Possible FIP diagnosis

[catwoman707]

Can I ask you a couple of things?

In the past 6 months, has your cat had an added stress factor? For instance, a new bully in the neighborhood, a new pet in your home, a change like moving, anything different at all?

Did your vet do a thorough exam of the eyes? Can you take a small flashlight and look at each eye, is there any changes you see, anything odd looking or uneven between the 2 eyes?

 

[michael driggs]

 
Can I ask you a couple of things?

In the past 6 months, has your cat had an added stress factor? For instance, a new bully in the neighborhood, a new pet in your home, a change like moving, anything different at all?

Did your vet do a thorough exam of the eyes? Can you take a small flashlight and look at each eye, is there any changes you see, anything odd looking or uneven between the 2 eyes?

He has always been a stressful cat. He has a step-brother that is constantly messing with him. i try to intervene when i see it. 

other stress. yes. I got a divorce a year ago....

Eyes look fine to me, no tests were done. His third eye lid (diagonal)  is 1/4 up sometimes unless i get his attention. This is new.

 

[catwoman707]

The third eyelid out is a window into their insides. Showing there is something wrong, which we already know.

Any fever at all?

While a cat will have a fever, at least a low grade fever, and gets on antibiotics, in an fip cat, the antibiotics will have zero effect, where-as in non-fip cats they will lower it after a couple/three days.

From what I am seeing here, in my opinion while some of the blood values point to possibly fip, others do not.

Not only the blood results, but the lack of other common signs of fip. This is not to say that, in time other symptoms may come, but at this point I would not conclude it is definitely fip.

I keep slipping in here when I can, but now I have to be away for a few hours. I will be back!

Any yellowing around his eye in the white area?

 

[michael driggs]

Any fever at all?

Any yellowing around his eye in the white area?

Seems a lot cooler than he was as of Tuesday.  (I have no thermometer), i could feel the heat coming off his head, now i cant.

No yellowing i can see. ears look white as well. 

 

[michael driggs]

Thank you Catwoman for your help!!!!

 

[michael driggs]

the head shakiness is gone now. My main concern is his hiding and not wanting much to do with us. I know he is still sick, and skinny and weak.

He does come out to say hi and give me love every few hours.

I got him a comfortable bed for under my bed, maybe that has something to do with it? 

 

[susank521]

 
the head shakiness is gone now. My main concern is his hiding and not wanting much to do with us. I know he is still sick, and skinny and weak.

He does come out to say hi and give me love every few hours.

I got him a comfortable bed for under my bed, maybe that has something to do with it? 

You're right, the nice bed might have something to do with it. Fever and anemia will make him hide, too. Anyway, he feels safe under there and that's what matters. They all have their "safe place". Is he still eating when he comes out? (I hope, I hope). Lots and lots of watery, soupy canned food so he doesn't get dehydrated from the fever would be nice.

 

[michael driggs]

He's eating good Susan. If I want to get him out from under the bed, a shake of the cat treat bag still works. 

I have to give him another pill now and am dreading it. he hates it and seems to get mad at me for a while.  

 

[susank521]

Have you tried wrapping the pill in a pinch of velveeta cheese, then pouring his favorite wet food over it?

 

[oneandahalfcats]

 
He's eating good Susan. If I want to get him out from under the bed, a shake of the cat treat bag still works. 

I have to give him another pill now and am dreading it. he hates it and seems to get mad at me for a while.  

Hi there .. Just tuned into this thread today. Very sorry to read about the recent diagnosis.

If piling is to be ongoing for the next little while, if you haven't tried, pill pockets may help. These are tasty treats that are designed to hide pills in. A lot more pleasant for kitty.

Here is a link to the Greenies product : http://www.greenies.com/cats/pill-pockets.aspx

EDIT: Great idea from Susan to give pills in a bit of food

 

[michael driggs]

If piling is to be ongoing for the next little while, if you haven't tried, pill pockets may help. 

Thanks. I think he is smarter than us. I tried that already and he wouldn't touch it.

Very Finicky Cat!

I just got him to swallow the pill. now hes mad. The mornings are worse because not only does he get the pill, which i can usually do, but he gets a squirt of antibiotics which he absolutely hates!  his heart starts racing, i can feel it. and squirms like he is scared to death. 

 

[oneandahalfcats]

 
Thanks. I think he is smarter than us. I tried that already and he wouldn't touch it.

Very Finicky Cat!

I just got him to swallow the pill. now hes mad. The mornings are worse because not only does he get the pill, which i can usually do, but he gets a squirt of antibiotics which he absolutely hates!  his heart starts racing, i can feel it. and squirms like he is scared to death. 

Yes, sounds like he is very savvy ... Well, maybe you can make some treats the reward he gets AFTER taking the pill and antibiotics. Kind of like positive reinforcement for a job well done. 

 

Both of your kitties are lovely .. I hope that something can be done to turn this situation around. All the best.

 

[scarlett 001]

Just a friendly message sending best wishes to Roscoe and you.  

 

[susank521]

Coating the pill in butter or coconut oil might help. There are a lot of suggestions here: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/246066/pilling-success-my-new-trick and here: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/237863/ideas-for-hiding-pills

@GoHolistic uses gel caps, which are tasteless, coated in coconut oil. That would work for the liquid and the pills. Still not fun, but he wouldn't taste the bitter medicine.

Of course, what we're all hoping is that this medicine stuff is short-term for Roscoe!

 

[adventureme]

Just wanted to say I’m thinking of your sweet Roscoe. About the meds…Try dipping the tip of the syringe into some of Roscoe’s wet food and try to tilt the head back a bit when quickly squirting the syringe into the back of the mouth so it will be swallowed quickly. Also, if giving pills, try rolling the pill(s) into a very thin bit of deli meat (turkey or ham). I’ve had some luck with rolling pills into softened butter. Wishing you all the best and my thoughts are with you and your beautiful Roscoe.

 

[red top rescue]

PILLING & EDICATING YOUR CAT:  The hiding may have to do with all the pilling, and the pilling is traumatic because obviously one or more of the medicines tastes bad.  TASTE THEM YOURSELF.  (I always taste anything I have to put into my cat!)  There is one medicine called metronidazole which is commonly given for diarrhea.  It comes in a white tablet OR it comes in a liquid.  Both are horribly bitter, so bitter that your cat can get very traumatized if he even tastes the stuff once.  My solution is to grind the pill up with a mortar and pestle (you could use a spoon in a bowl) and then I put the powder into a gelatin capsule (you can get these at health food stores or at some drugstore pharmacies, I can't remember the size but it's a size that goes down a cats throat perfectly when buttered.  Once I have made the yukky white pills into gelatin capsules and wiped every last trace of powder from the capsule, I put some cream or half and half into a small (3 cc.) syringe, and I dip one end of the pill into something slippery, usually softened butter.  Then I wrap the cat in a towel and sit him on my lap.  Step one is to give him a few squirts of the cream in his mouth.  This wets his mouth and throat and also relaxes him because hey, it doesn't taste bad.  Then I pull down his bottom jaw and tilt his head up just a little and very quickly push the capsule end first into his throat and follow that quickly with the rest of the cream from the syringe.  (We dont take pills dry, why should we expect a cat to do it?)  Anyhow, not all medicines taste bad like metronidazole.  Some have no taste at all.  Clavamox, an antibiotic, is another little white pill  That one I dissolve in a little water and then mix with the cream and feed him the clavamox laced cream from the syringe.  Clavamox has basically NO taste -- except in the liquid form you get from the vet, and for some reason that taste terrible!  I always get the ills and dissolve them in milk.  And for my feral who cannot be touched, I crush the clavamox pill and then sprinkle the powder on a piece of turkey bacon and roll it up and leave it for him, and he gobbles it down. 

As for whether or not your cat has FIP, only time will tell.  If he had a swollen belly, the vet could draw out some of that fluid which would be straw yellow colored and that would be diagnostic.  At that point, I would put a cat to sleep.  Dry FIP is much more tricky, as there is no fluid -- and the signs can vary since it can go into any organ or organs and/or into the brain and produce neurological signs  Since it is so hard to know for sure, your vet is wise to give him steroids as they will stimulate his appetite and make him feel better in general, and if it is NOT FIP, it might even help him recover.   The wasting away to skin and bones very quickly is disturbing.  Don't turn him into a feline pincushion trying to figure out what it is for now.  He had one set of blood tests and your vet is treating him symptomatically which is really the best he/she can do at the point.  If it is NOT FIP, then he should recover, and if it IS FIP, he will get worse, and there is nothing you can do about that. Sometimes dry FIP cats get better then worse then better and then worse again, until they finally don't get better.  I had one like that, and when he stopped having the good periods, I had to put him to sleep.  The vet wanted to do a post-mortem to find out what was wrong with the cat (it was many years ago) and that's when he found it was dry FIP.  I had never heard of FIP before then,  Just stay aware of his quality of life and make it as good as you can.  Find out which medicines taste bad by tasting them and find a way to get the medications into him that are not traumatic.  Pet him and love him as much as you can, as long as he wants to be petted and touched.  Hopefully he has something he will recover from, but if not, at least he will enjoy the time he has left.

 

[catwoman707]

Despite my endless experience in pilling cats, there's always one that will make me look like a nutcase when trying to pill. "Who is she kidding, It's just not happening lady!!" !!

SO.....the last time this happened I found how much he likes treats, went and bought some soft treats, smashed (really smash hard so it wouldn't fall apart) the pill between 2 of the treats, also giving a few more the same way, but with no pills inside.

This way, because they are soooo smart, he didn't know the difference.

Here is what it looks like to me, but now I am not a vet, I have a cat rescue group for many years and have experienced fip a few times.

I will be calling it the way I see it, and it unfortunately goes 2 ways.

The elevated TP (total protein) and glob (globulin) point to possibly fip.

He is clearly anemic, and with elevated white blood cells. Also can be caused by fip. However the white cell elevation would mean he has had this going on long enough to show this.

The head shaking you mentioned, CAN be a symptom as well, but also may not be, same as the other things here I mention.

His blood does show an inflammatory state, so there IS something there, something is going on.

For my summation, and remember it's only an opinion based on what I see and hear from you.

Dry FIP is MUCH less common than wet, although fip is not common, it's just known and dreaded because there is no fix what-so-ever so vets will try to rule other things out. Some do not though, and I truly believe that many cats are misdiagnosed, basically because it is not common and the symptoms can be many other things.

It is a very common symptom to have a fever, at least a low grade fever that comes and goes, but does not respond to antibiotic treatments.

Also very common with fip cats is eye changes, inflammation, yellowing whites, changing color, uneven pupils, shape change of pupils, split pupils, red splotches like what a blood leak behind the eye might look like, clouds, many things, but almost always there is some changes in the eyes.

You also said in your original post that for the past FEW weeks he has been losing weight. Usually there is a progression that is somewhat obvious in that amt of time, although dry form (which would be him due to lack of fluid in chest/abdomen) progresses slower than wet. But still....he should be noticably worse.

He is also not in the age area, the vast majority of cases are in cats under 2 years, average is 10 months old. Then after 10 yrs old there is a slight increase in chance, but nothing like kittens/young cats. Him being 7 would be odd/rare.

These are things that are telling me your vet may be correct. (I'm sorry for this part)

The anemia from unknown cause, the bloodwork, weight loss, lack of appetite, hiding, shaking head and being off balance can be caused by fip.

Realistically, in the next several days/week you might know more, as there should be progression by then, you did say that his inner lids out was new.

Plus it gives the meds a chance to work if it is not fip but another unknown caused illness, and believe me, it can always be something else. There are alot of unobvious illnesses with cats. Plus they can't tell you where it hurts, etc.

The fact that he is a stressy cat troubles me a bit. It would be his type to harbor the corona virus for a long time.....

Any questions please ask, but of course, fip or other, we are all hoping and will be waiting for any changes or updates too.

I know me personally, I tend to get very involved despite it being over the internet, you may as well be the person next door to me, it stays with me is what I am saying. I feel for you.

 

[susank521]

How is Roscoe doing this morning, Michael? I guess the next step is the new blood work on Monday and we'll all hope for some sign of improvement in those results. Does your vet do it in-house, or send it out?

Lots and lots of prayers and hugs for you and Roscoe.

Thank you @catwoman707for taking a look for us.

 

[michael driggs]

 
How is Roscoe doing this morning, Michael? 

Roscoe is not doing well today at all 

His appetite seems to have gone, He doesn't want to come out from under the bed. 

If he doesn't improve today, I will make the appointment tomorrow with my vet to end his pain. 

devastated. 

 

[denice]

I am so very sorry.  I really hate the whole thing with FIP.  The stuff is so difficult to diagnose, nothing that can be done to prevent it or to cure it or even to control the symptoms.