Feline Infectious Peritonitis

[jenclute]

I just learned a week ago that our beautiful calico cat named Callie has FIP and it is killing me to watch her go through this horrible disease. I hold her as much as possible and try to keep fluids in her but she continues to get worse. The vet told me last week that she may get better but it will be long recovery. Is this true? Because everything I have researched about FIP tells me that this is a fatal disease. She is now paralyzed in both her hind legs and urinates herself continuously, she also has seizures. I don't know if I can put her to sleep however I do not want her to suffer. Please tell me what you know about this horrible disease that has taken my precious Callie.

[missmyty]

I am so sorry to hear about your Callie. I lost my Tyler December 9, 2007, I cry every night I go to sleep without him. I agree that is the hardest choice you will make, but I saw Tyler losing use of his legs, having accidents, not eating, hiding under everything and just not giving me the hint of happiness and I decided I loved him enough to let him go. Your vet must be just giving you false hope, because it only gets worse, unless it is not really FIP. Because FIP effects the immune system, other viruses can have a fatal effect. The effusive (wet) FIP that Tyler had was filling his abdomen with fluid, which in turn made it difficult to breath. I had his abdomen drained twice, in less than 2 weeks....and I work at as a vet tech, I had resources....but still nothing could save him. The day I was going to euthanize him, he woke me up howling and had wedge himself between a chair and a wall, i picked him up to sooth him. He began to gasp for air, I rushed to get out the door to the emergency vet, but he was gone in under a minute. He was taking that weight off of my shoulders, I thank him for that, but if I would have known he'd struggle as he did, I would have helped him much sooner. I wish you luck in your choice, but whether its 1 month or 1 year, it will still be painful. Get a second opinion, but nothing will cure it, it kills quicker than most cancers..there's no treatment, you are just helpless. I know you want to save her, but I don't want to lie, I wish someone would have told me how truely horrible it is...no one did, just false hope and it broke my heart more. I was obsessed with saving him, but there was no way, honestly, no way. If you need to talk more, let me know. Again, I am so sorry, my prays go out to you.

[MommaCatCalico]

Monday of this week was one of the worst of my life--under advice of my veterinarian, I helped my lovely MommaCatCalico cross the Rainbow Bridge. She was a feral cat i've had the blessing of knowing for 17 years. Living in an apt with 5 other cats, I had made a decision ( I second guess myself all the time about ) to let her live in the back in a shed I had built for her. When I was forced to move, I finally brought her into the house and was surprised to see how she quickly adapted to living indorrs. I did however keep her separated from my others ( Two have since died in the last year also)...I noticed that she would drink enormous amounts of water.............she seemed to also seek out furnace air vents and other sources of heat and in the last couple of days.........where she had for the year I have had her indoors religiously sleep in my bed..........she would seem to wander listlessly...I brought her to the vet.....they took blood tests and noticed her belly seemed over inflated. They wanted to do some sort of fluid analysis on why her belly was so inflated and I was horrified to learn upon doing so that she had what they called FIP.....My vet recommended immediate euthanization and told me that I could come to the office to discuss this with them. When I arrived my cat was in a room ( they had quarantined her from others )with an IV drip and very relaxed--perhaps sedated from the testing?....I spent an hour petting her..........the very kind vet came in......I had drove down to the office to see my little girl--with the hope that with the IV she would recover her strength and I would be able to take her home---while sitting with her however i began to question for whom I was doing this..........me or her..........this poor creature..........a feral who had little trust in humans..........was it fair for me to try to make her feel better and then when she would be more alert euthanize her? so I took the advice of the vet--without a doubt one of the most heartwrenching experiences of my life..........I'm still in shock...........and I expect i will be for some time.....I'll have my good moments........and then it will all come back....I've recently gone on the Internet to find out all i can about FIP...and I've horrified myself to find some websites that suggest that this disease is easily misdiagnosed and in some cases some web sites say there has been limited success in combatting this.......Hence I am wondering if I made the right decision......My little girl did not seem to be in pain.............Was my vet quick to suggest to euthanize my little girl simply because they did not want to have to treat her because they thought it would eventually be hopeless and didnt want the other pets in the buidling to be in danger.....the vet had told me she only had days........and yet she did not look so sick............I've been torturing myself wondering if I did the right thing..........and I thank you for your posting....Your sharing your story............and your pain.....has alleviated my pain ( even if ever so slightly )..........I would never have wanted my little girl to progress to the situation of your treasure..........so thank you............I am so sorry for your pain........but if it provides even the tiniest of comfort to u..........please note that I've spent hours seraching on the Internet........being horrified that I might have done the wrong thing........and draw some comfort from your story--and the thought that I may very well have done the right thing.

[twill]

I JUST heard this diagnosis on my precious abysinnian this morning. I am TRULY heart broken. I brought him to the vet as he had dropped a considerable amount of weight recently. He also has had a cronic dry cough..the vet was hoping it was asthma. The vet did chest x-rays (and they were cloudy and there were also two spots)...we also have the preliminary lab results that were very bad according to the vet. (anemic, etc.) The vet gave me antibiotics and prednisone.
I have started researching web sites and everything I read is truly horrible. I am beside my self.
I also have 3 other cats at home and I am now concerned about them as well.
My precious boy "Donzi" is only 4 years old. This is so horrible and unfair. From what I am reading there is no hope or treatment but the prednisone may "slow down" the disease process.
Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated.
Trish