FIP :( what do we do?

[phlebas]

We have a four month old boy kitten (from rescue), he's really my 7yo son's pet but we all love him. Kitten thinks he is a dog I think.

Yesterday morning I wasn't woken up by the sound of him bombing around the house & I knew he was really ill as soon has I saw him - lethargic, not eating, swollen eyes streaming fluid. He'd been fine when we went to bed the night before. The vet said he had a temperature, his abdomen (possibly kidneys) felt enlarged & his pupils weren't reacting properly. She gave him antibiotics & an anti-inflammatory injection & took bloods.

He perked up massively last night - almost back to normal - & today he's been fine except his pupils are still both dilated - he's eating, using the litter tray, purring & doing all his usual kitten-things. His bloods showed he has coronavirus and the vet suspects he has FIP. I'm not sure what to do now - the vet said see how he gets on tomorrow.

I do not want him to suffer at all. What is the normal course of FIP - should we be thinking about having him PTS? Feeling so so upset & the children will be heartbroken ... he is a lovely little thing :( :(

Oh Dear. If it is FIP, it's a very gloomy outlook, I fear.

I really hope it isn't FIP and you get better news from the vet tomorrow..

It might be worth contacting the rescue tomorrow and saying that you have a suspected case of FIP - other animals might have been infected there so they should know about it directly, just in case.

oh yes - it was the RSPCA - we will let them know.

Firstly corona virus in it's unmutated nonFIP form is a very common cause of D and V in kittens. Secondly FIP requires the cat to be infected with regular Cornavirus that then mutates into the FIP form this is not an instant thing so would be really rare in such a young kitten.
The test can not differentiate between regular Cornavirus and the FIP form.

What should the OP do then, Lone. Just watch and see? Are there other tests that can be carried out at a later stage perhaps?

I'm so sorry to hear this :( It sounds like it could be FIP going from what you have said. The bombing around/dilated pupils etc sounds like a prolonged seizure which is a symptom of dry FIP.

This happened to one of my cats last year (she was 1.5 and had always been very small), we weren't sure what it was and epilepsy was suspected as her bloods came back completely clear, but it turned out to be FIP (started with dry FIP which caused the seizures/fur loss and progressed to wet FIP which causes the fluid in the abdomen).

If FIP is the most likely diagnosis I would PTS asap, it's a fatal condition and PTS really is the best option before they suffer. We tried everything with our beautiful girl and had a few extra months with her but she had poor quality of life and if we had known it was FIP when she first became ill I would have let her go at the very start. She was PTS the day her abdomen swelled but that was just a coincidence that happened that morning, we had already decided to PTS the night before as she was seizing through her pheno and diazepam and the seizures were leaving her blind afterwards.

Unfortunately we have three other cats who were exposed to the virus, my oldest cat (my 10.5y old boy) has had some health problems in the past and is now losing weight and a few days ago started suffering from fur loss, I'm seriously worried that he has FIP now too. If his health gets worse over the next week or so we will have him PTS to prevent any suffering.

I hope he perks up and it's just a case of the virus knocking him for six with him being so young.

Personally I would wait and see FIP in such a young kitten really would be incredibly rare. Regular Cornavirus giving D and V causing a seizure due to low blood glucose would be really quite common. The rapid improvement would suggest it's unlikely to be FIP as nothing seems to make these cats better.
Unfortunately the only definite diagnosis of FIP is post mortem.

Achhh. But thanks for that.

Have a look at dr-addie.com she has lots of info on FIP and corona virus on there. Also look at icatcare.org. As others have said, positive corona virus doesn't mean a kitten/ cat has FIP so please don't PTS while your kitten is doing well.

I hope things continue to go well, make sure you keep in touch with your vet, they should be happy to answer any questions.

thanks everyone - I've just spoken to the vet again. She still believes it is FIP (because of his eyes & swollen kidneys) & says that there is another blood test she can do (for a protein or something?), everything else has come back fine.

The kitten is normal today - I can't believe he was so ill on Wednesday - his pupils are normal & he behaving exactly as I would expect. The plan at the moment is to take him back if he gets ill again & if he stays well we have a appointment next Wednesday. She says really we just have to wait & see how it develops (which is agony) but she will be able to advise when would be the best time to think about euthanasia :( She says that in her career she has seen only one cat who she strongly suspected of having FIP survive :(

I'm sorry about your cat Rikalaily :(

I will have a look at those links.

the other worrying thing is that we have an older (10 year old) cat too, so I'm also fearful for her.