There are lots of reasons why FIP was unknown or didn't exist prior to the 1950's. Virus's can mutate to the point where they jump from one species to another. It's possible FIP hadn't made that leap yet or that as others have pointed out, it was simply undiagnosed. In NYC in the late 1950's to early 60's, a small number of men were dying of a wasting illness that was never diagnosed until about 10 years ago when preserved tissue samples were tested and tested positive for HIV. The great book "Spillover" (link below), a fascinating history of zoonotic illnesses (illnesses that jump from animal to human, examples: rabies, SARS, Malaria, HIV), showed that HIV was dated to 1908, specifically to tissue samples kept on a shelf in a university in Africa, so there are a LOT of reasons why there is a "start date" for an illness. The author David Quammen also points out the interesting and complex idea that every contagious illness has a ratio between its communicability (how contagious), and the incubation period, that can be expressed mathematically to show that every contagious illness needs a different (and fairly specific) number of ill patients in a specific population density for the illness to become pandemic (widespread) and until that combination is hit, any infectious illness will be local and difficult to spread (and therefore possibly "unknown").jj
There is no definitive test for FIP. A biopsy is not definitive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feline_infectious_peritonitis
Also, where was FIP before the 1950s?
"Poorly understood" does not mean "doesn't exist". If it did then a lot of diseases would not exist.
But all the above misses the point of your original thread (http://www.thecatsite.com/t/303847/cat-is-not-eating-fluid-in-abdomen-mast-shown-in-ultrasound) which is that tragically, your cat is suffering and dying and from your last post you are looking for holistic treatments for a disease that defies all attempts at medical treatment that have been attempted in about the last 50+ years, and it is heartbreaking for us to see you talk about this illness like it either a) doesn't really exist or b) is caused by something other than what the vast majority of vet medicine believes it to be caused by and most heartwrenching of all c) that since we don't really understand the disease very well that treating the symtoms should save the cat.
I cannot begin to understand your pain and anger, and i say this with compassion and the memory of my past feline friends who i loved so deeply, but the longer you prolong your dear friend's life and withhold the final gift we can offer our companion animals, humane release with the help of a vet, the deeper your pain will be, and the longer it will last when you live with the knowledge that you waited too long, knowledge that can never be taken away or made better. Your vets should be counseling you on euthanasia and i urge you to listen. You are already well down a road from which there is no return, with the attendant guilt of knowing you waited too long, and that your last act was to prolong the suffering of the cat you love so much. It is NOT to late to change course.
THE ASPCA's grief helpline has a trained and compassionate counselor who is very experienced in counseling owners about euthanasia decisions before that decision is reached. I have spoken with her on numerous occasions and can attest to how wonderful, knowledgeable and compassionate she is. 1-877-GRIEF-10, https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/pet-loss
UPDATE: The OP has indicated in the original thread that he euthanized his cat this morning. I'm very sorry for his loss.
http://www.thecatsite.com/t/303847/cat-is-not-eating-fluid-in-abdomen-mast-shown-in-ultrasound
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