Upper Respiratory Virus

[Millie27a]

I think it is slowly coming to an end for poor little Moses. He isn’t eating well now. I am so concerned....he just sits hunched up and tremors. I have bought some butter basted turkey to try him with and I’m really hoping I can get him to eat later. This has been the worst two months of my entire 48 years!!

 

[catofspace]

Hmm... the medication you were given for your cats is notorious for causing severe stomach pain and upset in general, so it doesn't surprise me at all Moses doesn't want to eat...
The seizures could be due to lack of oxygen - next time he has one, check the color of his gums (if blue, he is severely lacking in oxygen). Honestly, I am somewhat surprised that you vets seem to be relatively unconcerned about the seizures.
About the URI... it can also be caused by bacteria. And fungi, worms,... etc. Some of these have CNS involvement.
Are they going outside? If so, I'd keep them inside for the time being. Wet and/or cold weather can keep URIs going til kingdom come...

 

[Millie27a]

Thank you for your response. I have only given Winnie the medication so far as I read that it can cause neurological symptoms and Moses has enough of that going on right now.
Tbh, my vets seem relatively unconcerned about everything. Seems to be that, as they don’t have a temperature and their bloods are ok, then there is nothing wrong.
I know there is something seriously wrong with them!!!
Moses had about half a pouch of food tonight. It seems to go in his mouth and then fall out again....as though he has forgotten how to eat?
I really don’t know what to do! I’m actually falling apart even though I know I have to be strong for them.

 

[Jem]

Have you tried to syringe feed him yet? Perhaps feeding the RC recovery canned food and maybe some KMR so he can get some nutrients and hydration.

 

[Jem]

I'm sorry for asking this, but your kitties symptoms have changed and progressed so much, I'm having a hard time trying to help you having to go back and read and re-read to get where your kitties currently are, then when I get to the end I have to go back because I forgot something, or which kitty the symptom belonged to....Again I'm sorry, it's all me, not you.
Can you list each of your kitties current symptoms? And what, if anything has gotten better?

 

[Millie27a]

Hi Jem. Am sorry. This has been going on for 9weeks now and I’m probably confusing everyone. My head is so not with it.
Moses started with third eyelid, tremors in head and lethargy. At first vet appointment he was diagnosed with a brain tumour and euthanasia was suggested. He has had two seizures since this time, 7weeks apart.
Three weeks after this Winnie presented in the same way. Third eyelid. He was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection. He was sneezing but there was no discharge from either nose or eyes. Vet said it would run it’s cause?
Neither cat is getting better. In fact, they are getting more lethargic and eating less by the day!
They both went to the vets Saturday for more
Blood tests. Everything was fine. Neither has a temperature.
Winnie was prescribed flagyl for chronic diarrhoea. We are on day two of that. I am also having to get a poo sample to take to the vets for analysis.

 

[Millie27a]

Thanks for the recommendation re the food. I shall pick some of that up tonight and give it a try.

 

[Millie27a]

I sit here in tears writing this, after the longest three months of my life BOTH of my boys have been diagnosed with Fip. Numerous tests have been carried out and, unfortunately everything points to this and I am getting to the bottom of the list of things to try.
When I see them everyday I see little change, but thinking back to last week, and the week before, it is obvious just how much of a decline they have taken. I feel ever so guilty about the whole situation and
I cannot comprehend why this is happening to me ... I’m hoping that some others will understand what I am going through.
I love these boys so very very much and will continue to do so until the day comes where I have to say goodbye. They are now eating very little and not wanting to move much so I know that the time is not far away....Although I cling onto hope with every fibre of my being.
I just wanted to post this to let people know that, if this is the correct diagnosis, then this disgusting disease IS contagious between cats of the same household. I suspect my young 2year old managed to infiltrate the weaker immune system of my 12year old? Although I really have no idea and must try to not figure out what exactly went wrong with the two beautiful men.

 

[kittenmittens84]

FIP itself isn’t contagious, it’s FCOV that’s contagious (but it’s also endemic to a large portion of domestic cats already)

 

[Millie27a]

So odd that my vet (the only one in the numerous amount I have visited) should tell me it is contagious? I shall double check when we see him again tomoro

 

[kittenmittens84]

So odd that my vet (the only one in the numerous amount I have visited) should tell me it is contagious? I shall double check when we see him again tomoro

He may have been talking about (or confusing it with) feline coronavirus, which is the virus that can cause FIP. Feline coronavirus spreads easily between cats, and researchers estimate that more than 50% of cats have FCOV. 95%+ of cats who get FCOV do not develop FIP or have any signs of disease. For some reason in a small percentage of cats (usually young cats or older cats because of weaker immune systems), the coronavirus mutates and the cat’s immune system is unable to fight it off and this mutated form is what causes FIP. The mutated form also doesn’t spread between cats. So FIP is kind of weird in that it’s caused by an infectious disease, but it is not an infectious disease itself.

This is also a reason why the coronavirus titer is not a super useful diagnostic tool for FIP - a large percentage of all cats have been exposed to FCOV (some research estimates as much as 80-90% of cats from shelters or catteries carry it) and will have a positive titer, but only a tiny percentage of them will develop FIP and we don’t really know why or how. It’s not a well understood disease and a lot of the research is newer, so it seems like there’s also a lot of misinformation out there about it. When my vet was diagnosing FIP he also originally told us it was contagious, and then corrected himself the next time we saw him since he’d read more about it.

I’m really sorry about your cats

 

[Millie27a]

Would just like to thank everyone for all the many many lovely warm wishes and advice throughout this extremely difficult time for me. I am totally on my own with two fatally ill animals and no one to turn too so seeing all your many messages of kindness have meant the world to me