Need some advise about diagnose of FIP

[charms]

Hello! Just sending an update on Bakerman. He is the one that a vet diagnosed him with FIP . He is doing fine! Still has some skin twitching . He is still on his phenal barbital. My vet that I normally see was very upset this vet said he did have FIP. He said he was taught in vet school that they were not suppose to actually diagnose a cat with FIP as it is so mis diagnosed. He did look at Bakerman's blood work results that the other vet had based it on. His protein and anti bodies were high. My vet said there are other things that could cause this. I did notice his eyes had matter around them so did get an antibotic for them. It cleared up fast and the vet said that this could possibly what caused the counts to be high. He has never lost any weight and would think if this is FIP he would be sick. Still eating like a horse! Keeping all of the sick kitties in my prayers!

 

[jellybella]

Originally Posted by beandip

FIP is often misdiagnosed and misunderstood.

I do not have any personal experience with it, but it is my understanding that FIP is a mutation of the corona virus. The blood test that is typically done only indicates EXPOSURE to the corona virus. It does not mean that the cat actually has FIP.

It is very discouraging whenever I see or hear of a vet simply giving a pat answer after doing this test. How scary that must be. I do believe it's very possible for a cat who has been *exposed* to corona to go on and live a full and happy life, if the virus never ends up mutating. I'm not sure of a statistic, regarding a percentage of cats that have been exposed...but I suspect it's quite high.

I'm so glad you got a second opinion. I had one vet just throw this out "oh, well it's probably FIP, that's fatal". The second vet said, "he's a rescue cat, he's been exposed to corona virus, no surprise there". He also told me flat out (as Beandip said above) that many vets mis-use and misinterpret the test. Glad to hear your little guy is doing better.

 

[alleygirl]

I'm glad you were able to see another vet and get better information. I'll keep him in my thoughts and hope he continues to be healthy