My 6 month old kitten, Garfield, started acting funny about 4 days ago. His balance seems to be affected and he has lost weight. When he tries to walk it is like he has lost his balance, like he might have Multiple Sclerosis if he was a human. I took him to my vet and he said that he thought it was FIP, but he couldn't be sure. He did a blood test and that combined with his symptoms made him think that was what it is. We have six cats in our household, but they don't stay in the house all the time, although they do all come in to eat. I was wondering if there would be anything else that would make him act this way? Could anyone give me any information?
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Does my kitten have F I P?
- Thread starter pxi
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If your vet only "thinks" if might be FIP I would take the kitty to a vet who specializes in cats only. If you can find one near you. It could be that kitty fell, that it ate something toxic, there are many things it "could" be. Kitty may have a neurological problem, but really only a professional can tell you what is going on. I would look for a second vet or have your vet do a referral to a specialist. Good luck!
I had a cat die of FIP, and he was pretty agile to the end. Check out this FIP website for more details and see about getting your cat on Mega C Plus to boost his immune system regardless.
If your cat does indeed have FIP, one suggestion I got from reading an alternative cat health book was to have the cat's spleen removed, any fluid removed (the typical build up in the chest or stomach), and put on a vitamin C drip. Very good success, supposedly. I don't know, however, how much it would cost.
If your cat does indeed have FIP, one suggestion I got from reading an alternative cat health book was to have the cat's spleen removed, any fluid removed (the typical build up in the chest or stomach), and put on a vitamin C drip. Very good success, supposedly. I don't know, however, how much it would cost.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #4
Thank you for your reply to my thread. Garfield has stopped shaking like he has MS, but he ended up having diarrhea for about 5 days. I don't know if it was the medication my vet gave me for him or if it has something to do with his condition. He hasn't seemed to have any problem for a couple of days now and his coat looks better and he seems to be fattening back up. I don't know what all happens if a cat has F. I. P. but he doesn't seem to be having any problems now. Is that what happens? Do they seem to be okay for the most part or would he still be doing those things I mentioned? I would be interested in you telling me the symptoms your cat had, if it wouldn't bother you too much. I don't know about you, but I love my cats, and I think I might have a hard time discussing mine if it had died. I really appreciate you taking the time to message me about this problem. Thank you.
My heart goes out to you, seeing your cat ill is difficult to take. We cried for days when our Moses became ill, then died.
The biggest signal that your cat has FIP is a bloated stomach or chest area. And only your vet can tell you for sure that is indeed FIP or something else. Basically, they puncture the skin and take a sample of the fluids. If it is stringy and yellow, it's a 95% chance he has FIP. The other possibility is liver disease. The liver can be repaired, though it is costly.
The symptoms our little moses had were:
-Went from being very active to inactive within the course of a week or so.
-He lost a ton of weight, yet his belly seemed big. Feel around your kitty on his spine and ribs. If those jut out at you, that's a warning sign.
-His belly suddenly got huge. I'd say it was over the course of two days his belly went from relatively normal looking to big. His belly swayed quite a bit when he walked.
-He started urinating uncontrollably and out of the box.
Other symptoms that I've heard are:
-Lack of appetite.
-Strange behavior, acting weird.
There are two forms of the FIP, wet and dry. Wet is most common and is mostly spread from an infected mother. Dry is much less common, and is a silent killer because often there are no visible symptoms. Obviously Moses had wet.
We have a few regrets about Moses. First off, our Vet had no homeopathic background at all. Had she, we might have been offered some more options to find a treatment for him. By the time we looked at that possibility, it was too late. We had Moses on antibiotics before he was diagnosed with FIP. This is another regret. The antibiotics probably weakened his immune system to the point where the virus could totally control him. Our biggest regret--getting angry at him for the urination around the house--this was before we knew what was wrong with him though. He was diagnosed on a Friday and died that Sunday night. We barely had any time to say good bye.
I noticed I forgot to give you that URL. Here it is. The best defense against these strange kitty diseases are education and preventative measures:
http://meow.best.vwh.net/fip/
hope this helps!
snip
The biggest signal that your cat has FIP is a bloated stomach or chest area. And only your vet can tell you for sure that is indeed FIP or something else. Basically, they puncture the skin and take a sample of the fluids. If it is stringy and yellow, it's a 95% chance he has FIP. The other possibility is liver disease. The liver can be repaired, though it is costly.
The symptoms our little moses had were:
-Went from being very active to inactive within the course of a week or so.
-He lost a ton of weight, yet his belly seemed big. Feel around your kitty on his spine and ribs. If those jut out at you, that's a warning sign.
-His belly suddenly got huge. I'd say it was over the course of two days his belly went from relatively normal looking to big. His belly swayed quite a bit when he walked.
-He started urinating uncontrollably and out of the box.
Other symptoms that I've heard are:
-Lack of appetite.
-Strange behavior, acting weird.
There are two forms of the FIP, wet and dry. Wet is most common and is mostly spread from an infected mother. Dry is much less common, and is a silent killer because often there are no visible symptoms. Obviously Moses had wet.
We have a few regrets about Moses. First off, our Vet had no homeopathic background at all. Had she, we might have been offered some more options to find a treatment for him. By the time we looked at that possibility, it was too late. We had Moses on antibiotics before he was diagnosed with FIP. This is another regret. The antibiotics probably weakened his immune system to the point where the virus could totally control him. Our biggest regret--getting angry at him for the urination around the house--this was before we knew what was wrong with him though. He was diagnosed on a Friday and died that Sunday night. We barely had any time to say good bye.
I noticed I forgot to give you that URL. Here it is. The best defense against these strange kitty diseases are education and preventative measures:
http://meow.best.vwh.net/fip/
hope this helps!
snip
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #6
Thank you for your reply. I just cried when I read about Moses, I really hate that he went through that. Garfield is not showing any of the symptoms that Moses did. His spine seemed to be more pronounced when he lost some weight, but now that he has put some back on, it seems normal. He didn't lose a lot of weight, just enough for us to notice he had. Garfield's belly never got any bigger like you mentioned with Moses either. Except for the first few days that I noticed he was having a problem, he has had an appetite and was able to keep his food down.
My vet didn't take any fluid like you mentioned. He did a blood test. Can you tell if they have F.I.P. from just a blood test? I am not sure that my vet has a homeopathic background either. We live in a fairly small town, and I guess you could call him just a "regular vet". He treats anything and everything. I don't know if he specialized in anything.
Garfield seems to be okay now, and I hope that he doesn't have the dry form of F.I.P. I am keeping an eye on him and I really appreciate your help and concern. Thank you so much!!!
My vet didn't take any fluid like you mentioned. He did a blood test. Can you tell if they have F.I.P. from just a blood test? I am not sure that my vet has a homeopathic background either. We live in a fairly small town, and I guess you could call him just a "regular vet". He treats anything and everything. I don't know if he specialized in anything.
Garfield seems to be okay now, and I hope that he doesn't have the dry form of F.I.P. I am keeping an eye on him and I really appreciate your help and concern. Thank you so much!!!
Good, it indeed sounds like Garfield is going to be OK. There are so many reasons why cats lose weight.
Regarding blood tests, yes, they did do one. They didn't find anything abnormal. Which made me angry. Apparently there is a more specific test called the "titer". They didn't give him that test and gave him the blood test instead. I regret to say this, but I think at the time it was just another way for the vet to get another fee out of us, because it was obvious he had FIP without doing any tests other than the fluid test.
snip
Regarding blood tests, yes, they did do one. They didn't find anything abnormal. Which made me angry. Apparently there is a more specific test called the "titer". They didn't give him that test and gave him the blood test instead. I regret to say this, but I think at the time it was just another way for the vet to get another fee out of us, because it was obvious he had FIP without doing any tests other than the fluid test.
snip
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #8
I really want to thank you for your help and support. Garfield has seemed like his old self the past couple of days. I am keeping an eye on him, but I feel he is going to be okay. I will keep what you have told me in mind, in case anything like this ever happens again. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
my cat, Lila, likes cleaners, especially bleach, and stuff like that...she is a strange one! one time, when we had not had her for long, we put the cats away and mopped the floor.
we waited until it was dry and let the cats back out. Later on we noticed Lila sniffing and licking the floor so we pulled her attention away to something else.
the next morning i got up and she was having very similar symptoms to your cat... she wasn't walking straight, wouldn't eat, etc...
for the next two days she was like this.
we started using "all natural" cleaners and we haven't had a problem since.
Maybe something like that happened to your kitty???
charlottiek, Ninikitty, Lila
we waited until it was dry and let the cats back out. Later on we noticed Lila sniffing and licking the floor so we pulled her attention away to something else.
the next morning i got up and she was having very similar symptoms to your cat... she wasn't walking straight, wouldn't eat, etc...
for the next two days she was like this.
we started using "all natural" cleaners and we haven't had a problem since.
Maybe something like that happened to your kitty???
charlottiek, Ninikitty, Lila
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #10
I wondered if he might have gotten into something, but I couldn't figure out what it could have been. I hope my neighbors aren't trying to posion my cats or anything. I appreciate your reply!
He is acting like his old self again. I hope he doesn't do it again, or any of my other cats. Thanks!
He is acting like his old self again. I hope he doesn't do it again, or any of my other cats. Thanks!
