FIP information?

Discussion in 'Feline Health - (Welcome & Main Forum)' started by LynnLee + Mousie, Mar 10, 2010.

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  1. LynnLee + Mousie

    LynnLee + Mousie Well-Known Member

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    Dec 28, 2009
    sister called me this morning....wee hours. her cat hasn't eaten in 24 hours, then started vomiting and then moved to pooping outside the litterbox some of the worst smelling slimy stuff she's ever seen. she wouldn't even call it poop.

    anyhow, she scooped some of it up and got George and his slime sample to the vet today. vet is thinking FIP. ?????

    how can he go from a healthy housecat to having FIP? vet thinks he's had it and it's just become active. does that make sense??

    the vet says there is fluid around his abdomen. x-rays were done and there is no blockages (which was one of my first thoughts though) and they are waiting on some labwork to come back to know.

    what does this mean for George? what about the other cats that have been in contact with him for years?
     
  2. Larry and Kitties

    Larry and Kitties Well-Known Member

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    Dec 28, 2009
    FIP is when the corona virus mutates to a bad form. Many cats have the corona virus and very few get FIP. What tests were done to get to the FIP diagnosis? There is really no test for FIP. There is test for the corona virus but many many cats are positive for it. Usually FIP is diagnosed by elimination of other diseases. If there is fluid ing abdominal (ascites) analysis of the fluid provides some diagnosis information, It is not contagious.
     
  3. Jess & Earl

    Jess & Earl Member

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    Dec 28, 2009
    Hi Cindy

    I'm sorry to hear about George. There are a lot of steps between "fluid in the abdomen" (called ascites [asight-ees]) and OMG FIP! Full bloodwork and an abdominal ultrasound is a start. If your sister isn't totally comfortable with her vet and her finances allow it, she can ask for a referral to an internal med specialist who can do an ultrasound and guide further diagnostics.

    I wouldn't bother paying for an FIP/coronavirus blood test. Better to do full chem/CBC and FeLV/FIV test.

    Keep us posted, let me know if i can help.



    (edited to correct typo)
     
  4. Joanna & Bix (GA)

    Joanna & Bix (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Dec 28, 2009
    Awww, that would be sad, though it doesn't actually sound like FIP to me, but I only have experience with the dry form, maybe the wet is like that? I had a cat who died from it years ago - all my others (8) were exposed to it by the time she got sick, and she was friendly with them too - mom-type kitty who groomed everyone, so no way they weren't exposed. I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop for something like 10 years now, and amazingly no one else has come down with it.

    As I understand it (if I remember right) there is initial exposure to the virus, and then in some cats their immune system overreacts and they develop FIP. Since they've been exposed to the original virus, their immune system can go wonky years later and they will come down with FIP - really young & older cats are more susceptible, so I still figure at least one of mine is going to get it in a few years, but who knows. I think I read (10 yrs ago, who knows if the stats are the same) that at least 50% of cats are exposed, but no more than 10% of all cats will actually come down with FIP, though the % may be higher in multi-cat households.

    The symptoms are super-vague though with the dry form - my cat just wasn't interested in eating one day but acted like she felt fine otherwise, so I knew something was up. She went back to eating the next day and seemed normal, but I took her to the vet and some of her blood values were off. I think it took us about 2 or 3 months of running through a number of tests & going for an ultrasound before they determined it was FIP. She never really had symptoms, just gradually lost weight over a few months til she started really going downhill. The wet form their abdomen fills up and has to be drained regularly (assuming they make it that long), and has a more rapid downhill progress to it from what I read.

    Inca never vomited or had kooky poo from it, and I don't recall that as a symptom from what I read, but again she did have the dry form and it's been a lot of years since I've read about it.

    Hope it turns out to be nothing! :D
     
  5. Gia and Quirk

    Gia and Quirk Member

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    Dec 28, 2009
    Some vets say FIP when they can't find another diagnosis, that's what happened with my Gimmick. The only way to definitively diagnose FIP is with a necropsy, and when we had that done it was still inconclusive.

    The best advice I can give you is forget "FIP" and treat the symptoms as best you can.
     
  6. Steph & Cuddles (GA)

    Steph & Cuddles (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Dec 28, 2009
    I'm surprised the vet jumped to FIP so quickly! :sad: That's a very serious disease, and dx! I'm with the others tho. There is really no test for it.. all they do is test for the corona virus (I believe that's all they test for), and lots of cats DO have the corona virus. But it's not a big deal for most cats, because it doesn't mutate in most of them. They really don't know how or why it mutates in some cases.. but as far as I've read, other cats can't watch FIP. Corona virus, yes.. but FIP, no (since it's something that mutates in the individual cat's body).

    Hope it's nothing serious!
     
  7. LynnLee + Mousie

    LynnLee + Mousie Well-Known Member

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    Dec 28, 2009
    the test results came back in. no sign of the corona virus so the vet says he does not have FIP

    not so good news is that no one still knows what's going on for sure buttttttttttt, better news is that George hacked up a large hairball today. after the hairball she offered him food again. he refused wet food, he refused baby food, but get this HE ATE SOME DRY FOOD!!! at this point my sister is just so happy that he ate something. she sounded so much better today talking to her.

    she said the other night she was in the bathroom with him doing his meds and such that the vet has her giving and she just had to sit down and bawl her eyes out for fear he'd be dead this time next week.

    today she is much happier as Georgie seems to be turning around :)
     
  8. dian and wheezer

    dian and wheezer Well-Known Member

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    Dec 28, 2009
    great news. prayers that this continues
     
  9. Lisa and Merlyn (GA)

    Lisa and Merlyn (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Dec 28, 2009
    Just wanted to mention that while FIP is still not well understood, new research shows that it is very likely genetically spread, meaning that cats that are related show the same likelyhood to mutate the coronavirus to FIP.

    Our shelter has a higher than normal incidence of FIP (both via inhouse kittens, and also adopters letting us know) Our vets have been tracking when we hear about adopters who have lost cats to FIP and it seems like many kittens are littermates.

    It was thought to be contagious because in the past it has decimated catteries, however, in catteries, many/most of the cats are related to each other.

    edited to add link
    http://www.cfa.org/articles/health/FIP.html
    I hope George is ok.
     
  10. CinderandMonica

    CinderandMonica New Member

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    Jan 1, 2010
    My little Cinder, just shy by one week of a year old, just died from FIP this morning. She had her chest drained and the fluid tested positive for FIP. We treated her for 11 days in the hospital with IV fluids including antibiotics, vitamins, POLYMVA ,etc. They drained her chest several times but nothing worked. She went from seemingly perfectly healthy to so ill in just two days time. It is a terrible disease.
     
  11. Joanna & Bix (GA)

    Joanna & Bix (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Dec 28, 2009
    (((((Monica))))) I'm so sorry for your loss, how terrible.

    Fly free sweet Cinder wings_cat
     
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