Hi, everyone. I am new to the site, which I discovered this afternoon while searching the web for information about FIP, and I need your help and advice.
Over the past couple of weeks my kitty Ruthie, almost a year and a half old, had started to get what I was classifying as "lazy". Then suddenly, over the last two days, her health went downhill extremely quickly. I watched her closely for an entire day and she ate a very small amount, and was very lethargic. Yesterday morning I woke up at 4:45 a.m. to find her weak and unable even to purr - she had always been extremely affectionate and could be heard purring across the room whenever anyone touched her. We took her to the vet immediately, and he told me after examining her that he believed she most likely had FIP and would die within days. (He actually told me that no matter what she had, she would die, based on his 27 years of experience and the shape she was in.) She had the symptoms which, I know now, are typical - lethargy, depression, distended, fluid-filled abdomen, sudden weight loss. Rather than put her through more pain, at my vet's recommendation, I put her to sleep. It was terrible, even moreso because I had no idea she was really sick until the last two days.
Besides the overwhelming sadness at losing my friend, I also feel guilty, even though I know there is nothing I could have done to prevent this happening to her. Her decline was unbelievably rapid, and I hate that my kitty was so sick and I didn't know it. I also find it incredible that I have been a cat-worshipper my entire life and have never heard of this terrible disease.
My question revolves around my remaining cat, Owen, a 5-year-old angel who is by all appearances completely healthy. He is being tested immediately for all communicable diseases, but I have read that cats who carry the virus that causes FIP may not necessarily test positive for the virus themselves. I know Owen will miss his feline companion very much and would like to get him another, but how can I be sure he does not carry this virus and will not pass it on?
Unfortunately, I did not know that the virus is so hard to detect while I was at the vet last night, and he did not run any tests to determine what definitively happened to Ruthie. I didn't want to put her through any more discomfort if she was not going to make it anyway.
Help! It is safe to get another cat? The last thing I want to do is put another cat through what my Ruthie went through in the last two days. Thanks in advance for your expertise!
Over the past couple of weeks my kitty Ruthie, almost a year and a half old, had started to get what I was classifying as "lazy". Then suddenly, over the last two days, her health went downhill extremely quickly. I watched her closely for an entire day and she ate a very small amount, and was very lethargic. Yesterday morning I woke up at 4:45 a.m. to find her weak and unable even to purr - she had always been extremely affectionate and could be heard purring across the room whenever anyone touched her. We took her to the vet immediately, and he told me after examining her that he believed she most likely had FIP and would die within days. (He actually told me that no matter what she had, she would die, based on his 27 years of experience and the shape she was in.) She had the symptoms which, I know now, are typical - lethargy, depression, distended, fluid-filled abdomen, sudden weight loss. Rather than put her through more pain, at my vet's recommendation, I put her to sleep. It was terrible, even moreso because I had no idea she was really sick until the last two days.
Besides the overwhelming sadness at losing my friend, I also feel guilty, even though I know there is nothing I could have done to prevent this happening to her. Her decline was unbelievably rapid, and I hate that my kitty was so sick and I didn't know it. I also find it incredible that I have been a cat-worshipper my entire life and have never heard of this terrible disease.
My question revolves around my remaining cat, Owen, a 5-year-old angel who is by all appearances completely healthy. He is being tested immediately for all communicable diseases, but I have read that cats who carry the virus that causes FIP may not necessarily test positive for the virus themselves. I know Owen will miss his feline companion very much and would like to get him another, but how can I be sure he does not carry this virus and will not pass it on?
Unfortunately, I did not know that the virus is so hard to detect while I was at the vet last night, and he did not run any tests to determine what definitively happened to Ruthie. I didn't want to put her through any more discomfort if she was not going to make it anyway.
Help! It is safe to get another cat? The last thing I want to do is put another cat through what my Ruthie went through in the last two days. Thanks in advance for your expertise!
