lethargic cat with fever (FIP?)

Hi, I'm new here and I have a sick cat.

My 1.5 year old cat has been very lethargic with a runny nose (sneezing and some labored breathing too) and little appetite for almost a week now. I've managed to get him to eat occasionally (much less than normal) and drink water (closer to normal amounts from what's appearing in his litter box). He also developed a sore on his nose which seems to be making his sneezes have a small amount of blood in them and has lately tended to rest very close to his litter box. I've taken him to the vet twice now. He was first put on Clavinimox pills (I think) twice a day to try to bring his fever down. I took him a few days later after his condition didn't improve much and the vet did some blood and virus tests after determining that his fever was still high, although a little lower than before. He also noticed that his eyes seemed a bit glazed/dilated (although that could have been due to the big barking dog in the waiting room) and a sore that seemed to be growing on his lower eyelid.

After the blood tests, the vet said that he thought it was really likely that Gizmo has FIP (from his symptoms mostly because the blood test results weren't very conclusive) but we're still waiting on the results from the virus tests. He mentioned that FIP is usually fatal in cats although there's no telling how long he would live. Does this sound accurate? I know that Gizmo's seriously ill, but he was saying that there's nothing that we can really do to help him besides trying to get him to keep eating and drinking and watching for additional symptoms / complications to occur. I was also reading on some websites about other viruses like FPV which have some similar symptoms although the likelihood of survival seems to be higher. Would it be worthwhile to get the opinion of another vet?

Just my opinion, but I don't think it could ever hurt to get another opinion when it comes to a sick kitty.

Some vets are better than others and have more experience with certain illnesses so yes I would get another opinion.

It sounds like he has a cold and the sore on his nose makes it sounce like Calici virus (typically appears with sores in or around the mouth) often causing the cats to eat less or not at all. Nothing of what you said sounds like FIP exactly, and there is no good test for fip. If there was fluid accumulating in the abdomen i'd be very worried, and if he refuses to eat and seems like he cant move that would also be bad. For more info on calici you can read the article here on URI infections at http://www.thecatsite.com/Cats/Cat_H...lter_cats.html

Note with FIP there are two forms, the "wet" and the "dry" form. The wet form is more common and kills very quickly, the dry form the cat can live for some time, often with ok quality if life if treatments are used.

Also keep in mind that FIP mimics other diseases fairly effectively. If you go to the stickie threads in this forum and look you will find links to articles about FIP-

In my opinion, some vets if they don't know what is wrong, they say it's FIP and sometimes, it's not.

Originally Posted by hissy

In my opinion, some vets if they don't know what is wrong, they say it's FIP and sometimes, it's not.

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I have to agree. Every vet I have talked to about FIP states that the tests are not completely accuret(sp?). My friends little girl tested positive for it four years ago and not showed a single sign of it. Nor has her big girl tested positive for and it's highly contagious. Always seek another opinion when FIP is invloved.
The FIP test only detects that the cat has been in contact with a coronavirus. The only sure way to find out whether or not your kittie has FIP is through an autopsy. Unfortunatly.
I had both my girls tested by three different vets. Akasha came up positive once when I first got her. That was it. And once they have it, there is no cure, so I went with the two outta three theory. They have another test in two weeks.