4 year old cat diagnosed with FIP

[muze]

I don't have the energy to write a long message, when we took our cat to vet for getting her neutered 2 years ago the vets said she has a weak immune system but the medications didn't work. This year we took her again for spaying but her wbc levels were still low. Meds and vaccines didn't work. Today we took her to another vet to learn what's causing her levels to be this low. She tested negative for FIV and FeLV but a high chance of FIP. She doesn't have any signs yet, she's a normal cat, eats normal, drinks normal, no diarrhea or whatsoever. No signs visible from outside that we might be suspicious of. So what does it mean now? Her levels have been low like this for the last 2-2.5 years. Does it mean when she begins showing signs of wet or dry FIP, then she will have a very short time to live? If we didn't run the tests we wouldn't know that she has FIP. I'm so confused. Someone please help.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

FIP is a mutated form of the feline coronavirus. Most cats have been exposed to coronavirus, but few cats will affected by the specific FIP mutation. So, perhaps what your vet is saying (and I am not a vet- please call or make an appointment for them to clarify) is that since she has a weaker immune system, and has tested positive for feline coronavirus, her chances of developing FIP are higher than the average cat. That does NOT mean she is guaranteed to develop FIP. If she has no other symptoms, do not worry! FIP can affect any cat, at any time, regardless of their immune system. Do not sit around fretting about her. Enjoy her while you can and help her immune system by keeping her environment low-stress as possible and keeping her at a healthy weight. Ask your vet if there are any approved supplements she can take to help in that department too- I've never had a cat with a weak immune system, so I don't have any input there.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I totally agree with EmersonandEvie . There are also variant forms of feline coronavirus (FCOV and FECV), one which typically isn't considered as worrisome for mutation, and the second that is more likely to do so, but it is still not an extremely high chance. In addition, most mutations to FIP occur in kittens/younger cats whose immune systems are still developing, or in elderly cats whose immune systems are weakened by other diseases. Cats in between are generally less susceptible. You do need to know that a large percentage of the feline population tests positive for coronavirus, and most will live long happy, healthy lives.

First and foremost, get clarification from your vet first about the testing they performed and what the actual outcome was. Also, as said above, the other thing to do is talk to your vet about ways to help build up and keep your cat's immune system stronger. Perhaps, you might consider a specialist, such as a feline internist or immunologist for their experience with treatments to boost your cat's immune system.

My first cat Tawny passed away from FIP at 15yo - didn't even know he had coronavirus as that was nearly 30 years ago and it wasn't something typically tested for. But, it was due to other diseases which weakened his immune system that enabled the virus to mutate. Until that time, he was a healthy happy cat.

Lastly, there is progress being made in ways to treat FIP. If by chance your cat were ever to develop it, there may be some successful remedies.

 

[Mr. Meow]

(I'd like to preview this by saying I am not a vet, but I do have a lot of experience taking care of cats with special needs, disabilities and conditions.)
As a cat dad who had a baby with FIP, unfortunately there's still a lot of unknowns at this point. There's 2 different types of the coronavirus - one that's relatively harmless, and then one that can cause/lead to FIP, can require numerous trips to the vet, the ER, or (and I wish it didn't have to be an option) to plan for the worst decision a pet parent can have to make.
Some labs claim to be able to tell the difference, but that's all still controversial. Just having a positive test doesn't mean the symptoms are (or will be) present. From what you've said, having a "high chance" of FIP isn't a guarantee, nor does it mean a death sentence. Just like FIV and FeLV, having a weak immune system is going to be your first priority. Because she's eating and drinking normal, make sure that what she's eating and drinking is as healthy as possible. Regular vet visits to monitor her health, blood work, staying up to date on all her shots is crucial for any animal with a weakend immune system.
There's no telling if signs of FIP will show tomorrow, or 7 years from now. Unfortunately, when my baby started showing signs (quick weight loss was the first sign, 15lbs to just over 8lbs in a very short time), we found out she had the wet version of FIP, confirmed by testing the fluid that built up around her abdomen. It's possible to extend the life of a cat who has the dry version, but the wet version is quick and ruthless.
My overall and best advice is to keep her as healthy as possible while you can. Again, healthy food, plenty of water, exercise, sunbeams, catnip and lots of love. There's no guarantee that anything will happen, or even happen anytime soon. But the healthier you keep her now, the better off she'll be IF something happens. Enjoy the time you have with her. Love the crap out of her. Take lots of pictures and make lots of memories. Just prepare yourselves, because you might have to make a tough decision at some point in the future (as I did), but I'm glad I made the most out of the life she had.

 

[Kieka]

First of all, FIP is one of those "everything else has been ruled out so it must be FIP" things. But there is now a treatment, check with your vet and get started on it right away. The earlier you start treatment, the better your chances if it is FIP.

If your vet doesn't know, research and ask around. The treatment is black market in some areas, in America and Canada it is a supplement technically. But when it comes to FIP, any hope is worth going for even if it is technically a supplement IMO.

 

[muze]

Thanks everyone for your comforting and informing messages.
For some context, I'm adding the blood test results:
(She was dehydrated so they gave her fluids after the tests were run, that's why some of her levels are bad)


Apparently they did an antibodies test for FCoV and got high antibody titres which made the vet think she probably has FIP, even though her ALB/GLOB results (and others related to FIP) were normal. But this is only 1 vet's evaluation, considering FIP is hard to diagnose I don't want to jump into what he said.
For now they are giving her antibiotics for 5 days. We're not looking into FIP treatments yet, we first want to talk to other vets and hear their opinions about what other illnesses she might have.
They will run the tests again to see if her immune system got better. But in the meantime I want to read articles about what might be causing her having low levels of WBC. We thought she might have FeLV but the test came back negative. Any help is much appreciated.

 

[MissClouseau]

Oh you're from Turkey! As I am. I can easily tell you in Turkey,

1) Some vets use the words "coronavirus" and "FIP" interchangeably. It's super annoying! I guess they try to not confuse minds by adding more words but often the person just gets more confused. My first guess is the vet meant to tell you she probably has coronavirus. But that's not a disease itself AND heavy majority of cats have it and in most of them it doesn't mutate to FIP.

And more importantly 2) They mention FIP so you will prepare yourself if it is. Honestly this is one of my top annoyances about the vets here, that they are too generous to mention FIP. I partially understand though because some people get outraged and blame the vet when the cat's condition goes downhill quickly and that's a possibility about FIP. That's of course if the cat develops FIP.

I highly recommend getting a second opinion from a different vet. There is no test to diagnose FIP. Vets usually diagnose with FIP if everything else has been ruled out, and there are certain combinations in the bloodwork that makes it more or less likely to be FIP. However, my own cat for example was ill about 2 years ago and her bloodwork really showed the situation to be more likely to be FIP. But she didn't have it. She had something else that was rare.

And by the way I actually never got to learn what it was but, in June 2019 my own cat's white blood cells were also low when she had no sign of sickness at all. It was just check-up. I showed the test result to our main vet at another clinic and she said maybe the machine got it wrong and how that happened once at another clinic.

If you're in Istanbul I can direct message you a few clinics I heard as good.

 

[MissClouseau]

I forgot to add, this is a good read: Low White Blood Cell Count in Cats - Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Recovery, Management, Cost

 

[muze]

Oh you're from Turkey! As I am. I can easily tell you in Turkey,

1) Some vets use the words "coronavirus" and "FIP" interchangeably. It's super annoying! I guess they try to not confuse minds by adding more words but often the person just gets more confused. My first guess is the vet meant to tell you she probably has coronavirus. But that's not a disease itself AND heavy majority of cats have it and in most of them it doesn't mutate to FIP.

And more importantly 2) They mention FIP so you will prepare yourself if it is. Honestly this is one of my top annoyances about the vets here, that they are too generous to mention FIP. I partially understand though because some people get outraged and blame the vet when the cat's condition goes downhill quickly and that's a possibility about FIP. That's of course if the cat develops FIP.

I highly recommend getting a second opinion from a different vet. There is no test to diagnose FIP. Vets usually diagnose with FIP if everything else has been ruled out, and there are certain combinations in the bloodwork that makes it more or less likely to be FIP. However, my own cat for example was ill about 2 years ago and her bloodwork really showed the situation to be more likely to be FIP. But she didn't have it. She had something else that was rare.

And by the way I actually never got to learn what it was but, in June 2019 my own cat's white blood cells were also low when she had no sign of sickness at all. It was just check-up. I showed the test result to our main vet at another clinic and she said maybe the machine got it wrong and how that happened once at another clinic.

If you're in Istanbul I can direct message you a few clinics I heard as good.

Yes, the vet said they are suspicious of it but they will evaluate her condition as if she has FIP because she has a high amount of coronavirus. They thought she would have FeLV but seeing that's not the case they are now suspicious of FIP. But our vet said he's never seen a case like this and he's also looking into it, reading articles etc. But still we want to talk to a few other vets and I'm in Istanbul, I'd like to hear your recommendations.

 

[MissClouseau]

Yes, the vet said they are suspicious of it but they will evaluate her condition as if she has FIP because she has a high amount of coronavirus. They thought she would have FeLV but seeing that's not the case they are now suspicious of FIP. But our vet said he's never seen a case like this and he's also looking into it, reading articles etc. But still we want to talk to a few other vets and I'm in Istanbul, I'd like to hear your recommendations.

High antibodies doesn't mean she has FIP. My cat's was 4 on a scale of 1-6. Our vet tech's own cat's was 5. Neither has FIP. Antibodies is just yet another thing they use to diagnose FIP but that's only if the cat has several different things as well. I will DM you some clinic suggestions.

 

[kittenmittens84]

Yes, the vet said they are suspicious of it but they will evaluate her condition as if she has FIP because she has a high amount of coronavirus. They thought she would have FeLV but seeing that's not the case they are now suspicious of FIP. But our vet said he's never seen a case like this and he's also looking into it, reading articles etc. But still we want to talk to a few other vets and I'm in Istanbul, I'd like to hear your recommendations.

If your cat doesn’t have any symptoms of FIP, your cat currently does not have FIP. It doesn’t sound like your cat has any of the symptoms that would specifically point to FIP, and nothing in the bloodwork you’ve posted would hint at that either. The test your vet performed is not an FIP test, but a test for a cat’s exposure to the feline coronavirus. It makes no sense to do a test that does not detect FIP, and then proceed as if the result shows that the cat has FIP. As much as some people may want coronavirus titer levels to correspond with likelihood of developing FIP, they do not and the evidence does not support that conclusion.


Somewhere around 60-80% of all cats will be exposed to the feline coronavirus during their lifetimes, but only an extremely small percentage of them will develop FIP. All of those 60-80% however, will give positive results on the test your vet performed. It’s very frustrating that vets continue to call this an “FIP test” when it absolutely is not that, it just scares cat owners for no reason!

This is also confusing because I’m not sure why a low WBC would point to FIP when cats mounting an immune response are more likely to have elevated WBC. I know it’s easier said than done to not worry but honestly if your cat is acting normal, playing, and has a good appetite I would try to focus on that and direct some of the worry away from what the vets are focusing on. Also, if possible maybe a different vet...?

 

[muze]

If your cat doesn’t have any symptoms of FIP, your cat currently does not have FIP. It doesn’t sound like your cat has any of the symptoms that would specifically point to FIP, and nothing in the bloodwork you’ve posted would hint at that either. The test your vet performed is not an FIP test, but a test for a cat’s exposure to the feline coronavirus. It makes no sense to do a test that does not detect FIP, and then proceed as if the result shows that the cat has FIP. As much as some people may want coronavirus titer levels to correspond with likelihood of developing FIP, they do not and the evidence does not support that conclusion.


Somewhere around 60-80% of all cats will be exposed to the feline coronavirus during their lifetimes, but only an extremely small percentage of them will develop FIP. All of those 60-80% however, will give positive results on the test your vet performed. It’s very frustrating that vets continue to call this an “FIP test” when it absolutely is not that, it just scares cat owners for no reason!

This is also confusing because I’m not sure why a low WBC would point to FIP when cats mounting an immune response are more likely to have elevated WBC. I know it’s easier said than done to not worry but honestly if your cat is acting normal, playing, and has a good appetite I would try to focus on that and direct some of the worry away from what the vets are focusing on. Also, if possible maybe a different vet...?

Apparently they said they are supposed to look at her as a FIP patient because of the result of the FCoV test. We've talked to a few other vets and they also said they can't tell if the coronavirus mutated to FIP yet unless there are visible clinical symptoms. We were devastated when the vet said she might have FIP at first without giving us proper information. But now we're feeling a bit better. I guess they didn't want to say that she doesn't have FIP in case of something going wrong in the future.
And for now we're trying to boost her immune system. Today they will do the CBC and blood chemistry tests again to see if the treatment is working.

Our vet is also suspicious of cancer. I don't know how they diagnose it though. She tested negative for FIV & FeLV but another vet said one negative result isn't enough and we should try again.