Hi all...
My boyfriend and I have been in and out of the vet for the past 2 months trying to figure out what was wrong with our 2 year old cat, Gravy. I wrote on this forum back 2 months ago because I was so sure he was just a very, very picky eater. Just a little backstory...Gravy used to eat around 8 tbsp of dry food (Hills) per day until around 3-4 months ago. He began refusing to eat, which led my boyfriend and me to try out so many different foods so that Gravy would eat. Gravy would always eat the new food (if he didn't hate it right at the get go) for a few days, then refuse to eat it. This was OK to us because we would just keep buying healthy options to rotate. However, 2 months ago Gravy became more extreme. At this point, he was already eating only half of his usual amount (4tbsp). But now, he refused even to eat the same food he ate just hours before. Sometimes, he would eat a few bites of different canned foods throughout the day, but some days he wouldn't eat at all (not many, but a few very worrisome days). I should also note that in January he was 10lbs. By June, he was 8lbs. Now, he is 7lbs....
Alongside his plummet in appetite, since June, Gravy has had cold symptoms and fever twice that we went to the vet for. We gave him antibiotics and he would seem to recover. However, after he seemed to recover from his second cold, it was time for vaccines in early August.
The vet saw that he still had a fever so he decided to take x-rays. I also mentioned to him that I noticed that Gravy was breathing a little harder than usual, but it was super hot this July in CA. Because of that, he took an x-ray which showed clouding in his lungs that he thought to be inflammation or mucus. The vet said to wait to see if anything got worse. Almost every day after that, Gravy threw up once a day. First two days were foamy liquid, then the next three days contained food. Each time he threw up was around 3-4 hours after he ate, and he also was eating very little and slowly so I knew it was not because he was gobbling his food down. We went back to the vet and they took a complimentary x-ray to see what was going on. This time, they saw a pool of fluid in his abdomen. The vet seemed worried now, so we went on to have bloodwork done, which showed results that fall in line with FIP. We then had him tested for coronavirus, and it was positive. Next, we had a sample of the fluid from his abdomen drawn. It matched the coloring and viscosity of fluid related to FIP. We had that fluid tested microscopically for bacteria and fungal related infections, which came back negative. We also had it tested for bacterial cultures...also negative. Lastly, we had the sample tested with PCR testing and it came back as positive for a coronavirus mutation, but indeterminate for FIP. This means that although the mutation is not the same mutations as the lab had for FIP, it does not discount the possibility of FIP. Both of our vets agreed that despite this result, effusive FIP does seem like the diagnosis because of how all of the results and symptoms align with it. Sigh.
So with all that being said, Gravy's current condition has been pretty stable considering how quickly effusive FIP usually affects cats. He has had abdominal fluid for the past two weeks that we have confirmed with the vet. I am unsure of if there was any fluid prior to this because we always thought he just caught a cold or was simply a picky eater. While we were waiting for some of the test results, we had Gravy hospitalized for 3 nights last week. He received IV fluid treatment, and they tried a medley of strong antibiotics to see if his fever would reduce. It did not. He was sent back home, and he was much more energized and even began eating back to almost 8tbsp per day!! However, this week his energy slowly dwindled down again...he went back to hiding in the closet or under the bed. He ate less and less. And I felt that his belly was getting rounder. We took him to the vet today and he was hospitalized for a few hours. He had some fluid drained and had IV treatment and he came back home energized again and eating very well! I feel hopeful in that way, but I wanted to know if anyone else had similar experiences with FIP like this?
Our vets told us that most cases of effusive FIP progress rapidly and cats' health can deteriorate progressively in even just a week. Gravy has had early signs of FIP for months now, and he has had fluid built up in his abdomen for at least two weeks now. He is otherwise in decent spirits most of the time. He also almost always has a fever, but the vets say that his case seems a little different than typical effusive FIP cases they've seen. Does anyone have any advice they can offer?
We are planning to start Interferon soon, and dexamethasone or prednisolone when Gravy's symptoms worsen.
Sorry this is such a long, long post, but I thought the more info I could provide, the better..!
My boyfriend and I have been in and out of the vet for the past 2 months trying to figure out what was wrong with our 2 year old cat, Gravy. I wrote on this forum back 2 months ago because I was so sure he was just a very, very picky eater. Just a little backstory...Gravy used to eat around 8 tbsp of dry food (Hills) per day until around 3-4 months ago. He began refusing to eat, which led my boyfriend and me to try out so many different foods so that Gravy would eat. Gravy would always eat the new food (if he didn't hate it right at the get go) for a few days, then refuse to eat it. This was OK to us because we would just keep buying healthy options to rotate. However, 2 months ago Gravy became more extreme. At this point, he was already eating only half of his usual amount (4tbsp). But now, he refused even to eat the same food he ate just hours before. Sometimes, he would eat a few bites of different canned foods throughout the day, but some days he wouldn't eat at all (not many, but a few very worrisome days). I should also note that in January he was 10lbs. By June, he was 8lbs. Now, he is 7lbs....
Alongside his plummet in appetite, since June, Gravy has had cold symptoms and fever twice that we went to the vet for. We gave him antibiotics and he would seem to recover. However, after he seemed to recover from his second cold, it was time for vaccines in early August.
The vet saw that he still had a fever so he decided to take x-rays. I also mentioned to him that I noticed that Gravy was breathing a little harder than usual, but it was super hot this July in CA. Because of that, he took an x-ray which showed clouding in his lungs that he thought to be inflammation or mucus. The vet said to wait to see if anything got worse. Almost every day after that, Gravy threw up once a day. First two days were foamy liquid, then the next three days contained food. Each time he threw up was around 3-4 hours after he ate, and he also was eating very little and slowly so I knew it was not because he was gobbling his food down. We went back to the vet and they took a complimentary x-ray to see what was going on. This time, they saw a pool of fluid in his abdomen. The vet seemed worried now, so we went on to have bloodwork done, which showed results that fall in line with FIP. We then had him tested for coronavirus, and it was positive. Next, we had a sample of the fluid from his abdomen drawn. It matched the coloring and viscosity of fluid related to FIP. We had that fluid tested microscopically for bacteria and fungal related infections, which came back negative. We also had it tested for bacterial cultures...also negative. Lastly, we had the sample tested with PCR testing and it came back as positive for a coronavirus mutation, but indeterminate for FIP. This means that although the mutation is not the same mutations as the lab had for FIP, it does not discount the possibility of FIP. Both of our vets agreed that despite this result, effusive FIP does seem like the diagnosis because of how all of the results and symptoms align with it. Sigh.
So with all that being said, Gravy's current condition has been pretty stable considering how quickly effusive FIP usually affects cats. He has had abdominal fluid for the past two weeks that we have confirmed with the vet. I am unsure of if there was any fluid prior to this because we always thought he just caught a cold or was simply a picky eater. While we were waiting for some of the test results, we had Gravy hospitalized for 3 nights last week. He received IV fluid treatment, and they tried a medley of strong antibiotics to see if his fever would reduce. It did not. He was sent back home, and he was much more energized and even began eating back to almost 8tbsp per day!! However, this week his energy slowly dwindled down again...he went back to hiding in the closet or under the bed. He ate less and less. And I felt that his belly was getting rounder. We took him to the vet today and he was hospitalized for a few hours. He had some fluid drained and had IV treatment and he came back home energized again and eating very well! I feel hopeful in that way, but I wanted to know if anyone else had similar experiences with FIP like this?
Our vets told us that most cases of effusive FIP progress rapidly and cats' health can deteriorate progressively in even just a week. Gravy has had early signs of FIP for months now, and he has had fluid built up in his abdomen for at least two weeks now. He is otherwise in decent spirits most of the time. He also almost always has a fever, but the vets say that his case seems a little different than typical effusive FIP cases they've seen. Does anyone have any advice they can offer?
We are planning to start Interferon soon, and dexamethasone or prednisolone when Gravy's symptoms worsen.
Sorry this is such a long, long post, but I thought the more info I could provide, the better..!
