# ? FIP ?



## Z06 Butterfly (Jan 9, 2006)

I adopted a male Siamese mix 14-18 months old in Sept. of 05'. At that time he had rough hair and scabs on the top of his neck. After getting him in a permanent home, his eating habits increased, his hair became much softer and the scabs went away. Soon after I noticed he had diarrhea, which the vet prescribed some liquid thinking it was merely intestinal problems. Next we tried some pills. That seemed to have fixed things. Then he began sneezing about a month or so ago. It wasn't your normal sneeze or two. This was a group of 20 or so w/out taking a breath! This called for another visit to the vet. He then got a penicillin shot. 5 days later he was acting more lethargic and still sneezing. Back to the vet, after looking up his symptoms online and reading about FIP and freaking out! The vet verified our worst nightmare, it was FIP. We sent off blood work for a test and it came back negative. The vet put him on a antibiotic/steroid, drained a pound of fluid from him, and we began feeding him a/d wet food through a syringe. We hoped that draining the fluid would increase his appetite, but it hasn't. After a few days on this medication the vet changed it to prednisone and he has been on that for 3 days. I am still feeding him 30cc of food 4 times a day, and he does not seem to be getting any better. I was hoping that he would start to feel a little better, want to eat, move around more, but it seems as though he is beginning to get atrophy. I don't think he is suffering, but I don't know what to do. Am I doing the right thing by trying to help him? 
He is still as loving as ever, sleeps right next to me, snuggles, comes to us when we call him, though it is rather slow. 

Has anyone ever delt w/ this? Have any suggestions? Success?

I also have two other cats in the house, but they are seperate from him.
One is 10 and the other is a 2 year old that I recently brought home as well. Neither of them seem to show any signs. The vet said that vaccinating the 10 year old is pointless b/c she has probably built up her immunities, and that if the young one has been exposed then the vacine would only worsen it. I am just hoping that niether of them get it.

Also, I have two dogs and I read where the FIP virus is similar to a common virus of dogs - canine coronavirus, that produces enteritis in dogs. Any info on this spreading to dogs?


Thanks, and sorry that my first post is such a long and drawn out one.


----------



## emrldsky (Aug 31, 2004)

I only know what I've researched on FIP. First, FIP can remain in the environment of your home anywhere from 6 mos - 1 year. Second, if your older cats are updated on their vaccinations, they SHOULD be fine if exposed to the environment. Please keep in mind that a negative result can sometimes be a false negative. 

If your cat isn't eating, have you tried a chicken type of baby food? Some cats, even when they want NOTHING actually respond to that. It's worth a try.

As for it spreading to the dogs, it's a completely different strain than what a dog would get, so your dog should be fine. 


Remember, though, that I am not a veterinarian and can only give you information based on personal knowledge. I hope your baby starts perking up soon.


----------



## Sol (Feb 20, 2003)

It's very hard to diagnose FIP. There is no test for FIP. It's a mutated Corona virus that causes FIP and the only test available today is a test fpr Corona virus. Appr. 80% of all cats have encountered Corona virus without ever getting sick and many healthy cats will test positive for Corona. FIP is NOT contagious. The Corona virus is, but the Corona virus is harmless in most cases. You don't need to worry about the virus spreading to dogs, that doesn't happen. 

The only way to diagnose FIP is by autopsy.

I have no personal experience of FIP *knock on wood* but I know other breeders that have delt with it. It's heartbraking, but in most cases (that I know of) there's only been one sick cat in the cattery, that cat have died but the rest of the cats have been fine.

I think you're doing the right thing by taking care of your sweetheart as long as he isn't suffering. The only thing we can do when our pets are sick is to take good care of them until it's time for them to move on to the other side


----------



## lydelia (Mar 29, 2005)

I am so sorry about your baby. I just had a cat die a month ago with FIP and I was devastated. It comes on so fast. 

I agree with what has been said thus far. I too have other cats in my household and neither have come down with FIP. My vet said the same things that everyone is saying here, the other cats either may or may not come down with FIP, but the chances that they will are slim.

As for the sick baby, take care of him as long as you can. When Oliver got sick (the baby I lost) he was gone from us in a matter of two days. Also bear in mind that FIP is largely incurable since it is a virus. They can do things to prolong the lives of cats who have FIP, but the end is always the same. 

Again, I am so sorry. I know how devastating this is.


----------



## emrldsky (Aug 31, 2004)

Oh shoot! I'm sorry, I got FIP mixed up with the feline distemper! I'm such a dunce!!


----------



## Z06 Butterfly (Jan 9, 2006)

Update.

I had to let go of Pharaoh yesterday. They did some more blood tests and xrays and found out that he had a very small liver. Cats usually do well w/ steroids but due to the unusually small liver Pharaoh went into full liver failure. They showed us the results of the bloodwork and explained all of the numbers and it was not good. Even if we tried to fix one thing the other would not get any better. They said that he was in pain and had less than 24 hours to live. I did what I never wanted to do and put him to sleep. I have not lost a pet in 10 years and I don't think it has ever been this hard. But then again, there was something special about him. 

The day before was my birthday and he gave me the best bday present ever. After days of being unable to move, he managed to walk to my side of the bed and jumped up on to it to cuddle next to me like he used to. It was 11:45 so it was still officially my bday. We put down a trash bag and towel incase he had an accident and he spent his last night in the bed where he belonged. 

RIP my little friend.


----------



## emrldsky (Aug 31, 2004)

Z06 Butterfly said:


> Update.
> 
> I had to let go of Pharaoh yesterday.
> 
> ...


*hugs* I am so sorry! I can't think of anything to say that might comfort you other than he'll be waiting for you, at the bridge.

I'm going to go ahead and move this into the Rainbow Bridge forum.


----------



## LoveMyKitties (Nov 12, 2004)

awww I am sorry to hear about Pharoah. RIP little kitty

"I have sent you on a journey to a land free from pain,
Not because I did not love you,
But because I loved you too much to force you to stay. "


----------



## Mr. Kind (Dec 24, 2005)

Awful sorry to hear about Pharoah. I had a cat named pepper who came down with FIP. There are two kinds, wet and dry. With wet they build up fluid in their lungs and can't breathe. This type progressive very fast. The other is dry which Pepper had and we gave her prednisone for about 1 1/2 years before it turned into the wet type and she died from it overnight. It's a terrible disease with no cure. May your Pharoah rest in peace.


----------



## MA (Mar 30, 2004)

I'm sorry you lost your little Pharoah. My deepest sympathy and hugs out to you.


----------

