I was just wondering if anyone else on here has been through FIP with a Cat/Kitten? My baby Jinx died of this nasty disease and I just thought maybe I could give some people some knowledge or some support on this subject.

Thanks. (Pic below Jinx with my potbelly pig, Pantages)

So sorry to hear you have lost your baautiful baby. FIP? never heard of it, can you tell us what's all about?
I am interested to learn becouse am planning to get a kitty very soon. We are all here for you too if you need us at any time, always, Buster and Jorge.

Hi I love jinx and Havana,
This is from the vaccine list that I recieved from my vet .
FIP is a vaccine that is currently being disputed . This vaccine is only reccomended at this time for catteries and other places with a high volume of cats. There will also be other vaccines that your vet will need to give to your kitten at different weeks. But if you are interested there are links on here as well if you need more information in regards to FIP.


more than likely why you havent heard of this disease is because if your kitten was not adopted from a shelter or privately more than likely your kitten will not need this particular vaccine. But I could be wrong as well Best thing that I could tell you would be to talk to your vet.


Also, I am sorry to hear of your loss. Was jinx arround a lot of other cats or in a shelter?I have never dealt with this disease. But, when you adopt another kitty ask your vet to test for this so you hopefully will not have to go through this again.


I just recently adopted another kitten and she will also be tested for this as well. Thank you for letting us all know of this.

Best of wishes with your upcoming adoption of another furbaby.


Boo, Poppy, Muse & nyzki

I am currently dealing with a kitty, Bartelbee, who the vets believe to have dry FIP. Since there is no way to test for FIP it is a hard diagnosis to rap your head around. You hope they are wrong even if everything seems to point to it.

My little boy is only 1 1/2 years old. I volunteer at a shelter and met this scared, sweet kitten hiding behind his pet bed. After months of patience and care we created a bond that I have never experience with my other cats. I never thought I would get the chance to ever bring him home because he was paired with his brother and I already have 3 other cats. Well months passed with me visiting him more than twice a week and finally the shelter decided to separate him. I was so excited. I had never been happier to think of him being a part of my little family.

My new kitty was the light of the house. He loved all my other cats and gave them rubbings weather they liked it or not. He was playful and affectionate and at night wanted nothing more than to snuggle against me to sleep. Then about a week ago he started acting strange. I took him to the vet on a Saturday but they said he had a small fever and sent me home. By Monday my kitty could barely walk. He had a glazed over look and could walk more than a few steps before he would fall over. He wasn't eating, wasn't making it to the litter box and his eyes had a glazed over look. I took him directly to my vet on Monday and by Tuesday had him into a neurological specialist. He was the 3rd vet to tell me it was probably FIP.

This diagnosis broke my heart. I knew that FIP was fatal and it was only a matter of time has I watch him decline. I took a leave from work and am now Bartelbee's full time nurse. I manually feed him 9 times a day and help him get to the litter box when he needs it. I will do what ever it takes to make him comfortable in the time he has left.

I am also talking to several other vets and the Cornell University to make sure this is truly what he has. I refuse to stop asking questions until I have ruled out all the options. I won’t make him suffer any unneeded tests but I will do what the vets think need to be done.

These 3 little letters, FIP, have been the hardest most difficult thing I have ever had to deal with. To loss my little boy to something so horrible has torn me apart. Some days I barely make it through. But I have to be strong so I can be there for him. So I can be by his side through it all. The hardest thing is the loneness of dealing with it alone and not knowing what to expect next.

I am so sorry to anyone who has lost a pet to this horrible disease and hope one day no one will have to endure it.

hi i'm not sure if i also saw you on the f.i.p. yahoo group. i just want to let you know that you are not alone here. sometimes people who havent had bonds with animals dont get how you feel but i do and everyone here does. i lost my baby acorn to f.i.p at only 1 year old last month. it came out of nowhere. he passed 4 days after being diagnosed because i had to relieve him of his pain. i am still very depressed and missing him. his last days i poured my heart out to him telling him everything i felt for him and what was wrong with him. his last day as he knew he had to go he comforted me. i was never ready and would never be ready to let him go. i know how you feel. i had so many plans and hopes for my baby. this disease is so terrible. ive spoke alot from the heart to people on this website and i've gotten caring words that really help me through the day. i hope you find that here too. i wish you and your fur baby the best.

with love corina and her angels

( this happened November 1996 in Vienna )

i was living together with three wonderful cats, but they were getting older,
so i got Daisy and Jimmy Klinger, sister and brother, 14 months old,
from a shelter ( we do not have "kill-shelters" in Austria, i am very happy about that )
so i was calling Ms.Klinger on our former TV-show "who wants me" and one week later i got Daisy and Jim
my vet came to my home, so he could check their health and take their blood, Leucose and FIP negative !!!

during december my lovely Daisy seemed to gain weight, i started to think, maybe she is pregnant, though she has been neutered
and then, at the beginning of january, one thought hit me : FIP

her stomach started to look like a balloon, and she was peeing so much, maybe 1000 ml ore more
i did not make another blood-test, my vet said, Daisy had all the clinical signs of one of the FIP - diseases, and she would die very soon
we tried it with heavy antibiotics and pills for dehydration, to make Daisy feel better

and i knew, i should have gotten rid of Daisy at once and Jim, too, to protect my three other cats, but i just could not do it
well, after 4 weeks fighting to get Daisy healthy again, i had to stop. Daisy did not have some quality of life anymore

my beloved three cats died 2, 3, 4 years after that, and i am pretty sure, not of the FIP disease
and Jimmy Klinger ist still with me, he gets a FIP-vaccination, each year, a drop in his nose, my vet does not believe about that really, but it does not bother Jim, so i continue

i am thankful till the end of my life that the FIP-disease did not kill all my 5 cats at once
and that i could give Daisy all my love till the end of her life.

yours, Eva

PS.: i wanted to make sure you know the date and the location,
maybe the vets do know a lot more about FIP today ? i hope so

Oh I cannot imagine that! I would not survive losing more than one at time!!

I was not offered a vaccination for FIP for Iggy. He has had three others though. I am bringing him August 11 and will ask about it then, and will report what they tell me. They usually give out folders about all the diseases that are out there, like VS-FCV, and offer the shots. I had him vaccinated for everything they suggested.
The Vet's is the only place I write checks without reading the bill. If I have to go without food, fine. I am getting fat anyway.

I still remember losing the first cat my wife and I ever had to F. Panleukopenia thirty years ago, so whenever I hear about someone losing one to a disease, it brings it all back and I can still feel the despair.

I wish FIP didn't exsist!! But I can say that i still miss Jinx more than anything, we have gotten a minpin dog since the last time i posted and I find my self consistantly reminding myself all the time that no matter how good Magnum is , he is not Jinx. I'm not sure i can ever let go, I am sorry for the stuff that everyone is going through but am also not sure this will get easier, I still cry at night and find myself still writing him letters... sigh.... I miss my baby.....

You said:

I wish FIP didn't exist!! But I can say that i still miss Jinx more than anything, we have gotten a minpin dog since the last time i posted and I find my self consistantly reminding myself all the time that no matter how good Magnum is , he is not Jinx. I'm not sure i can ever let go, I am sorry for the stuff that everyone is going through but am also not sure this will get easier, I still cry at night and find myself still writing him letters... sigh.... I miss my baby.....

I'm glad you got Magnum. All your feelings about Jinx are very very normal. I think it is wonderful you are writing him letters (Angels can read I am sure) and he is watching over you every day.
It takes a lot of time for things to get easier. Go ahead and cry and vent...you are still grieving and everything that helps to make you feel even a little bit better is very normal, is okay to do.

No, Magnum is not Jinx. Magnum is himself..with his own uniqueness and love.

Don't worry about letting go. You don't have to let go because Jinx is now a part of your heart and where he is...no one can ever take him away again. He is with you 24/7 by being a part of you.
You can talk to him anytime for Angels are always listening..I am sure.

The pain is of missing him and that is why it really never goes away 100%. It's just after some period of time...it stops feeling like it is controlling us all the time.

I always say cause I feel so much that: we will love them forever and miss them forever.

In time the good memories replace the sad ones and that is on the road to healing.

I wish you peace and healing.
Hugs to you and to your VSA (Very Special Angel)....Jinx

Judy

Hi,

I would love for you to give me every bit of advice you can on the disease, my sister's cat Bodhe was diagnosed with it last weekend. He had fluid on the lungs at the hospital and I urged her to transfer him to my vet on Monday. He tested positive for both it AND FeLV. The vet has started him on some type of medication that has beady crystals in it that act as time released medication and a broad spectrum antibiotic. Bodhe seems to be doing better and with luck the vet said she could have him for years. She is ready to do whatever it takes and any advice would be greatly heeded.

She has another cat who has been vaccinated against the usual, but not FIP. From what I read, it seems to be transmitted during bites and the vaccine will make them always test positive for the virus (?). They definitely don't fight, they are very close in fact. My cats were exposed to FeLV from a new addition and didn't develop the disease but there aren't any guarantees, I suppose.

Thanks,
Sarah

Sarah,

I am so sorry about your sister's cat. I can tell you one thing that FIP is a mutation of the corona virus. Most cats have or have come in contact with this virus but in a small percent (I think it's 5%) it mutates to FIP. The test they ran for it wouldn't have been for actual FIP but for the corona virus. A positive result means only that the cat has had a prior exposure to corona virus, but not necessarily one that causes FIP. Unfortunately there is no real test for FIP.

When my kitty was diagnosed with FIP I searched the internet for everything I could find on the subject. I found several very informative websites. One is from Cornell and gave me a lot of information. http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/fip.html

There is just so much guess work in the diagnoses of FIP. Did your sister's vet do blood work or a chemistry panel? It might help by ruling things out. I think over the month between when my kitty was diagnosed with FIP and when he passed I had him to 4 different vets and a specialist. Unfortunately vets don't know enough about FIP and I got different answers from everyone.

I'm sorry I wasn't able to give you more information there is just so much I don't know where to begin. If you are interested I can give you more information on websites and places to turn for help with the disease. Or with my limited knowledge answer question you might have. It's hard to go through something as horrible as FIP when you feel like you are in the dark about the disease. I wish you the best.

Janet