Need some advice on FIP kitten

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Karen M. - 17 Mar 2004 18:31 GMT

A friend of mine just emailed me with this dilemna. Any one have any
ideas. My local HS would destroy the kitten, as would the county
shelter, I'm sure. I gave her the name of a no-kill which would
probably be her best bet for this area, but can anyone think of
anything else?? Thanks!

K
-----------------------------
<start story>
My friend had three cats. One of the cats, Frankie,
succommed to FIP. The eldest cat is fine. The 5 month old kitten has a
high
level of antibodies. There is no real way to tell if she will suffer
the
same fate. The vet said anytime between now and three years. If she
makes it
past three she will be fine. Do to lack of knowledge about FIP, the
lab
results don't say if she has a high level of anitbodies because she's
fighting it or because she has so much of the virus in her. She shows
no
visible signs of the disease. Because of this scenario the kitten also
cannot be spayed. My friend, Sarah, is moving and cannot afford to
expose
the other cats in her new living situation to the kitten. Do you think
the
shelter you volunteer for would take her, knowing how volatile the
situation
is? I know FIP is highly contagious. We have tried every possible
person of
any means. Any help or information is greatly appreciated. This is
tough
one, especially since the kitten is so young. Thanks.

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Yngver - 17 Mar 2004 22:44 GMT

>A friend of mine just emailed me with this dilemna. Any one have any
>ideas. My local HS would destroy the kitten, as would the county
>shelter, I'm sure. I gave her the name of a no-kill which would
>probably be her best bet for this area, but can anyone think of
>anything else?? Thanks!

IMO she should keep the kitten. For one thing, FIP is notoriously hard to
diagnose and most of them when cats are diagnosed with it, they do not really
have it. Secondly, so-called FIP tests actually only measure exposure to the
much more benign feline coronavirus. A high titre only means the kitten has
been exposed to the coronavirus, but it does not mean she will ever develop
FIP. Only rarely does the coronavirus ever mutate into FIP. If a repeat test
shows the titre is falling, it means the kitten is clearing the coronavirus
from her system, so that might put help put your friend's mind at ease.

Thirdly, current thinking is that FIP itself is probably not contagious. The
feline coronavirus is very contagious, but as mentioned, only rarely does the
virus mutate into FIP. Most cats who have ever been in a shelter or cattery
have already been exposed to the coronavirus.

If the kitten is showing no signs of illness, very likely she does not have
FIP. There is a lot of misinformation out there about FIP; urge your friend to
research it more so she can weed out fact from fiction.

>K
>-----------------------------
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
>tough
>one, especially since the kitten is so young. Thanks.

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Karen M. - 18 Mar 2004 18:28 GMT

So, even if the mother had it, there's still a greater chance the
kitten doesn't have it? So, she should just wait (how long?) and then
have the kitten retested to check for a falling antibody load? Thanks,
Yngver! The woman was going to check with no-kill shelters around
here, but I think this will make her quite happy! :)

> >A friend of mine just emailed me with this dilemna. Any one have any
> >ideas. My local HS would destroy the kitten, as would the county
[quoted text clipped - 47 lines]
> >tough
> >one, especially since the kitten is so young. Thanks.

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Yngver - 19 Mar 2004 17:05 GMT

>So, even if the mother had it, there's still a greater chance the
>kitten doesn't have it?

First off, how do they know the mother had FIP? Was there a definite diagnosis,
which is only done with an actual tissue sample?

Even when FIP is strongly suspected and the cat is already ill or dies, 70
percent of samples sent to labs for FIP verification turn out not to be FIP. So
yes, even if the mother really did have FIP, most of the time, even with sick
cats, it is not actually FIP. A kitten may inherit a susceptibility for the
coronavirus to mutate into FIP--that isn't actually known--but it's not
currently believed that a kitten would catch FIP itself from its mother.

So, she should just wait (how long?) and then

>have the kitten retested to check for a falling antibody load?

Here is what one FIP researcher has found:
"The vast majority of cats shed FCoV for a while, develop antibodies, stop
shedding FCoV and their antibody titre returns to zero. 58% of FCoV shedding
lasts up to one month and 95% of virus shedding lasts less than 9 months."

So it can take anywhere from one to nine months for the titer to fall to zero.
I'd say she would have an idea if it is falling if she has the kitten retested
in a couple months.

However, FIP testing, which really just indicates antibodies to the
coronavirus, doesn't really tell you whether the kitten has or will have FIP,
as noted. Cats can get what is considered a negative result (a low titer) and
still have FIP, so the test by itself is not very helpful.

Thanks,

>Yngver! The woman was going to check with no-kill shelters around
>here, but I think this will make her quite happy! :)

Have her read this to get more insight into FIP and the feline coronavirus:
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org//health/FIP.html

and this, probably the most extensive and up to date info:
http://www.dr-addie.com/index.htm

Far too many healthy cats and kittens have been euthanized needlessly because
of suspicion of FIP, when in fact the disease is fairly rare. Too often vets
mention FIP when they aren't sure what the problem is. I researched it myself a
couple years ago when our cat was sick and one of the vets scared us by telling
us it could be FIP. Of course it wasn't, and she recovered fully, but it did
compel me to learn all I could about the disease to reassure myself that she
didn't have it.

>> >A friend of mine just emailed me with this dilemna. Any one have any
>> >ideas. My local HS would destroy the kitten, as would the county
[quoted text clipped - 45 lines]
>> >expose
>> >the other cats in her new living situation to the kitten. Do you t

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