FIP? Please help...

[meelasmom]

Can you talk to me about what the symptoms were that led to to the region to put your baby Wink down? You said he had FIP. I'm still not convinced that's what Meela had. I feel like I am desperate to find a solid reason that I did the right thing. I don't feel like I have Meela enough time.

I am so full of regret and guilt. I don't know how to live with it. The vet believed Meela had FIP. I did not do any further testing after because I was afraid he was wrong and there was more that could have saved her.

Meela was also lost on April 4. I'm so sorry about your loss and completely can relate.

 

[meelasmom]

Reason not region. The vet was wrong on hisbtheories 3 other times and the power of my love for Meela seemed to be a big factor in her trying to recover.

I think I had a few more things to try. She still had more time and I took it away without forging on.

 

[winksmom]

Sorry I haven't replied to your post...I have been out all day.

I know how you feel.

I kept asking myself if I had done everything that I could do to save Wink's life.

The answer to that is "no" I didn't do everything that I had thought of, or that I had seen online.  BUT...I couldn't let him suffer another minute.

I kept telling the vet every time I took him in..if there's a chance he can get better and live a quality life I don't want to put him to sleep.

So, we would try something else that didn't work and Winkie continued to suffer and go down.

The night before I took him in to the vet for the last time, I realized I had made a bad decision.  I loved that little boy so much and seeing him suffer killed my heart.

He looked toward me...he couldn't see me because his retinas had detatched several weeks before, but he was looking at me with pleading.  I won't forget it, ever.

So, the next day I took him in.  It was so so hard, but it was so quiet and peaceful in the end. He was so sick. 

I hate this disease and I'm afraid for my other indoor cat, Darling, but from what I've read the chances are probably that he won't get it. But of course, this is not certain.

To answer your questions:

I think it all started when he got hurt several months before he got sick.

Reading online about FIP (only the reputable online sites) I read that an illness or stressful event, or some kind of trauma could trigger the Coronavirus inside him and develop into full-blown FIP.

Anyway, when my grandsons were here, he got out of the house and we couldn't get him in.

Finally, that evening he was at the door and I was cooking or something and just let him in and went back to what I was doing not paying attention, really.

Later, I noticed he was acting oddly and noticed he had a wound on his back.  It looked like a puncture wound...no idea how he got it.

Anyway wound was treated...it scabbed over but would "pus" and took forever to finally heal up. The vet drew blood and put him on iron for anemia at this time.

In the meantime, his FHV (Herpes)/FVR (Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis) started flaring up...and it got worse and worse. He was treated with L-Lysine, prednisone (later read that it is BAD for FHV), antibiotics, and steroidal nasal drops, but nothing helped.  We took him into the bathroom when we showered to steam his sinuses and bought a vaporizer (we had been using a humidifier...wrong!  I used distilled water in the nebulizer because the mist was finer.  Nothing worked.

Finally, when I woke up one morning he was blind. Rushed him to the vet...his retinas had detached and he was blind. I kept thinking...blind cats do alright...they adjust and then I cried and cried. It was heartbreaking.

I took him hours away to an animal eye Ophthalmologist.  She ran a lot of tests. His anemia was bad and nothing to do for the eyes except antibiotics for sinus infection, which had never cleared up from before.

He continued to go down and I took him to another vet to get a second opinion because I didn't like what the other two vets told me when they suggested FIP. I kept thinking it might NOT be FIP and I had to do something! Wink never had any kind of fluid buildup anywhere, so I kept hoping.  After all, there's nothing I could find that said specifically that the disease could attach his SINUS! (which of course IS upper respiratory and vet sites definitely DO mention that)

I took him into the vet two more times.  Each time he got more meds.  Famciclovir, Guaifenesin, and appetite stimulant because he wouldn't eat.  He would drink a little every now and then.

It was hell trying to get all that medicine in him when he was so sick.  Hell on him and hell on us...and that's where this disease comes from as far as I'm concerned.  I've prayed more than once that God sends this disease right back where it came from.

I finally put him down that last day...and I was determined to do it.  He was suffering so badly and I was feeling so so horrible for not doing it the day before when we were at the vet.  I think the vets don't always know what to do or say with a situation like this.  Their profession by nature is to heal and preserve life. I think it's a dilemma too, to know when quality of life and suffering has gotten to the point that it's time to stop. Some vets keep treating the patient when it's time to let go. 

I don't know if how I reacted to Wink's illness was me being "in denial" or desperation.  I did the same thing as the vet trying to "fix" what cannot be fixed.  

That being said, the vet school at Kansas State Univ. apparently is doing trials on a treatment for FIP that is looking very promising.  Too late for us, but maybe hope for others soon.

I finally accept that Winkie had dry FIP.  He never had a chance.  I still feel guilty. I miss him terribly and keep running across reminders of him here at home that make me smile and cry.

Be kind to yourself.  Meela and Wink aren't suffering anymore and we loved them and they loved us.

They wouldn't want us feeling sad or guilty and I believe they are in a better place.

My faith says God loves his creatures and I know he has made provision for them.  I pray that I will see my little boy again someday.

I pray peace and comfort for your heart! I hope I was of help.  I will post this on the website also, so you will be sure to see it.

 

[cindycrna]

We lost 7 month old Leonard to FIP. 2 weeks after adoption from a shelter, he began to exhibit symptoms. He had dry FIP for 3 months only to have it turn to wet. We put him to sleep immediately. It was so heartbreaking. We did everything possible. It's a fatal disease that attacks the young.