FIP? Please help...

Hello!
I'm new to this site. I have an almost 2 year old calico baby.
My cat has had a very rough medical history as a baby when we first got her. But she was a miracle baby. She seemed to be days away from death but we managed to save her.
However, she's going through something else now.
Lately, she's been lethargic, not eating, has a fever of 103, drinking A LOT of water, and her something is wrong with her eyes....

She's been a little sleepy lately. But I didn't think much of it. Maybe just being a little lazier than usual, however, for the past couple of weeks, it seemed like one eye looked a little different. I showed my family, we shined a light onto her eye, and oh my god...all you could see was black. And veins in the background. I quickly made a vet appointment and took her in.
Turns out, her retina was detached?!?
Her left eye (the "good" eye) had very enlarged squiggly veins you could see with a special device.

They tested her blood pressure and her temp.
She has high blood pressure and a fever. (High blood pressure for a 2 year old cat?!)
So they prescribed her some meds for her blood pressure and some anti-bacterial for her fever)
We also decide to do a full blood test and urine sample because we thought it was suspicious that she had high blood pressure at such a young age.

The results came in the next day...everything was fine...except her globulin levels. While it should have been at 5...it was at 10!!
My vet recommended me to look into something...FIP. He seemed extremely devasted over the phone and after doing some research of my own, I understand why.

I took her back into the vet the next day to check her temp (I heard FIP has a fever you can not reduce). Her fever did not go down. And after inspecting her "good" eye, it wasn't looking too good for that one either. It seemed to look a little cloudy and there was hemhorrage in one of the veins.
He concluded that it could be toxoplasmosis (but the meds she's on would kill it) but it seems to be most likely FIP.

I could get it tested. But it's pricey and it doesn't even result in proper answers.
We were thinking of waiting it out a little to see what happens.

So far, she's taking pain medication, L-Lysine, blood pressure medication, and the anti bacterial.

She doesn't really eat besides a couple of bites of dry food. (She stopped eating the tuna we give her twice a day. She'll just lick up some of the water. She only likes tuna. She hates wet cat food. So I'll try blending up the tuna in water. Or I'll try one type of wet cat food that I know she's obsessed with).
She drinks a TON of water. She plays sometimes. She has her hyper moments. But she sleeps most of the time.

Do these sound like FIP symptoms? Should I visit another vet and an opthomologist? The vet just recommended not even wasting my time with an eye doc. He seems to have given up hope on her. He just said it's in "god's hands now".

Sorry for the long post. I'm just so worried. She's my everything. I've never loved something/someone like I love her. She can't be taken away this early.
Please help!

I"m so sorry this is happening.  As I'm guessing you may have read, there is no definitive test for FIP, but there are some pretty good tools for detecting it now, and your little one does appear to have many of the symptoms .  And if she's not getting any better with the antibiotics, then it's very possible that's what it is.  Does she have a distended tummy at all?  That is also usually a sign, although apparently not always. 

As to her eyesight, I think once the retina has detached, that's it.  On the other eye, once her BP is under control, it may "come back" since it's not detached yet...I just don't know.   But high BP in and of itself isn't a known side effect of FIP, Feline Uveitis is, which is something altogether different

Did your Vet think this is DRY or WET FIP?  With Dry, you usually have a llittle bit longer with your cat...Wet is the worst, but dry eventually turns into wet, from my understanding. 

I'm so sorry if this is what it is.  It's  brutal disease that's taking way too many cats.  I wish I could sugar coat it for you, but I just can't

Of course, getting a 2nd opinion never hurts...maybe it's something else, particularly if there is no distended tummy. 

I check her tummy every day. It hasn't enlarged in any way. I figured it was dry because I read that dry can aftack the eyes and nervous system.

Good news, her activity level has gone back to what it used to be. She's eating again. She's speaking to us. Playing with us. And she's not sleeping as much anymore...actually, she seems to be completely normal.
But I'm afraid all the pain meds the doc has given her is just masking everything that's festering inside of her.

I have hope that she was diagnosed incorrectly. I'm calling the opthomologist today to make an appointment. I have a strange feeling this isn't FIP and even if it is, I wouldn't want to risk loosing her good eye, considering it seems to get cloudier by the day.

I'm also going to call the shelter I received her from...if she has it, maybe her brother did? I want to know everything the shelter knows about her, her mom, and her brother.

aprilbaby15 said:

I check her tummy every day. It hasn't enlarged in any way. I figured it was dry because I read that dry can aftack the eyes and nervous system.

Good news, her activity level has gone back to what it used to be. She's eating again. She's speaking to us. Playing with us. And she's not sleeping as much anymore...actually, she seems to be completely normal.
But I'm afraid all the pain meds the doc has given her is just masking everything that's festering inside of her.

I have hope that she was diagnosed incorrectly. I'm calling the opthomologist today to make an appointment. I have a strange feeling this isn't FIP and even if it is, I wouldn't want to risk loosing her good eye, considering it seems to get cloudier by the day.

I'm also going to call the shelter I received her from...if she has it, maybe her brother did? I want to know everything the shelter knows about her, her mom, and her brother.

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Cats usually with FIP usually get worse, not better so it may be something else.....here's hoping!

The vet told me, as the disease gets worse, sometimes she'll have good days, sometimes she'll have bad days.
She honestly seems amazing but I'm afraid it's all false hope.
Has anyone who's had a cat with FIP (possibly dry) know the sequence of how everything happens? Do they seem to make a full recovery only to just fall in a downwards spiral the next day?

I'm going to try to take her temp today. Hopefully it went down. Then I'll know I'm in the clear

I'm so sorry to hear about your baby's health problems - it's never easy to see a companion we care about suffer.  I can't answer your questions about if this is FIP but I had a cat who was incorrectly diagnosed with dry FIP (and Stephen Q, above, was amazing in answering my questions when I was going through this tough time!) and can tell you a little about my experience.  FIP, especially dry FIP, is incredibly hard to diagnose.  3 years after I was told to put my kitty down, he's 100% healthy and manages to get into more trouble than he did before being diagnosed with FIP, though it was a long, slow recovery from whatever was wrong with him that took about 6 months to complete.  So, if this isn't FIP, don't be frustrated or upset if recovery takes a while and as long as she's not getting worse know she's fighting.  In my understanding FIP cats never make a full recovery - they just pause in their downward spiral - so the fact she's getting better makes me less inclined to think it's FIP.

You said you did blood work - do you know what tests were included in the blood work?  Did it include a feline coronavirus titer count?  What was it?  1:400 is typical in many cats and indicates that your cat has been exposed to the virus that can sometimes lead to FIP.  A titer count of 1:1600 is more likely to indicate FIP in combination with symptoms of dry FIP (which it sounds like is the version of FIP your kitty may have if she has it), but again isn't 100% indicative of FIP.  My cat's titer count was 1:1600, combined with fever, lethargy, weakness and atrophy in his back leg muscles to the point of being barely able to walk, and bad appetite (classic dry FIP symptoms), but despite all the evidence it wasn't FIP. He started eating again and then slowly but steadily got better. While a positive result for antibodies can't definitively say if this is FIP or not, if there's no evidence of coronavirus antibodies, then there's no way this is FIP.

Not sure if this will help, but when my boy was so sick, I got him to eat by soaking dry kitten food (which is higher in calories than regular cat food) in KMR kitten milk replacer (available at many pet stores or on Amazon if you don't have a local specialty pet store).  I'd let it soak for a minute or two to soften the dry food before giving it to him.  I also tried to mix up extra cat vitamins in this, but only had marginal success in getting him to eat those.  I don't remember what brand I used, but think it was a senior cat multi-vitamin.  Be sure to research any supplements before giving them to your kitty - for example, I see "all natural" supplements with garlic in them, which is supposed to be unhealthy for cats.

Finally, a second opinion is expensive, but also not a bad idea, especially in such a difficult diagnosis as this one.  I don't want to give you false hope, but from what you've said, this sounds like a really difficult diagnosis to make and it's definitely possible (and here's hoping!) that it isn't FIP. 

I hope the appointment with the ophthalmologist reveals some valuable information.  Glad to hear she is eating, speaking, playing and sleeping less.  

We lost a cat to FIP at 3 yrs. old so I can fully understand your devastation.  In our situation, kitty did not get better.  In fact, he went downhill rather quickly.  Although we trusted our vet's diagnosis we did seek out an evaluation from a feline veterinary specialist.  I'm not at all recommending that you do this since some of your cat's symptoms are different coupled with the fact that she has improved.  I'm only mentioning it because our guy never improved, he kept getting worse and we wanted peace of mind.  Sending special thoughts and healing vibes your way.  Please check back and keep us posted.

Walden said:

I'm so sorry to hear about your baby's health problems - it's never easy to see a companion we care about suffer.  I can't answer your questions about if this is FIP but I had a cat who was incorrectly diagnosed with dry FIP (and Stephen Q, above, was amazing in answering my questions when I was going through this tough time!) and can tell you a little about my experience.  FIP, especially dry FIP, is incredibly hard to diagnose.  3 years after I was told to put my kitty down, he's 100% healthy and manages to get into more trouble than he did before being diagnosed with FIP, though it was a long, slow recovery from whatever was wrong with him that took about 6 months to complete.  So, if this isn't FIP, don't be frustrated or upset if recovery takes a while and as long as she's not getting worse know she's fighting.  In my understanding FIP cats never make a full recovery - they just pause in their downward spiral - so the fact she's getting better makes me less inclined to think it's FIP.

You said you did blood work - do you know what tests were included in the blood work?  Did it include a feline coronavirus titer count?  What was it?  1:400 is typical in many cats and indicates that your cat has been exposed to the virus that can sometimes lead to FIP.  A titer count of 1:1600 is more likely to indicate FIP in combination with symptoms of dry FIP (which it sounds like is the version of FIP your kitty may have if she has it), but again isn't 100% indicative of FIP.  My cat's titer count was 1:1600, combined with fever, lethargy, weakness and atrophy in his back leg muscles to the point of being barely able to walk, and bad appetite (classic dry FIP symptoms), but despite all the evidence it wasn't FIP. He started eating again and then slowly but steadily got better. While a positive result for antibodies can't definitively say if this is FIP or not, if there's no evidence of coronavirus antibodies, then there's no way this is FIP.

Not sure if this will help, but when my boy was so sick, I got him to eat by soaking dry kitten food (which is higher in calories than regular cat food) in KMR kitten milk replacer (available at many pet stores or on Amazon if you don't have a local specialty pet store).  I'd let it soak for a minute or two to soften the dry food before giving it to him.  I also tried to mix up extra cat vitamins in this, but only had marginal success in getting him to eat those.  I don't remember what brand I used, but think it was a senior cat multi-vitamin.  Be sure to research any supplements before giving them to your kitty - for example, I see "all natural" supplements with garlic in them, which is supposed to be unhealthy for cats.

Finally, a second opinion is expensive, but also not a bad idea, especially in such a difficult diagnosis as this one.  I don't want to give you false hope, but from what you've said, this sounds like a really difficult diagnosis to make and it's definitely possible (and here's hoping!) that it isn't FIP. 

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Thank you for your response.
I went to another vet. He told me to cancel the opthomologist appointment because from the looks of everything and her history, he's sure it's FIP.
Her good eye is going bad by the day.
She's more lethargic than she used to be (but I know it's from her fever.) Her fever will not go down. Some days her body is literally burning. I gave her 1/8th of an adult Advil yesterday and within an hour, she was running around again.
I think I may give her another small piece today considering she's not feeling too well.

The new vet also took some more blood work. He is running a "Antech FCV exposure titer"
Waiting on those results.

As far as eating, she still eats her dry food in moderation. And she eats tuna if we mix some smelly liquid treats in it.
Here's to hoping the test comes back negative and we have a story like yours... :/

I meant aspirin**** not Advil

aprilbaby15 said:

I went to another vet. He told me to cancel the opthomologist appointment because from the looks of everything and her history, he's sure it's FIP.
Her good eye is going bad by the day.
She's more lethargic than she used to be (but I know it's from her fever.) Her fever will not go down. Some days her body is literally burning. I gave her 1/8th of an adult Advil yesterday and within an hour, she was running around again.

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I hope and pray it's not FIP and will keep my fingers and toes crossed.    Glad she still has an appetite.  If you need to talk, having been through this, I'm here for you.  Sending special thoughts.  

Walden said:

I'm so sorry to hear about your baby's health problems - it's never easy to see a companion we care about suffer.  I can't answer your questions about if this is FIP but I had a cat who was incorrectly diagnosed with dry FIP (and Stephen Q, above, was amazing in answering my questions when I was going through this tough time!) and can tell you a little about my experience.  FIP, especially dry FIP, is incredibly hard to diagnose.  3 years after I was told to put my kitty down, he's 100% healthy and manages to get into more trouble than he did before being diagnosed with FIP, though it was a long, slow recovery from whatever was wrong with him that took about 6 months to complete.  So, if this isn't FIP, don't be frustrated or upset if recovery takes a while and as long as she's not getting worse know she's fighting.  In my understanding FIP cats never make a full recovery - they just pause in their downward spiral - so the fact she's getting better makes me less inclined to think it's FIP.

You said you did blood work - do you know what tests were included in the blood work?  Did it include a feline coronavirus titer count?  What was it?  1:400 is typical in many cats and indicates that your cat has been exposed to the virus that can sometimes lead to FIP.  A titer count of 1:1600 is more likely to indicate FIP in combination with symptoms of dry FIP (which it sounds like is the version of FIP your kitty may have if she has it), but again isn't 100% indicative of FIP.  My cat's titer count was 1:1600, combined with fever, lethargy, weakness and atrophy in his back leg muscles to the point of being barely able to walk, and bad appetite (classic dry FIP symptoms), but despite all the evidence it wasn't FIP. He started eating again and then slowly but steadily got better. While a positive result for antibodies can't definitively say if this is FIP or not, if there's no evidence of coronavirus antibodies, then there's no way this is FIP.

Not sure if this will help, but when my boy was so sick, I got him to eat by soaking dry kitten food (which is higher in calories than regular cat food) in KMR kitten milk replacer (available at many pet stores or on Amazon if you don't have a local specialty pet store).  I'd let it soak for a minute or two to soften the dry food before giving it to him.  I also tried to mix up extra cat vitamins in this, but only had marginal success in getting him to eat those.  I don't remember what brand I used, but think it was a senior cat multi-vitamin.  Be sure to research any supplements before giving them to your kitty - for example, I see "all natural" supplements with garlic in them, which is supposed to be unhealthy for cats.

Finally, a second opinion is expensive, but also not a bad idea, especially in such a difficult diagnosis as this one.  I don't want to give you false hope, but from what you've said, this sounds like a really difficult diagnosis to make and it's definitely possible (and here's hoping!) that it isn't FIP. 

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Also, have you thought that maybe your cat DID have FIP but they recovered?

Hi there,

I'm really sorry to hear she's not doing as well, but it sounds like you're doing everything you can to make sure she's feeling as healthy as she can and giving her lots of love which is so important.  She's so lucky to have you as her human!

Now, I'm not a vet, but I did a LOT of research on this when my boy was diagnosed.  If there are any vets on this forum and I'm providing bad information, I encourage them to correct me if any of the following is incorrect.  That being said, I'm really surprised that your first vet made the FIP diagnosis without 1) fluid in the stomach/chest cavity (a strong indicator of wet FIP) or 2) doing a FCV (feline coronovirus) titer count (a quick google search told me that "Antech" is just the name of the lab company that does this test).  Like I mentioned in my first post, even a high level of antibodies isn't a sure diagnosis of FIP, but if there are no FCV antibodies, then it's very unlikely that your cat has FIP.  At least, this is true for dry form.  Cats at the end stage of wet form sometimes test negative for FCV antibodies, but would have testable fluid in the stomach and/or chest cavity that could provide a definitive diagnosis, which your kitty doesn't seem to have.

In my understanding, true FIP is 100% fatal so I don't think that's what my cat actually had.  It is a devastating disease that's not well understood, especially the dry form, even by vets. I took Walden to a second vet a month after his original diagnosis when he was running around and full of energy again.  The new vet said that all evidence from his blood work and symptoms pointed to FIP, but it was unlikely he ever had it because there are no documented cases of cats recovering from known FIP infections.  She suspected either a spinal bacterial infection or a spinal injury, combined with the mild kitty cold virus that FCV produces in the majority of cats.  BTW - I've found these sites especially helpful in researching and understanding FIP, listing them in order of detail and helpfulness:

http://www.catvirus.com/WhatIsFIP.htm#Diagnosis of FIP

http://www.lbah.com/word/feline/feline-infectious-peritonitis-fip/

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

http://www.knowyourcat.info/health/fip.htm

I want to emphasize one quote from the first source cited above about dry FIP:  "[dry] FIP is a notoriously difficult condition to diagnose, many other conditions present with very similar clinical signs. Definitive diagnosis is only possible at post mortem, or occasionally by biopsy (though for accurate biopsy results one has to actually biopsy a visible pyogranulomatous lesion, which may necessitate laparotomy). Only 18% of samples sent to our laboratory for FIP diagnosis turn out to be FIP. Since cats with FIP are usually euthanased, it is absolutely vital that FIP is accurately differentiated from other, treatable, conditions."

Dry FIP is a tragic disease, and it also seems to be a diagnosis that vets make when they're baffled.  Even when evidence points to dry FIP, those diagnoses are not always correct as my cat's case demonstrates.  Having read up on the disease, I completely understand that it was a logical diagnosis.  But it was wrong. 

When I chose not to put Walden to sleep after the first vet advised me to do so, I worried that I had made the wrong choice.  I love my boy, but was I selfishly making him suffer?  I read a lot of posts on this forum about how to know when it's time.  They were all incredibly vague, but also said similar things.  "I just knew.  He/She was suffering too much."  Something in my gut told me it wasn't time, and it was right.  Walden was able to fight and he did.  I'm so grateful for that.

I really, truly hope that your kitty has a similar experience.  It sounds like she's still fighting, and 1,000 kudos to you for giving her as much strength and ability to fight whatever is wrong as you can.  I pray that she has the strength to pull through, and know you care enough about her to make that difficult decision if it comes to it.  If you ever want to talk, please feel free to PM me, and know that my thoughts and prayers, as well as those of so many from people on this forum, are with you.  She's so lucky to have someone that cares as much as you.

Sending good vibes your way!

Walden

aprilbaby15 said:

I meant aspirin**** not Advil

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1/8th of a 325mg aspirin is too much! How much does your kitty weigh? You can give 10mg/kg of baby aspirin (easier to dose than the 325 mg) every 48-72 hours. Aspirin is very chancy to use and builds up to toxic levels quickly if you don't spread the dose out. Also check out the Facebook page, FIP Fighters. A lot of good info. We are also going thru presumptive FIP.

Wow, you gave me an incredible amount of information. Thank you.

So I'm not quite sure what the test was. All I know is it tested to see if she's ever had a coronavirus. It came back positive today.
I'll keep everything you say in mind. And I'll continue to help her fight. It seems that the only thing that brings her energy back is the pain meds the doc provided her and the aspirin.

aprilbaby15 said:

Wow, you gave me an incredible amount of information. Thank you.

So I'm not quite sure what the test was. All I know is it tested to see if she's ever had a coronavirus. It came back positive today.
I'll keep everything you say in mind. And I'll continue to help her fight. It seems that the only thing that brings her energy back is the pain meds the doc provided her and the aspirin.

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Be careful with the aspirin....

I know, I need to run to the store to grab one. We've only given it to her twice because we were desperate and we lessened it from the 1/8th we gave her the first time

By the way, my kitty appreciates all the kind words and thoughts you are passing on her way.

(I've been hanging out with her in the backyard a few minutes per day now before she's no longer able to see the birds or squirrels or the chipmunk family that lives back here)

What a sweetheart, she's beautiful. 

What a lovely sweet faced little girl she is!

I, unfortunately have fip experience. More often dry than wet but both. I have a cat rescue group and over the years have seen and dealt with it, it is tragic and devastating, leaving an overwhelming feeling of helplessness and heartache. The biggest contributor being fatal, 100%.

After reading through your thread I also am as sure as is possible that your baby does have dry fip.

I have seen mostly in dry fip kitties that on and off behavior, they will get some random feeling better "somewhat" days and it gives some relief to them not feeling well for a while, maybe even tricking their thinking that they might be getting better? Who knows, I think of it like if I had been sick, after a few days it's so old, I am restless, ready to feel better so as soon as I start to feel a bit better I am out of bed, showered and on the go again, yet really not completely better yet, which catches up to me soon enough and slows me down a bit.

Dry can actually go on for months, which only makes things harder for you, it's not easy to try to get in as much time with your baby with this horrible illness looming over you.

It also makes it even harder to know, when is the 'right' time to let go.......

I can say this. There is much more happening on the inside than what we see on the outside. Cats all have such a huge survival instinct, they will hide pain or illness or suffering until it becomes unbearable, so they don't fall victim to predators. They will not show weakness.

This is why they hide when sick, why moms despite their great love for their babies will remove/abandon one who seems weaker to protect herself and the others from being seen as vulnerable and as prey, and so on.

FIP basically destroys them internally. 

A huge indicator that there is much more suffering going on than we see is appetite. 

I just want to say this too, hoping it might be some help to you. I know I have had to remind myself many, many times of this to help me get through, but that cats don't see death as humans do. They know when they are no longer well, and don't have sad thoughts like how they will miss us, they seem to accept and transition easily. Death is natural, whether they are taken from us at 6 months or 16 years. They seem to know and accept.

We as their caregivers, have the privilege of making their transition much less dramatic and can stop the suffering they must go through on their own until death.

As unbearably difficult as it is to have to let go and say goodbye to our babies who must go far before they ever should have to, it is the best final gift of love we can give them.

We all struggle with what 'the right time' really is, believe me! I just went through it myself, and about to go through it again.......

So keep in mind quality of life in each day. If she has 4 days of suffering, then has a day of feeling a bit better, then another period of feeling awful, just use your instincts.

If she had the choice to be set free from her failing body would she choose to go? When, at what point?

I wish you strength and comfort, we are all here with the same heart and love, and are always here to support you along the way.     

catwoman707


Thank you for your response. I haven't cried in a while since completely breaking down one night, but your post brought some tears.
Not because it made me sad. Not because you are sure it's FIP. But because you gave such refreshing information.
I know I must let her go soon. But the fact that you say they view death differently than we do, is a big wake up call.
While I'll cry and miss her. I know she won't be thinking that in her final moments of life. All she'll be feeling is a sense of relief.

And you're right. While she seems to be ok on the outside, the fact that her eyes will continue to falter and eventually she'll deteriorate just shows how much is going on inside of her. I hate this virus so much. I hate what it does to cats. And I hate what it does to their families that have cared more about them than themselves. I've noticed this virus only takes cats that are so precious to their families. They're ripped away from the ones who love them most...maybe god just wants some time with the best kitties this world has to offer.

I won't lie, the sadness will not go away. Maybe never. This girl was the world to me. But at least she won't be in pain. She's not who she used to be. I miss the annoying little cat that sticks her head into all of our cups and zips through the house at all times of day. I miss the old kitty I had and I may never have that back.
Of course, I pray and wish that everyone is wrong and she'll get better...but I have slightly given up. I am accepting her fate. And I will be more than happy to lose her than to see her lose quality of life.

Thank you for your response, again.