Fip? Help, I'm Beside Myself!

Hi guys,

You have all been so helpful in the past, so i wanted to reach out for help. I'm feeling completely lost and hopeless about my cat and need some suggestions or maybe someone has advice/experience to share with me.

Background: My cat is an 11 month old Devon Rex male named Freddie. Never had any health issues until now. We got him from a reputable breeder in our state. We noticed 2 weeks ago that both he and his sister (litter-mate, brought home together) started eating a bit less than normal and just weren't as stoked about food in general. His sister has done this before so we were not overly concerned. They were both acting normal.

This past Monday (5 days ago) Freddie pretty much completely stopped eating. We took him to the vet Wednesday for a blood test which came back normal aside from low cholesterol. He went home and ate some a/d urgent care food and then vomited it all back up 3 hours later. They suggested we take him to the ER for an ultrasound to rule out an intestinal obstruction. At the ER his temp was 100.9 and they noted that he was acting alert and normal. The ultrasound revealed no intestinal obstruction or inflammation, but they did note that his abdominal lymph nodes were abnormally enlarged. They gave us anti nausea and appetite stimulant pills to go home with. The vet recommended we get a FIV/FELV/FIP test soon from their regular vet (which we are doing today) to rule it out, but as soon as she said FIP my stomach dropped. The primary symptoms for FIP are lethargy (which he started to display more yesterday/today), swollen lymph nodes, anorexia, weight loss and fever. The only thing he is missing is the fever. I know there is no definitive test for FIP and it's super hard to diagnose and i am feeling so hopeless and worried as it is 100% fatal. I am in continual contact with the breeder and she said she's never seen or heard of one of her animals contracting FIP in the many decades she's been doing this but i also know that doesn't really mean anything because it can happen totally at random.

Does anyone have any anecdotal experience with onset of FIP and/or experience with a cat with similar symptoms that turned out to be something else? It's concerning that he is exhibiting such severe anorexia without any kind of explainable GI illness, irritation or blood test imbalances to go with it. As of last night he ate around 2oz of wet food but this morning he is refusing food even after being given the medications. Thanks to any and all advice!

I am so sorry you're here dealing with this potential. FIP is a terrible, terrible disease that we unfortunately do not have enough of an understanding to reliably state where it comes from, how it happens or any idea to how to stop it.

I will say that while I do have experience with FIP (my roommate's cat died from it not that long ago), the only real determinate is a diagnosis based off of elimination.

My roommate's cat had lots of loose stools, diarrhea but her eating didn't dive bomb till much later after that. Her fever was incredibly high (at one point it was dangerously high and they had to hospitalize her to bring it down). My own cat has an issue that was similar to FIP but did not present with a fever either. Her case is still technically undiagnosed. However, her blood work showed high liver and gallbladder levels.

I cannot offer you anything more when it comes to this problem but I do hope that there comes another answer that explains your Freddie's problems better than FIP.

mikameek said:

I am so sorry you're here dealing with this potential. FIP is a terrible, terrible disease that we unfortunately do not have enough of an understanding to reliably state where it comes from, how it happens or any idea to how to stop it.

I will say that while I do have experience with FIP (my roommate's cat died from it not that long ago), the only real determinate is a diagnosis based off of elimination.

My roommate's cat had lots of loose stools, diarrhea but her eating didn't dive bomb till much later after that. Her fever was incredibly high (at one point it was dangerously high and they had to hospitalize her to bring it down). My own cat has an issue that was similar to FIP but did not present with a fever either. Her case is still technically undiagnosed. However, her blood work showed high liver and gallbladder levels.

I cannot offer you anything more when it comes to this problem but I do hope that there comes another answer that explains your Freddie's problems better than FIP.

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Hi there,

Thanks for your reply, and I'm so sorry to hear about you roommate's cat. It truly is one of the ugliest diseases. The more I research the more I'm truly horrified by it.

The skyrocketing fever seems to be a hallmark of *most* cases of FIP so I'm holding on to that sliver of hope that his temp was normal, at least at the time of the ER visit.

Do you mind sharing what happened with your cat and what her symptoms are/were? How are you managing it now?

freddie.and.ramona said:

Do you mind sharing what happened with your cat and what her symptoms are/were? How are you managing it now?

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Mika's ongoing symptoms are elevated liver and gallbladder enzymes (ALT, ALP, GGT), she is jaundiced, her appetite dramatically dropped off and she didn't eat for almost a week before I took her to the vet (I'm a new time cat owner and didn't know the dangers of a cat not eating). Her gallbladder was incredibly inflamed and enlarged when she was admitted to a university vet. They aspirated her liver and gallbladder but the cultures from and aspirates of showed nothing. Her gallbladder was full of sludge (meaning her biliary system was not flowing properly).

We have gotten her back to eating properly and regularly, however she is still jaundiced, her liver enzymes are still elevated and she is on a daily medicine to keep her biliary system flowing properly. She lost a lot of weight during her inappetence and we have yet to be able to get her to regain it. If you want more specific details and numbers on things (and have the time to read it), the link in my signature goes straight to the diary that I have been keeping about her problems.

mikameek said:

Mika's ongoing symptoms are elevated liver and gallbladder enzymes (ALT, ALP, GGT), she is jaundiced, her appetite dramatically dropped off and she didn't eat for almost a week before I took her to the vet (I'm a new time cat owner and didn't know the dangers of a cat not eating). Her gallbladder was incredibly inflamed and enlarged when she was admitted to a university vet. They aspirated her liver and gallbladder but the cultures from and aspirates of showed nothing. Her gallbladder was full of sludge (meaning her biliary system was not flowing properly).

We have gotten her back to eating properly and regularly, however she is still jaundiced, her liver enzymes are still elevated and she is on a daily medicine to keep her biliary system flowing properly. She lost a lot of weight during her inappetence and we have yet to be able to get her to regain it. If you want more specific details and numbers on things (and have the time to read it), the link in my signature goes straight to the diary that I have been keeping about her problems.

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Oh, wow. That's so scary! Freddie is similar in that he hasn't eaten for almost a week but luckily has (somehow) not had liver issues yet.

I'm happy to hear Mika is eating again and her condition seems to be somewhat controlled. Cats are such a mystery sometimes! How did you get her to eat again when she didn't want to? We have tried heating up and watering down his meals and using meat baby food, Fancy Feast, treats, and nothing is working. Going to try tuna juice later tonight...

freddie.and.ramona said:

Oh, wow. That's so scary! Freddie is similar in that he hasn't eaten for almost a week but luckily has (somehow) not had liver issues yet.

I'm happy to hear Mika is eating again and her condition seems to be somewhat controlled. Cats are such a mystery sometimes! How did you get her to eat again when she didn't want to? We have tried heating up and watering down his meals and using meat baby food, Fancy Feast, treats, and nothing is working. Going to try tuna juice later tonight...

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I had to force feed her. Syringe feeding her was upsetting for everyone involved and its very messy but it got her calories back up.

The problem with cats not eating is they WILL develop liver issues. Their liver cannot break down fat the way that most other animals can so they develop fatty liver syndrome. If he hasn't gotten any symptoms that means he's eating enough calories. For average, every 1 lb requires 20 calories. Mika is supposed to be 8 lbs therefore she needs 160 calories daily.

Eventually, with lots of coaxing and finding the right kind of wet food to feed her, texture and everything, she started eating on her own. Now we're looking at doing a raw diet because Mika prefer to eat more like that than dry or wet food.