FIP

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cat mom 8

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One of my cats was diagnosed a week ago with FIP. He's 7 years old and has lived inside my home since I rescued
him at 3 months old. I was under the impression the FIP effects cats under 2 and over 11. How in the world can he
he have FIP? I live in a rural area and haven't have a visitor since Christmas day. Nothing has changed inside my
my home, so it couldn't have been stress that caused FIP to rear it's ugly head.
I have been searching the internet to find something, anything to help him. Some posts feel FIP can be beaten, others,
not so much. My cat's name is Snickers. I gave him that name because he was so sweet.
If anybody has any suggestions, please let me know.
Thanks
 
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cat mom 8

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thanks, I'll go check it out
 

Kieka

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With COVID19 and people being on quarentine my vet told me they have been seeing more cats with stress related illnesses. The cats are reacting to the humans stress levels is her theory. I don't know how true it is, just that my vet seems to think there is an uptick in our area. My cat is currently hospitalized for a potential stress related illness so please don't take it as a critique but an observation from my own situation. While most cats will get FIP really young or older, middle age is possible. My girl is a carrier and I've been told to watch for signs at any age because more likely doesn't mean exclusive.

I am really sorry for the prognosis. It's always hard to get that kind of news. :grouphug2:
 

Furballsmom

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thanks, I'll go check it out
I was still editing my post above and wanted to be sure you saw the third website I listed. Also, there is a facebook FIP group, if you'd be interested, it is called FIP Warriors. There's an additional one called FIP FIghters Canada, I don't know if that would be helpful for you or not.
 
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meimipop

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First of all, I'm sorry you and Snickers are going through this.

We had a very sturdy cat who developed FIP at 9 years old. At the time no one knew why he suddenly developed it, as we had had him since we rescued him as a kitten and had been really healthy and chill until then. I think FIP is a poorly understood condition still, back then our vet told us it was very likely our other 4 cats would also develop it but none did, even though two were young kittens and one was over 11.
 
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cat mom 8

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With COVID19 and people being on quarentine my vet told me they have been seeing more cats with stress related illnesses. The cats are reacting to the humans stress levels is her theory. I don't know how true it is, just that my vet seems to think there is an uptick in our area. My cat is currently hospitalized for a potential stress related illness so please don't take it as a critique but an observation from my own situation. While most cats will get FIP really young or older, middle age is possible. My girl is a carrier and I've been told to watch for signs at any age because more likely doesn't mean exclusive.

I am really sorry for the prognosis. It's always hard to get that kind of news. :grouphug2:
 
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cat mom 8

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I live in a rural area and have for 16 years. My closest neighbor is 1/2 a mile away, so basically, I've been self quarantined
for 16 years, but just didn't know it. I have owned cats for many, many years and know they don't like change, which isn't
a problem since nothing changes from day to day in my home. One day a week, I leave to go shopping in the nearest
big city, but I've done that since Snickers was a baby. This problem came out of the blue and it was quite a shock. I
take good care of my kitties, feeding them better than I feed myself, I keep them groomed and spend time with them.

Sorry to hear your furbaby is hospitalized. Hope she will soon be back home with you.
 
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cat mom 8

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I was still editing my post above and wanted to be sure you saw the third website I listed. Also, there is a facebook FIP group, if you'd be interested, it is called FIP Warriors. There's an additional one called FIP FIghters Canada, I don't know if that would be helpful for you or not.
 
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cat mom 8

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No, I hadn't seen it, but will in just a few minutes. Thanks
 

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Hi. Sorry for Snickers' diagnosis. My first cat, Tawny, succumbed to FIP many, many years ago. The vet said that it most likely was another disease or illness that weakened his system and allowed the corona virus to mutate to FIP. This can be true of cats of any age. I know it doesn't help you any, but just wanted you to know that even back then, they suspected another 'behind the scenes' disease was the primary culprit.

Check out the websites you been given, there are some options to try to treat it. If Snickers has the dry form, it takes a while longer to cause severe problems, but is much harder to obtain a firm diagnosis. There are tests out there now with the wet form that can be done of the fluid accumulation that are pretty accurate. I think information on such is in one or more of the above noted websites.

God bless.
 

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Some cats just get FIP, it’s random and it really sucks. There are risk factors that make cats more likely to get it but there are also cats that don’t fall into any of those categories that get the disease.

If you want to treat him, join FIP warriors and they can get you the info. My little kitten had FIP, almost died, they helped me get him medication and now he’s a normal 10 lb crazy cat. Don’t waste your money on interferon. Good luck to you and Snickers!!
 
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cat mom 8

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Thank you. I'll do that. It's hard to look at him and think he may not live. He has so many years left that he will
be cheated out of, should he not be cured.

I checked on interferon and found it could only be purchased from the UK and now they won't ship any
of it out of the UK, so that's not even an option.
 
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cat mom 8

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Hi. Sorry for Snickers' diagnosis. My first cat, Tawny, succumbed to FIP many, many years ago. The vet said that it most likely was another disease or illness that weakened his system and allowed the corona virus to mutate to FIP. This can be true of cats of any age. I know it doesn't help you any, but just wanted you to know that even back then, they suspected another 'behind the scenes' disease was the primary culprit.

Check out the websites you been given, there are some options to try to treat it. If Snickers has the dry form, it takes a while longer to cause severe problems, but is much harder to obtain a firm diagnosis. There are tests out there now with the wet form that can be done of the fluid accumulation that are pretty accurate. I think information on such is in one or more of the above noted websites.

God bless.
 
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cat mom 8

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Snickers has the wet form. I noticed about 3 weeks ago that he was off his feed. I always keep a bottle of Organic
liquid Colostrum, so I started giving that to him, which he loves, then got an appointment with my regular vet. She
said he was dehydrated, so she gave him 200 CCs of fluid and took blood. The test came back and showed his white
count off the charts. She started him on antibiotics. I took him back every 3 days so she could keep an eye on him.
Fluids were building in his abdomen and she told me she though he had FIP. I live in a very small rural town and the
vet doesn't have the equipment like are in vet's offices in bigger cities. She called one of them and asked if the vet could
do an ultra sound on his abdomen. I took him there just 2 days ago. The vet said his heart is good, no fluids in his lungs,
the liver looks good and I know his kidneys are working because he's using the litter box. She did say he had wet FIP.
I told her that he wasn't ready to die and if he's willing to fight for his life, I would do everything I could to help. She sent
home a bottle of Prednisone, 1/2 a tablet twice daily for 2 weeks, etc...He's only had 3, so I can stop giving him those
without any problems. I am giving him plain yogurt with cod liver oil, colostrum, a multiple cat vitamin and chicken
baby food. I have an entire congregation praying for him to recover. I won't rule out divine intervention....
I'm not a facebook user, but will go look at the FIP warriors and if I have to join, I will.
 
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