Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP)

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chas - 11 Jun 2005 16:06 GMT

A friend of mine woke up the other morning to discover one of his cats had
doubled in size overnight. The cat was taken to the vet and had to be put to
sleep as FIP was diagnosed.

The family are devasted, even more so, because there other, seemingly
healthy cats who could have it too.

They have googled as have I, (because I have a cat too) - but none of us are
vets or scientists. They are too distraught to take much in at the moment -
so bite sized non technical information would be really helpful, as to what,
if anything, they should be doing now? Is vaccination possible? All the
cats are rescue cats (as is mine) - varying ages - and all are routinely
innoculated.

What exactly is FIP - can it be avoided? How do you know if a seemingly
healthy cat has it?

thank you

chas

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Cheryl - 12 Jun 2005 02:02 GMT

> A friend of mine woke up the other morning to discover one of
> his cats had doubled in size overnight. The cat was taken to the
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> chas

I'm so sorry that your friends cat got FIP. I don't know much about
it other than it's a mutation of an exposure to the feline
coronavirus. There's a test for exposure to FeCV but a positive
result doesn't mean a cat will have FIP. I also understand there
are 2 types of FIP, wet and dry, but again, I don't understand much
about that either. Only that the wet version is probably what your
friend's cat had. :(

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Cheryl

"The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down rat holes with baited
breath."
- W.C. Fields

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Phil P. - 12 Jun 2005 03:06 GMT

> A friend of mine woke up the other morning to discover one of his cats had
> doubled in size overnight. The cat was taken to the vet and had to be put to
> sleep as FIP was diagnosed.
>
> The family are devasted, even more so, because there other, seemingly
> healthy cats who could have it too.

Highly unlikely. FIP is caused by a rare mutant form of a feline enteric
coronavirus with which most cats are infected at one time or another in
their lives.

Cats with FIP usually don't shed FIP virus because the mutant virus is
contained only in the lesions within the body. The only virus that most of
them shed is the parent enteric coronavirus. This means no two cases of FIP
are caused by the same virus, and that horizontal transmission, i.e.,
cat-to-cat transfer is rather the exception than the rule.

Other cats exposed to a cat with FIP have the same low risk of developing
FIP as any cat infected with the relatively harmless enteric coronavirus.

> They have googled as have I, (because I have a cat too) - but none of us are
> vets or scientists. They are too distraught to take much in at the moment -
> so bite sized non technical information would be really helpful, as to what,
> if anything, they should be doing now? Is vaccination possible?

The FIP vaccine is highly controversial; opinions vary from usless to
sensitizing the cat to FIP. I agree with both! I do not recommend it nor do
any vets I work with recommend it.

All the

> cats are rescue cats (as is mine) - varying ages - and all are routinely
> innoculated.
>
> What exactly is FIP - can it be avoided?

Removing feline enteric coronavirus and FECV shedders from the household-
which is almost impossible and requires expensive PCR fecal tests on a
monthly basis.

How do you know if a seemingly

> healthy cat has it?

FIP is highly unlikely if a cat is seemingly healthy. The hallmark of FIP
is a nonresponsive, fluctuating fever.

Tell your friend to relax. I've had literally hundreds of cats exposed to
an FIP cat and not one cat developed FIP.

Phil

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Wendy - 12 Jun 2005 14:49 GMT

> FIP is highly unlikely if a cat is seemingly healthy. The hallmark of FIP
> is a nonresponsive, fluctuating fever.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> Phil

That has been the experience with our rescue group too. We've had a few cats
end up with FIP and they have all been from separate litters and coming from
different locations. There littermates didn't get it nor did any of the
other cats that we picked up in the same location.

W

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chas - 12 Jun 2005 20:40 GMT

Many thanks for the replies.

I've printed them out for him.

chas

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Phil P. - 13 Jun 2005 17:09 GMT

> > FIP is highly unlikely if a cat is seemingly healthy. The hallmark of FIP
> > is a nonresponsive, fluctuating fever.
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
> W

I've heard some real horror stories about shelters and breeders killing all
the cats that could have come in contact with an FIP cat, and other horror
stories about house mates being killed after one cat succumbed to FIP.
Some people still kill healthy cats if they test positive for FCoV- for
which about 90% of all cats would.

FeLV is another panic-disease which isn't nearly as contagious as many
people (and vets) believe. The good news is that the overall infection rate
is *declining*- and the decline began *before* the advent of the FeLV
vaccine.

Phil

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chrisoakey@msn.com - 13 Jun 2005 10:46 GMT

> A friend of mine woke up the other morning to discover one of his cats had
> doubled in size overnight. The cat was taken to the vet and had to be put to
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> cats are rescue cats (as is mine) - varying ages - and all are routinely
> innoculated.

> What exactly is FIP - can it be avoided? How do you know if a seemingly
> healthy cat has it?
>
> thank you
>
> chas

My darling Toby died of FIP two years ago, he had the dry form, but it
was a horrible end, I never left the house for 6 weeks, he just stopped
eating and drinking and going to the loo and got weaker and weaker. I
got the vet to test twice as he said he thought it was FIP, the
coronavirus levels were high or something. I read and read on it, but
still didnt really understand it, but I knew he couldnt survive it.
The vet said that our other cat will almost definitely have the
coronavirus but it is fine unless it mutates. This can happen through
stress. Our Tobes was a sensitive little thing and nervy, but our other
cat is really laid back.

Chris

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