Help talk me down re cats and FIP

[Iwouldratherbemuckingout]

Last weekend I lost my lovely little man to FIP. It was all very quick, I was just in shock, he was a only a year old. He was my baby, I'm devastated.

I also have his brother, my sister has the other 2 from the litter. One of her little ones is at the vets suspected FIP. We don't know his prognosis yet but it's not looking good.

I am sat here with my heart in my boots. I have 5 kits, and I am trying not to give into the overwhelming fear that this is going to take them all. I am taking 3 of them into the vets for bloods tomorrow to see if there is anything going on - not to test for the virus but liver function etc. My little boo had liver failure and he and one of the others had a reaction to the sun earlier this year, and photosensitivity can be a sign of liver problems.

The thought that this could be threatening them all is absolutely unbelievable - has anyone any experience of this situation? Good or bad?

All thoughts would be very much appreciated- I partly feel like I'm staring into an abyss but also just don't believe it is possible and I've no idea which is real.

I'm so sorry to hear about your boy. Lots of cats are corona virus positive but don't go on to develop FIP. So it's likely that all your cats will have corona virus, but it's not at all a certainty that they will become ill.

For years and years I had a house full of corona virus positive cats and never lost one. After a few years those that originally had tested positive then tested negative.

So be vigilant but try not to panic.

Hi - I know it is awful dealing with this. I'm so sorry for your cat and for you. As pp says, the virus is really common. Pedigree cats tend to be more vulnerable to it turning into FIP. I have a 17 year old birman - his mum died of FIP nine years ago. I got him a new friend but sadly she died of it too four years ago.

No need to panic though in a multicat household chances are they are all carrying the virus but it doesn't mean they'll all get FIP. Good luck!

www.catvirus.com/WhatIsFIP.htm

Thanks both. I'm feeling more reassured today after a trip to see the vet. My older 3 are low risk but it's the little ones to be concerned about. They were all exposed to the virus at the same time, and of the 5 kittens my sister and I adopted between us, we have lost 2 to FIP within 10 days of each other. My sister lost her little man today. The whole family is heartbroken.

So my 2 littlies are on the watch list, we are going to track health by bloods every 6 months which makes me feel better. Vile disease.