Cat Fip?

Kalsajo

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
15
Purraise
12
Hi there, I've posted about my cat's vomiting a few months and here I am again. Last week he began to vomit excessively everyday, so he was taken to the vet to have a blood test. I was given the diagnosis that he scored positive for both FCV at 1:400 and 1:1600. He was also given a high score for BUN, Creatinine, and CPK. The vet suspected that he had a mild form of FIP, but wasn't so sure because he didn't have the physical symptoms of a cat with FIP (Stomach expanding with fluid, unresponding fever if he ever had one, weight loss, etc.). Although it shows positive of him having the virus, he's been a healthy kitty and sometime will spend the morning running around the house. Is it possible that he could still have FIP even when there is no symptoms shown?
 

war&wisdom

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Aug 2, 2018
Messages
1,048
Purraise
1,298
Location
Rockville, MD
Hi there, I've posted about my cat's vomiting a few months and here I am again. Last week he began to vomit excessively everyday, so he was taken to the vet to have a blood test. I was given the diagnosis that he scored positive for both FCV at 1:400 and 1:1600. He was also given a high score for BUN, Creatinine, and CPK. The vet suspected that he had a mild form of FIP, but wasn't so sure because he didn't have the physical symptoms of a cat with FIP (Stomach expanding with fluid, unresponding fever if he ever had one, weight loss, etc.). Although it shows positive of him having the virus, he's been a healthy kitty and sometime will spend the morning running around the house. Is it possible that he could still have FIP even when there is no symptoms shown?
I'm not sure what the vet means by "mild'" FIP, since that's basically always a death sentence. Coronavirus (FCV) can mutate into FIP, but testing positive for FCV doesn't mean your cat has FIP; a majority of shelter cats test positive.

Maybe your vet means a mild case of coronavirus?
 

neely

May the purr be with you
Veteran
Joined
Dec 22, 2005
Messages
19,642
Purraise
47,815
How old is your cat and how is your vet planning to monitor and treat him?
There are two forms of FIP, i.e. wet and dry. Did your vet mention which form he thought your cat may have? Here is a TCS Article about FIP which may be helpful for you: Fip In Cats
And a thread that discusses this subject in detail:
FIP? Please help...

Try not to worry yet and if you're not satisfied with the answers or treatment you are receiving from your vet feel free to get a second opinion. Please keep us posted on your cat's progress. :alright:
 

FeebysOwner

TCS Member
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
22,443
Purraise
33,216
Location
Central FL (Born in OH)
Hi. Although I am sure that every cat varies, but typically with wet FIP by the time there is fluid accumulating in the belly other symptoms are present - primarily lethargy and decreased eating/drinking. That is what I experienced with my cat, Tawny, who succumbed to FIP at 15 yo.

The dry form presents pretty much the same way, but there is no fluid accumulation - as you probably saw in the article neely neely provided above.

The most conclusive test that I know of to help confirm FIP is:
https://idexxcom-live-b02da1e51e754...c75ac/feline-infectious-peritonitis-virus.pdf. However, this test is more difficult to administer with the dry form of FIP as it requires either a biopsy or aspirate sample of tissue.

Also, look at the diagram in the above report - it outlines the symptoms and related conditions that lead to concluding if the test is or is not applicable.

As already stated above, many cats test for corona virus, and most who have it never have the virus mutate to FIP. So testing positive for corona virus means nothing in reality.

I would encourage you to ask your vet to look for other possible causes. If the vet isn't inclined to do so, please find another vet (not affiliated with the same vet group) to get a second opinion.
 

GaryT

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Feb 4, 2019
Messages
1,132
Purraise
4,718
Location
Northeast USA
FIP is bad. My first Persian had that in the end. He had the wet version. My second Persian had the dry. It was heartbreaking to watch him climb into the sink seeking water but it would pass right thru him. I watched him shrivel up right before my eyes. I hope to never see that again. I hope your vet is better than mine was. The vet I had for my first one would drain some of the fluid off and that made him last a few more months before I finally let him go. This was many years ago and I would hope medicine has gotten better.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

Kalsajo

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
15
Purraise
12
I'm not sure what the vet means by "mild'" FIP, since that's basically always a death sentence. Coronavirus (FCV) can mutate into FIP, but testing positive for FCV doesn't mean your cat has FIP; a majority of shelter cats test positive.

Maybe your vet means a mild case of coronavirus?
Hello, so I have done more research about FIP and FCV, and although it says my boy has been tested positive for FCV at even 1:1600, the vet says he only suspects it to be FIP and still isn't sure because Toby (my cat) still seems relatively healthy. However, due to his elevated level of BUN/Creatinine/CPK, it suggests that his kidney may be damaged/a muscle in his body is damaged.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

Kalsajo

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
15
Purraise
12
How old is your cat and how is your vet planning to monitor and treat him?
There are two forms of FIP, i.e. wet and dry. Did your vet mention which form he thought your cat may have? Here is a TCS Article about FIP which may be helpful for you: Fip In Cats
And a thread that discusses this subject in detail:
FIP? Please help...

Try not to worry yet and if you're not satisfied with the answers or treatment you are receiving from your vet feel free to get a second opinion. Please keep us posted on your cat's progress. :alright:
No, he didn't tell us what form of FIP he had so I can only hope he doesn't have FIP :( If anything, and if possibly he did have FIP, I'd think it would be dry FIP because of the internal organs (kidney) that seems damaged. The vet told us to come back a week later to see his progress, and would later give us medicine for his kidney. For now, we have medicine to regulate his vomiting.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8

Kalsajo

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
15
Purraise
12
Hi. Although I am sure that every cat varies, but typically with wet FIP by the time there is fluid accumulating in the belly other symptoms are present - primarily lethargy and decreased eating/drinking. That is what I experienced with my cat, Tawny, who succumbed to FIP at 15 yo.

The dry form presents pretty much the same way, but there is no fluid accumulation - as you probably saw in the article neely neely provided above.

The most conclusive test that I know of to help confirm FIP is:
https://idexxcom-live-b02da1e51e754...c75ac/feline-infectious-peritonitis-virus.pdf. However, this test is more difficult to administer with the dry form of FIP as it requires either a biopsy or aspirate sample of tissue.

Also, look at the diagram in the above report - it outlines the symptoms and related conditions that lead to concluding if the test is or is not applicable.

As already stated above, many cats test for corona virus, and most who have it never have the virus mutate to FIP. So testing positive for corona virus means nothing in reality.

I would encourage you to ask your vet to look for other possible causes. If the vet isn't inclined to do so, please find another vet (not affiliated with the same vet group) to get a second opinion.
Thank you, as for the PDF, I really don't believe in that he has most of these symptoms. He hasn't ever had seizures and his stomach does not seem enlarged. He's the only kitty in the household but is generally a passive/anxious cat in nature. For lethargy however, I honestly don't have a clue if he's sleeping all the time. I believe he sleeps only at times when he's extremely bored (ex: family isn't playing with him, etc.). There's no weight loss, in fact I believe that when we took him to the vet, he weighed 4 pounds, and last week, he weighed 8 pounds. He does seem to have a damaged kidney from the high count of BUN and Creatinine. He also has a high level of CPK. I don't wish to believe that he has FIP, but if it's dry perhaps it led to the damage of the kidney or he just has generally a bad kidney. I'll see if I can ask the vet for him to gather a sample of tissue or rule out other possible causes. Thank you very much.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9

Kalsajo

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
15
Purraise
12
FIP is bad. My first Persian had that in the end. He had the wet version. My second Persian had the dry. It was heartbreaking to watch him climb into the sink seeking water but it would pass right thru him. I watched him shrivel up right before my eyes. I hope to never see that again. I hope your vet is better than mine was. The vet I had for my first one would drain some of the fluid off and that made him last a few more months before I finally let him go. This was many years ago and I would hope medicine has gotten better.
I'm so sorry for your loss and both you and your kitty's painful experience :( unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a cure for this terrible disease yet. Hopefully in the future, we'll be able to see a better examination for pets and cur many more diseases that causes a death sentence. For now, I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that my cat doesn't have FIP. Once again, I hope you are much better now :hugs:
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10

Kalsajo

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
15
Purraise
12
Update: Toby has been eating, still running around the house playfully, has no eye or nerve problems, and is generally a healthy boy (although he lost a pound). We took him to the vet and the vet said that's he probably a carrier or the diagnosis confirmed that he had just the coronavirus. This week his vomiting medications were gone, but Toby hasn't vomit or even shown signs of it this week :) For now we bought the medications for kidney support, and I suppose he'll live much longer now. I hope I can continue memories with my baby.
 
Top