We lost our kitten to FIP and I needed to share my story to see if it would help others.
TIPS:
- As of today, March 22, 2025, FIP drugs are legal, but vets do not have much experience with treating FIP because the drug is so new. You have to be pro-active.
- Get a baby thermometer and learn how to take your cat’s temperature (rectal). Any temperature over 102 and they should be taken to the vet.
- Kittens should be playful. If your kitten becomes less playful, then they are lethargic. Take their temperature and take them to the vet.
- If your kitten shows any sign of eating less, even if still eating, take them to the vet.
- If your kitten is drinking too much water and it seems weird, take them to the vet.
- Do not worry that the vet might say that you are over worrying. You may not be. Take them to the vet.
- If your kitten has the inner eyelid showing when they are not sleeping, take them to the vet immediately.
- If your kitten has a fever and they are working to test them for FIP, be cautious of any medications they may want to give them. Ask them what the medication is for. (See below for my story).
- Be aware that once your cat is showing enough of these symptoms, then the virus is progressing and could progress very quickly. If you see any changes in them, take them back to the vet. Do not wait.
- If the vet suspects FIP, ask them to run a blood test immediately. The PCR to diagnose takes 3 days and the virus can progress rapidly during that time.
My story: Our cat Diego, shown in the picture above, was a seemingly normal, loving kitten when we got him at 4 months old. He had a voracious appetite and loved to chase the feather toy and play with our other young cat. Starting around 6 months old, I started to notice he wasn’t playing as much with the other cat. I thought maybe he didn’t like her. He was still playing with the feather toy. Throughout the month, I noticed he would start playing with the feather toy and then lose interest. I thought he was bored. I noticed he drank a lot of water, but I didn’t know if that was weird.
A month later, he started eating less wet food, and I noticed some sneezing. I know that cat’s sometimes sneeze and I couldn’t get any definitive evidence that I could bring to the vet to say, “yes, he’s sneezing a lot”. I have another cat that has mycoplasma and I thought maybe he was contracting that. He started eating less of the wet food but was still eating a ton of the kibble. I thought he had lost interest in the wet food.
Throughout the next month, I started to battle with myself about whether I should take him to the vet because he was starting to seem a little lethargic. At this point he didn’t like to stand much, and was always “loafing” but otherwise seemed normal and loving and still a little playful with the feather. I thought I was losing my mind or it was just my imagination.
It wasn’t until I started to see his third eyelid more that I started to really worry. I called the vet and said he seemed a little lethargic and that I could see his third eyelid more than I think I should. I told them I might be crazy. They told me to bring him in immediately because of the lethargy. This was on a Thursday.
That’s when I learned that he had a fever. The vet was concerned and took some blood and told me to give him Doxycycline, which I have read can help with FIP symptoms. His main comments were that “he seems like a normal kitty, but I am worried about the fever.”
Over the weekend on the Doxycycline, Diego seems mostly the same. Maybe eating a little less, but I attributed it to the Doxycycline. The blood test results were back on Monday and the vet said there were some concerning things in the blood and he wanted more blood. I brought him in the same day and gave the blood.
I didn’t hear anything from the vet as they were waiting for the results. I was giving the Doxycycline and noticing he was losing interest in food more and more. I was concerned about what seemed to be a very slow increase in symptoms. But we were waiting for this blood test that I knew would take 3 days.
By Thursday morning, he was vomiting and had lost all interest in food. I called the vet and they wanted to give him something for nausea. They didn’t seem concerned. They said the results of the test should be in that same day.
I went to work. When I got home, I was devastated. My kitten was not looking good at all. His pupils were dilated, he was yowling and he couldn’t walk. Something had happened. I took him to the vet immediately, but in my gut, I had a feeling he might not be able to come back. It seemed like he wasn’t really there.
We had learned the results of his test during the day, that he was positive for FIP and the mutation and we were working to get the medications. But when I brought him in that evening it was clear that he needed the medication immediately. The vet noted that the virus had entered his organs. His liver was not working properly which is why he was feeling the way he was. So they gave him fluids and steroids to help make him feel better. We were able to find an emergency drug and we gave it to him, and then we waited.
At first, overnight, it seemed like he was making a recovery. But then he took a turn downhill again, resulting in nearly full paralysis. It seems the virus had entered his brain. I do not know whether it would have been too late no matter what, given how this virus progressed in my cat’s body. However, I am not sure about how the Doxycycline affected him or if it contributed. Likely it did not, but I think it may have built up and caused him more discomfort. I wish we had known more about the state of his organs, like his kidneys or his liver, earlier on so we would know better how drugs may affect his body.
Within 8 days of the first day I brought him to the vet, he was gone.
I wanted to share this information with the world for awareness of early warning signs of FIP and the timing of how quickly it can turn around.
Be pro-active! I hope this helps save at least one family from the heartbreak that we have just experienced.
BattlingFIP 