Our Bowie has Wet FIP and need some encouragement!

[kittychick]

Our sweet Bowie - an abuse survivor "foster fail" (who failed immediately as he won our hearts right away) - was just diagnosed August 11 with presumed wet FIP. I've been with cat shelters for years, and know how Wet FIP usually looks in kittens (altho an adult with it is new for me!). His only two symptoms were a diet that suddenly slowed down in one week, and I quickly spotted that his abdomen was bloated and full. His bloodwork showed nothing abnormal - really good actually, esp for a 15-yr-old guy. But the fluid draw from his belly, along with an ultrasound, was examined and the vet felt 99% sure it was wet FIP (ruling out a tumor, CHF, etc.).

Luckily I knew about a FB group (having JUST helped an adopted foster of ours through the neurological version - - - and she's doing great a year later!) and we started treatment immediately.

But my worry - make that panic - is that his fluid doesn't seem to be dissipating. He started treatment on Aug. 11, and his team just doubled his meds 4 days ago citing "persistent effusion" -- but his belly's only down ¼ inch. Anyone out there who's had a Wet FIP cat be this slow to resolve (I keep seeing kittens/cats on the FIP site losing their "saddlebags" in a week - - it's discouraging)? I keep telling myself we're only just finishing 21 days of treatment on Sept 2, but we SO hoping he'd have lost SOMETHING by now.

Anyone who's dealt with persistent Wet FIP - - - I could really use a little pep talk! Thanks Cat Site community!

 

[BellaBlue82]

Bowie is beautiful, I'm so sorry to hear he was diagnosed with wet FIP. I only had an adult cat with dry FIP, and I know that was difficult for us to manage. She did have an extra three years with medication and support, even though she was older.

I think with any condition, each cat is different. Try not to let the "one week" mark discourage you.

 

[FeebysOwner]

What do the vets say about draining the fluid from his belly, just to see if that helps any? I am sure I know by far less than you do, but just wondered if that might help with the whole recovery process.

It was 30 years ago that my 15 yo cat had FIP, and while there was little to do for him back then, we did drain the fluid a few times just to give him some relief.

I presume you've posed this same question to the FB group? Did you get any responses from them yet?

 

[heatherwillard0614]

I'm sorry your precious Bowie was diagnosed with FIP. I honestly know nothing about it at all but I was wondering the same thing FeebysOwner mentioned. Would them draining the fluid from his abdomen help? If so how often can they do that for him?
BTW Bowie is a very handsome little boy. I'm sorry he has to go through this. At least he has you and you were able to start treatment right away. Hopefully soon you will start to notice improvements in the amount of fluid and whatever else is associated with FIP. Please keep us posted.

 

[stephanietx]

Are you in the FIP Warriors group on FB? Your contact person should be able to help you.

 

[kittychick]

Are you in the FIP Warriors group on FB? Your contact person should be able to help you.

We are - they're who's helping us through this (and thanks for mentioning them - so few people - and vets - believe this is even a possibitilty - an almost cost-prohibitive one for us, but we'll live in a cardboard box if it'll fix Bowie!). They're an amazing group. Wish this stuff could get approved in the US! They're doing all they can from their end - - - I just keep seeing stories on their support group (and initially from admins) that the fluid would likely resolve in a week - two at the most, and some even earlier. They've said hopefully the double dose will help him kick it - but boy we'd love to see SOME sign of it going down!

 

[kittychick]

I'm sorry your precious Bowie was diagnosed with FIP. I honestly know nothing about it at all but I was wondering the same thing FeebysOwner mentioned. Would them draining the fluid from his abdomen help? If so how often can they do that for him?
BTW Bowie is a very handsome little boy. I'm sorry he has to go through this. At least he has you and you were able to start treatment right away. Hopefully soon you will start to notice improvements in the amount of fluid and whatever else is associated with FIP. Please keep us posted.

Neither the FIP group I belong to (a group no one ever hopes to belong to!) nor our vet wanted to drain any as it's in his abdomen, not his chest, and his respiratory rate is well below a rate of concern. It'll just fill back up so quickly from what I understand - and it can lead to shock (altho I've only seen shock with kittens in the shelter). Seems like it would make sense - but guess not to the vet/FIP knowledgable people (or at least the ones I"m talking to!). Thanks for the suggestion tho - - - I wanted to do that immediately, but was obviously discouraged. Just hoping something starts to give in this abdominal fluid! It's not going up - or down!

 

[kittychick]

What do the vets say about draining the fluid from his belly, just to see if that helps any? I am sure I know by far less than you do, but just wondered if that might help with the whole recovery process.

It was 30 years ago that my 15 yo cat had FIP, and while there was little to do for him back then, we did drain the fluid a few times just to give him some relief.

I presume you've posed this same question to the FB group? Did you get any responses from them yet?

Meant to put your name in my reply to the member below. We do belong to the FB group - they keep saying don't panic yet, and then doubled his dose. Still scary!!!!!

 

[IndyJones]

Im not famillier with fip but wanylted to say what a handsome holsteine he is. I love cow cats.

 

[Pouncecat1]

Did they Felv test as well and he's negative? As FIP can be a complication of FELV.

He's a beautiful cat. I'm glad you are fighting for him.

Is he on remdesivir? As sometimes that takes more than one course of treatment.

 

[Binxie]

So sorry Bowie is ill, I hope something can be done to help him feel better. Many many years ago, around 1984, I had a 13 year old cat that the vet thought had wet FIP. The fluid was drawn off and it was typical looking for FIP, or so the vet said. I kept telling the vet that I did not see how it could be FIP as I had the cat since it was a small kitten and I did not see how the cat could suddenly develop FIP, the cat did not go outside and was not exposed to other infected cats. Turned out that it was not FIP, the cat had a large tumor on the liver and it was because of that that the fluid was being produced, Not that a tumor is any better a diagnosis.

 

[heatherwillard0614]

kittychick thank you for the reply. I'm sorry that they aren't able to provide comfort through draining the fluid. I am however happy that you have a huge amount of support from the people here at TCS community and the group on FB.
Would you please keep us posted? You and Bowie are in my thoughts.

 

[kittychick]

kittychick thank you for the reply. I'm sorry that they aren't able to mmrovide comfort through draining the fluid. I am however happy that you have a huge amount of support from the people here at TCS community and the group on FB.
Would you please keep us posted? You and Bowie are in my thoughts.

Thanks for the kind words & thoughts—-we’ll take all of them we can get! Luckily his resting respiration’s still excellent, & he doesn’t seem to be in pain - altho not sure how he’s not, given his big fluid “saddlebags.” Fingers crossed the new med dosage starts the fluid dissipation — but it’s SO hard not seeing it go down.

 

[kittychick]

So sorry Bowie is ill, I hope something can be done to help him feel better. Many many years ago, around 1984, I had a 13 year old cat that the vet thought had wet FIP. The fluid was drawn off and it was typical looking for FIP, or so the vet said. I kept telling the vet that I did not see how it could be FIP as I had the cat since it was a small kitten and I did not see how the cat could suddenly develop FIP, the cat did not go outside and was not exposed to other infected cats. Turned out that it was not FIP, the cat had a large tumor on the liver and it was because of that that the fluid was being produced, Not that a tumor is any better a diagnosis.

Our vet did an ultrasound, in an effort to make sure it wasn’t heart failure, a mass/tumor/etc. His belly (not to mention the analysis of the fluid taken to test) is classic Wet FIP —- I’d just never seen an adult (& a senior at that!) w/wet FIP. We’ll definitely have to explore other options if it’s not down in a few weeks (fingers crossed it’ll be gone before that!). It’s amazing that this treatment’s around now — I saw way too many kittens die of it in my years of shelter work - it was a complete death sentence until just a few years ago! I’m sorry you lost yours to a tumor.

 

[heatherwillard0614]

Thanks for the kind words & thoughts—-we’ll take all of them we can get! Luckily his resting respiration’s still excellent, & he doesn’t seem to be in pain - altho not sure how he’s not, given his big fluid “saddlebags.” Fingers crossed the new med dosage starts the fluid dissipation — but it’s SO hard not seeing it go down.

I really hope the new dosage starts to help asap. I am glad his respiration rate is still good. That's amazing. I know it is hard to see our babies sick. It's never fun but hopefully people on here and the fb group will have some advice and tips that can help Bowie.

 

[kittychick]

Did they Felv test as well and he's negative? As FIP can be a complication of FELV.

He's a beautiful cat. I'm glad you are fighting for him.

Is he on remdesivir? As sometimes that takes more than one course of treatment.

He is negative for FeLV…one good thing! And yes - we got him on Remdesivir right away. It helped stop all other issues except the fluid — if you didn’t see his “saddlebags” you’d never know he was ill! Hopefully the newly-increased dosage helps soon — we’re getting to be very nervous kitty parents!

 

[kittychick]

Wanted to post a pic of Bowie’s back (we had to submit an overhead shot to the FB group — altho his saddlebags hadn’t reached their full saddlebag-ness yet)….and wanted all to see the sweet heart he has on his back! (He’s not just a pretty face )

 

[Norachan]

I don't have any experience with FIP, but I just wanted to come along and offer my emotional support. You know I've been a huge fan of your Bowie for years now. I hope your gorgeous boy recovers.

 

[Antonio65]

My experience with wet FIP is quite recent.

A cat at the shelter where I give a hand was diagnosed with FIP in March. He starting looking weak and miserable a couple of days before, then he stopped eating.
It was Friday, March 17th, I took him to the vets' and they said it was FIP (all tests were indicative of it), so I immediately started the treatment with that unmentionable drug which I got hold of immediately, the following day. The drug I found on that Saturday was a powder, but at that time I had already ordered the liquid form which arrived the next Monday.
The treatment lasted 89 days and ended on June 15th. The cat is still doing fine, I asked the vet to run two tests one month apart and they confired the cat was fine.

The drug to administer has to be calibrated according to the cat's weight, and I was advised to give him 6 mg of drug per kg of weight.
The drug I had was 30 mg/ml, the cat was 3.2 kg, so the advised dose was 0.7 ml, once a day, possibly at the same time every day.
Then I was advised to up the dosage to 8 mg/kg halfway through the course of therapy, and so I did after 42 days.
It seems this is the protocol that works the most.

The cat showed some signs of improvement about 5 days after the first shot.

 

[misty8723]

Bowie is gorgeous! I'm so sorry he and you are going through this.

I have not heard of an older cat getting FIP. Are they absolutely sure that's what it is? I did hear about one kitten who was diagnosed with FIP and treatment started, and that made them worse. It was determined it wasn't FIP, but I don't recall what they said it was. This was a rescue who had the cat.

I had a young cat, maybe 6 months or so, who developed FIP. Her symptoms were just suddenly one day hiding under the bed and not eating. It was weekend, I was thinking kitty cold, so on Monday we took her to the vet. Her temperature was very high. After a series of tests, it was determined FIP. At that time, there was no cure, so we kept her comfortable and happy as long as possible. I'm so happy there is a treatment now and I know of several kitties who were cured.