caring and supportive.  This is so much sadness to go through by yourself.

Why does the vet suspect FIP?  Are your kittens showing symptoms over and beyond the ringworm problems?  Since this is the current diagnosis, you might find the following two articles help you understand what's going on a little better.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/fip-in-cats

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/Health_Information/brochure_ftp.cfm

I don't live in Miami so I don't know the best vets around but this article might help you choose a new one, if you're not happy with the one you have.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-choose-the-best-veterinarian-for-my-cat

The following thread is worth checking out for information about ringworm infestations.  It's very long but has a lot of great ideas in it.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/210789/6-things-i-learned-from-our-ringworm-plague-book-length

Don't forget - you can post here anytime. Although I have no personal experience with FIP (knock on wood) many of our members unfortunately do, and can provide you with feedback and support.
 
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martell

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Thank you for the kind words and links.
I will definitely review all for any information that can help my kittens.

I adopted Maggie a little less than a year ago from petsmart. She was a stray from miami dade animal services placed in petsmart for adoption. My youngest son gave her to me as a gift. He paid for the adoption fee and helped me choose her food and items needed to care for her at home. She was my first cat. Although my parents always had pets, i developed severe allergies during adolescence. I was only able to have pets again within the past year when i started my allergy treatment protocol. I take shots still every two weeks down from three times per week and two oral and two nasal medications daily. It has been a true scientific miracle for me to be able to keep my pets. I am so grateful to have this treatment because i love my cats.
Maggie is now 16 months old.

A month after we adopted Maggie we found Chewie in our backyard. The neighborhood streets were being repaved and i believe he must have gotten separated from his mom or family. My two labrador mixes chased him and cornered him against a fence. We found him and scopped him up. Long story short, he was not hurt but very frightened, he had liquidity diarrhea and would hardly eat and drink. Our vet put him on meds, we gave him water with a small syringue, but he did not get better and started acting normal in spite of the meds until we introduced him to Maggie. They bonded quickly and are inseparable.
No one in the neighborhood ever came searching for that precious kitten. Chewie is now 14 months old.


A few months later i adopted Minina from a pet supermarket. She was at the store for adoption from the humane society. What a little spitfire and so cuddly to boot. My husband fell in love with her. She was two lbs at the time and had had the vaccines, flea and ear mite treatment, had been spayed and microchipped. She is now seven months old.

A week or two after we brought her home we finally realized from our vet visit that the hair loss on her right ear was not allergies but ringworm. By then, my other two also had lesions on their ears and head. Since august 19th i have been treating them with topical meds and medicated baths improving the condition but unable to cure it. Finally changed to our current vet who continued them on the weekly medicated baths and put them on griseofulvin. Six weeks later we thought they were cured. A week after stopping it recurred. I took them to the vet this past monday. He put them back on the griseofulvin plus biweekly lime sulfur dips and did new ringworm cultures plus blood work to check for underlying diseases since they were not healing.

On Wednesday he called me and told me that they were negative for leukemia and aids but positive for fip. He had to spell out the last word in the acronym, i had never heard of this feline disease. I asked him a few questions about it. I then quickly did some research and called them back with some more questions trying to control my panic when i started realizing how bad this seemed. He answered and asked to see them in two weeks but continue the ringworm treatment till then. I will call him tomorrow because i have questions about treatment he uses for cats his fip and his euthanasia protocol.

Since Wednesday i have spent hours researching fip and read about pi and interferon. I am sad and feel like my vet has given up on my kittens because he never offered those meds to me, nor use of prednisone or antibiotics or any supplements to lengthen their lives.

I kept asking myself what else had he seen that i had missed. And after reading the symptoms of the disease i recognized that Maggies big belly is possibly not just due to overweight and her like of eating. Chewie s lack of weight gain is not commensurate with the large amounts of food he eats. He has not been skinny till now, but it always seemed to me that he was not gaining enough for what he ate. Minina has also developed a little belly.

Chewie has always been somewhat shy and introverted. But lately he seems almost lethargic and sleeps a lot. He seems skinnier like he is losing weight, plays very little, and is walking hunched as if not to put too much weight on his back legs.

Maggies belly seems somewhat bigger to me, and her affect has changed and her face seems thinner and eyes look sunken to me compared to before.

Minina besides her belly, lies around more with less playing and response to us.

All three have reduced the amount of playing and grooming they did together. They are not anywhere nearly as vocal as they used to be. They still respond to their name but much less than days ago.
They still have a good appetite though and enjoy being petted.
They have always been indoor cats only.
In desperation i have emailed dr. Pedersen of uc davis regarding his study and experimental drug. He kindly answered but can offer me no help.

So given the above signs plus the bloodwork results (which i havent seen), my vet has diagnosed them as having fip.
This is very very hard. I thought i would have them for 19 years. I have hardly had them long enough to enjoy them and most of our time has been spent under ringworm treatment.
I dont want to lose them. But i already see the signs, and it seems they are worsening. It is hard. I am preparing myself for the worst. At the same time i try to find treatment for their symptoms i need to find if my vet is capable of conducting a kind and as painless as possible euthanasia with me holding them. I want little or no suffering by them.

To make matters worse my husband and son are gone the whole week monday through friday for work so i fear i will be alone when things get rougher. To top it off, he is in complete denial of their worsening condition and thinks they will live for another two years because he read that somewhere. So he is no support at all and thinks i am overreacting.

Thank you again for your answer. It really helps to have someone who understands.
 

mingsmongols

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Id suggest getting a second opinion. Having three unrelated cats with fip is very rare. Here's a veterinary specialist in Miami, Florida. Their by referral only so your vet will need to contact them and set up a time. Get a copy of their blood work and their charts to take with you so you don't have to rerun tests.

http://places.singleplatform.com/svrc/menu
 
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di and bob

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FIP can have a positive reading but from different reasons besides the disease itself. Antibodies may be present but do not mean an active disease. I will definitely pray that your little ones do not have this horrible disease. Many times when we are in an anxious state we 'see' things in our loved ones that are really normal, but we make it into a negative aspect.  They may all have a kitty flu, it wouldn't hurt to give vitamins to build up their immune system and L-Lysine to stop the replication of the feline herpes virus, which is VERY common. I definitely wouldn't do a thing until they deteriorate significantly, you never know, they maybe never will.

If they do end up with the disease, they are in your life for a reason, to receive your comfort, care and love that they would not have gotten anywhere else. It is up to you to make the time they have left, no matter how long, full of happiness and love. You will suffer a broken heart, but gain so much because they love you above all else. They have joined you on your life's journey for this time, be grateful for every moment you can share together. They would never want to bring you unhappiness, they would want you to hold on to that bond they have formed with you and to hold the legacy of love they leave you in your heart to bring you comfort. None of us know how long we have on this earth, spend the time you have building good memories and loving as much as you can. My heart goes out to you, I truly pray that you receive good news in the weeks and months ahead, there are still miracles out there, you may receive one of them Take care and keep us posted! 
 

stephenq

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Thank you again for your answer. It really helps to have someone who understands.
While i can't tell you whether your cats have FIP or not, i want to be very clear on one point.  THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A "TEST" FOR FIP.  It does NOT exist in medical/veterinary science.  What there is a test for is the corona virus, which is a very common cold virus that many, MANY cats will test positive for.  Only a very small number of cats, VERY small, will have the corona virus mutate into FIP.  No test exists to differentiate a corona virus exposed cat and one who has FIP.   Your description of your cats does sound like they are unwell, and its possible they have FIP, so if your vet is making this diagnosis based on symptoms and a corona antibody test then that would be much more sensible.  Quoting from the Cornell University link that will follow, cats with the dry form  "Generally, these cats first develop nonspecific symptoms such as loss of appetite, weight loss, depression, rough hair coat, and fever."  http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/Health_Information/brochure_ftp.cfm  Some cats can have some quality of life for a period of time with supportive therapies outlined in the article, and if your vet is unwilling to try these then another vet may be a better option.  At the very least I would definitely get a second opinion on both the diagnosis and the treatment options.

As others have said, it is highly unlikely that all 3 cats have FIP at the same time.  The most common variety the wet or effusive form is so deadly that a cat who has it will appear near death before the owner has even had time to rush the cat to the vet.  Usually the abdomen is filled with fluid that can be drained for temporary relief but the usual recommendation is euthanasia. Diagnosis is done by examining the cat and looking at the symptoms.  The dry version is much rarer, harder to diagnose and does not always require euthansia, in fact the cat may be kept comfortable for a period of time, But even with off label treatment with Pi which you referenced, in the one study conducted only 5% were still alive one year later, only cats with the mildest of symptoms may have gotten a little benefit (22% were still alive 165 days later) many died during treatment, and the cost is very high, and this author of the article i'm linking you to suggests owneers take a very hard look at the cost/benefit before starting Pi therapy.  He quotes $400/month for the drug per cat plus vet costs.

The Dr Pederson that you spoke with is i believe the author of this article.   http://www.sockfip.info/news/180-fip-and-polyprenyl-immunostimulant-pi-2

I hope you get some better news.

Stephen
 

margd

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While i can't tell you whether your cats have FIP or not, i want to be very clear on one point.  THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A "TEST" FOR FIP.  It does NOT exist in medical/veterinary science.  What there is a test for is the corona virus, which is a very common cold virus that many, MANY cats will test positive for.  Only a very small number of cats, VERY small, will have the corona virus mutate into FIP.  No test exists to differentiate a corona virus exposed cat and one who has FIP.   Your description of your cats does sound like they are unwell, and its possible they have FIP, so if your vet is making this diagnosis based on symptoms and a corona antibody test then that would be much more sensible.  Quoting from the Cornell University link that will follow, cats with the dry form  "Generally, these cats first develop nonspecific symptoms such as loss of appetite, weight loss, depression, rough hair coat, and fever."  http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/Health_Information/brochure_ftp.cfm  Some cats can have some quality of life for a period of time with supportive therapies outlined in the article, and if your vet is unwilling to try these then another vet may be a better option.  At the very least I would definitely get a second opinion on both the diagnosis and the treatment options.

As others have said, it is highly unlikely that all 3 cats have FIP at the same time.  The most common variety the wet or effusive form is so deadly that a cat who has it will appear near death before the owner has even had time to rush the cat to the vet.  Usually the abdomen is filled with fluid that can be drained for temporary relief but the usual recommendation is euthanasia. Diagnosis is done by examining the cat and looking at the symptoms.  The dry version is much rarer, harder to diagnose and does not always require euthansia, in fact the cat may be kept comfortable for a period of time, But even with off label treatment with Pi which you referenced, in the one study conducted only 5% were still alive one year later, only cats with the mildest of symptoms may have gotten a little benefit (22% were still alive 165 days later) many died during treatment, and the cost is very high, and this author of the article i'm linking you to suggests owneers take a very hard look at the cost/benefit before starting Pi therapy.  He quotes $400/month for the drug per cat plus vet costs.

The Dr Pederson that you spoke with is i believe the author of this article.   http://www.sockfip.info/news/180-fip-and-polyprenyl-immunostimulant-pi-2

I hope you get some better news.

Stephen


 I hope you're feeling somewhat more hopeful today.   I agree with you and everyone else that a second opinion is called for.   Please let us know how your search for a new vet goes and what he or she says.  Crossing my fingers 
 and sending good vibes 
your way that this is a misdiagnosis and that your babies get feel better soon.  
 
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