Could this have been FIP?

[thull08]

Hi all, unfortunately my 12 year old cat crossed the rainbow bridge last weekend, and I am hoping to find more insight on what happened to him. For the last month he had presented with significant muscle wasting and weight loss. In his prime he weighed 9 lbs and at death he weighed right under 6 lbs. He had a cold for the last 2 weeks- sniffly runny nose watery eyes and sneezing. Mild diarrhea. Although I know the cold was secondary to something else causing his weight loss, he took a steep dive after getting the cold. ER vet did bloodwork. He was severely hypoglycemic, his PCV was low at 19%, and his TP was high. His kidneys and heart were normal. Liver a little elevated, and he had low blood pressure. Ultrasound and xray were done revealing fluid in his abdomen- the vet removed some and said there was no blood, it was yellow fluid with “a bunch of little things floating” in it. She suspected cancer but did not see any tumor. Prior to hospitalization, I had started to notice his walk became unsteady, and a couple times when I would talk to him, his head would slightly but rapidly bobble, as if he was trying to focus on me. The ER vet told us his outlook was grim, and recommended euthanasia. As I research his symptoms one condition keeps coming up- FIP. Curious if anyone else thinks these symptoms could be FIP?

 

[kittenmittens84]

Did the bloodwork indicate high globulin or low AG ratio? How was his appetite? Did they do any analysis on the fluid? Any fever?

This is a pretty good overview of all the diagnostic criteria for FIP- Dr. Addie - What is FIP ? while there are some fairly reliable markers, it’s still hard to be certain so I’m not sure if anyone here can tell you for sure.

 

[thull08]

I requested a copy of the rest of the labwork but haven’t received it yet so I’m not sure on the ag ratio/globulin. No fever, appetite very poor the last week, to refusal to eat the final day. To my knowledge no analysis on the fluid- the vet thought there was little to nothing she could do to save him at that point, so we sadly proceeded with euthanasia. These are the only labs they have sent me a copy of so far:

 

[kittenmittens84]

Persistent fever is one of the hallmarks of FIP (especially if it was advanced enough to have neurological involvement), and while it definitely does happen it would be unusual for a 12 year old cat to get FIP. I’m sorry about your kitty

 

[FeebysOwner]

Sorry to hear about your little guy. It could have been FIP, but without conclusive testing of the fluid there will never be a way to know for sure. We believe that Tawny died at 15 from FIP (however, at that time no conclusive test was available). The corona virus - which many, if not most cats, contract as kittens - is what can mutate into FIP under certain circumstances. It can mutate in very young cats whose immune systems haven't been fully established and have other underlying diseases. Or, it can mutate in older cats whose immune systems weaken with age and allow diseases to take over their systems. We think in Tawny's case, he was ill with some other disease, and that caused the corona virus mutate to FIP. Most cats live long healthy lives with the corona virus and it never mutates.

Tawny never had a fever but lost interest in most things around him, had been losing weight, and got to the point that he barely moved other than to use his litter box. Eventually he refused to eat anything other than a little bit of cheese from our hands. While probably later than it should have been, we decided at that point that we had to let him go.

Again, what ever happened to your guy, I am so sorry - FIP or not.