Possible FIP in beloved new shelter cat

[AppleButter]

i hope MN can help me think this through, sharing experiences and think of possibilities.
my new shelter cat has been with us for 3-4 weeks , she was terrified and hiding at the shelter and the same in my home. Was using her litter tray, also to pee, but also peeing everywhere, which I put down to being traumatised.
a few days ago she went off her food, and as soon as she went off her drink, since yesterday, I took her to the vet clinic, where we have spent about 700 so far doing only the really necessary treatments.
it seems she has very low white blood cells and also much fluid in her belly and bladder. Fluid has been sent off to be tested. The vet says it most likely is FIP but they will wait for test results.
i have another cat at home to keep safe but I couldn’t ever dump a cat at the shelter again, that would be awful. I would never want to do that.
what can I do, if it is FIP? Apparently life expectancy is several weeks from diagnosis so that would be basically terminal. She is only a year and a half so would have contracted it when very little, a corona baby, hurriedly bred and sold, and probably dumped when she started showing pain or incontinence.

really hoping for some rare happy endings or compassionate, worthy ways of dealing best with it. If it is FIP.

And the tax, slightly blurry

Oh that's so incredibly sad. She's beautiful. I honestly hope it isn't FIP.

She's a beauty, that little face.
Really hope it isn't FIP bless her.

I do hope it isn't . I understand only a very small percentage of cats develop this, so the chance of your other cat getting it is minimal. One of my cats caught a virus at the cattery - thankfully he recovered - but my two cats had been in the pen together and then at home, sharing food and litter before he became ill - it did not seem to touch my other cat at all.

I think all you can do is follow the vet recommended treatment and make her as comfortable as you can.

Sending every positive thought that it isn't FIP.

Thank you everyone. Really hope it isn’t, I spent the afternoon crying about it, even though I’ve only had her a few weeks.
she sometimes makes that funny mouth shape and I was also wondering if that wasn’t an expression of curiosity but mouth-open breathing, which would also be a symptom of FIP.
really hoping it will be something manageable and also affordable. No insurance yet as we just got her and need to get her to the vet before we can get insurance. Now this disaster, but it explains her behaviour at the shelter - complete withdrawal and acute shyness and fright.

she lets me stroke her little tummy though and is so sweet. I love her already and won’t let her down.

She is spending the night at the clinic, with a drip, antibiotics and painkillers, so hopefully she is feeling relieved of pain and feeling comfortable. That is worth a lot. We will see what diagnosis comes.

She will be much more comfortable after this treatment.

Such a lovely little face. Wishing you both all the best.

We had a rescue cat with this years ago. Very sadly he died but our other cat didn’t catch it. Do. Contact the shelter and let them know though. Our vet was insistent about this.

Are you in the UK? If yes, you could ask your vet about Remdesivir treatment - this is very new, arising out of human covid vaccines, but some early success reports by the RVC.

I have a bottle and a half still in the fridge, however I've just checked and the batch expiry is April 22 - check with your vet if it can be used beyond batch date as some medicine can, and I'd be happy to post to you if you wanted to try. It is expensive unfortunately, requiring an injection every day for the first couple of weeks but if your cat responds you can then move on to a less expensive tablet form.

I lost my beloved girl in February to suspected FIP. Can't get 100% diagnosis until post-mortem and we didn't go down that route, but all symptoms pointed to it although she did not fit the model at all, she was 11, previously very healthy and an only cat, but could have come in contact with the virus if a carrying cat had defecated in our garden. We'll never know for sure.

Sending positive thoughts your lovely girl gets a better diagnosis but just let me know if the Remdesivir could be of use.

@TheWeeDonkeyFella thank you so much you are extraordinarily kind. What an amazing offer. Thank you immensely even for thinking of this.
i am in Germany so I think it would now be very hard to post it to me, as all packages are now checked at customs, and they would be very suspicious and not allow it into the country. A year and more ago it would have been much easier.
i will think about it though, if there is a way. ❤️❤️❤️

because I am in Germany they may be responsible for helping out with this latent illness that they failed to spot in the recently adopted cat. Of course I will not exploit them and will spend all my own money first, but will ask for help if they can perform care more efficiently than a commercial clinic. And they receive funding from the state for stray animals, but it is never enough.

i have decided that if she has FIP, she should come home to me, to a nice warm room with garden view, and be made comfortable. I will keep her away from the other cat and we will wear different slippers in that room, to not transfer illness. If she needs “the kiss of death” she can have it when the time comes. But a few weeks without pain should be possible, with managed medical help.

if she needs major surgery, on her abdomen and bladder, and aftercare, I will need to ask the shelter for help as I have limited resources. She must have been ill before she even got to the shelter and it is only because she was weakened and got to know me a little, that I could even catch her, frightened, pained little thing.

thank you everyone for your wishes and for listening to me.

*the shelter may be responsible, and willing to help out.

the vet said he was shocked to see the fluid in her abdomen and wouldn’t have believed it - it is so unusual it points to FIP in such a young cat - she is actually less that 1.5 years old.

@purser25 yes we will do so, have already made contact with the shelter, waiting for fluid test results to come through for FIP. She was in a room with 4 other cats so they will obviously be affected.
it is a lovely shelter in a once-affluent city but they are drowning in dumped corona-lockdown pets, particularly dogs, but also cats.

I will keep the bottles for now @AppleButter but mention to your vet and see what they think. If we can't post, it might not be as expensive to buy in Germany (prices seem inflated over here at the best of times) and I also think it reasonable for you to ask the shelter concerned to contribute.

If you are able to keep your other cat separate and safe, being able to bring your girl home to a quiet calm room would help her too as stress can make worse and hasten effects if it is FIP. My girl had to have a couple of nights in the vet clinic before diagnosis on a drip, ultrasounds etc and although it had been necessary it did upset her which I think hastened her decline.

My lovely girl went downhill very quickly in the last two days and many times I ask myself if I should have let her go sooner but the remdesivir had offered some hope, but came too late for her I think (long story involving our vet missing symptoms and us changing vets before getting a likely diagnosis).

It's awful to have little options for a terrible virus and my heart goes out to you and your little cat. Sending positive thoughts.

Hello Everyone, Just a quick update after an insane week - we had all the tests conducted and contacted the shelter with the diagnosis (unconfirmed), the head of the shelter called me and mentioned FIP treatment unofficially, and with my permission put me in touch with the local FIP network, who very urgently and strictly urged me to pick the cat up from the clinic ASAP and start the treatment the same day, with help of the network to get the meds - a serum similar to that mentioned above. It was insane but I went for it, and now, on day 4 our cats has had a bit of wet food and her own, and has pooed and peed, and is walking around. I am syringe feeding her too, had to Learn that too, a few pills daily and some very expensive injections once a day. Success isn’t guaranteed but she is not worse than when I started this post. Let’s see if it works.
strangely, the tummy fluid returned corona positive but FIP negative, but I am continuing with the treatment as it seems right. I am not allowed to speak to the vets about it except a silent nod but the shelter is helping with further tests and scans if needed and b12 shots, but I have to buy the meds myself.

Sending positive thoughts, it's great to hear she is taking a little food,

Whatever the future holds for her she is in the best of hands. I am glad she has you to look after her.

Emphatically second this - she couldn't have been more fortunate in her human mum.

What a little sweetheart. And you are wonderful for doing all you can to get her better.

Phew! I'm glad you got the meds.

FIP doesn't need to be a dearth sentence any more. Whilst not every cat makes it, she's got a good chance.

Poor little kitty 😢

Wishing her (and you) all the best.

@TheWeeDonkeyFella I am sorry your cat did not make it , I know you did the very best for her and she was glad to have you.May she Rest In Peace.

Thank you @AppleButter Emma was my little pal, such a sweet loving cat and I miss her every day.

She was let down by our vet and also by me for not moving to another vet sooner but you have at least got an early diagnosis for your girl so you've made a good start on tackling this awful virus. The injections are so expensive (I self-funded too) but if she makes progress hopefully you can move on to the tablet form within a couple of weeks which I understand is much cheaper.

Sending positive thoughts for you both and bless you for giving her a chance at recovery.