FIP

What exactly is FIP?
Everyone has probably heard of it, at least if you have cats. But what is it exactly and what are the causes?? I will discuss this. FIP literally is a contagious peritonitis. There are two FIP forms, the dry and the wet form; they are both caused by the corona virus. But this virus causes more diseases, so a determination in the blood if your cat makes antibodies against this virus doesn’t make any sense; due to stress the values might increase…..or an innocent cold….

Which symptoms does FIP have?
The dry form doesn’t have many symptoms in the beginning. The cat gets restless, doesn’t want to eat as much as usually, plays less. Vague symptoms….Later on the cat will get ill and then the final stage has arrived and things go fast. The cat will get in a kind of coma and you will not have another choice than putting the cat to sleep.

The wet form is more characteristic: You notice that a cat doesn’t feel good: dull fur, lifeless, fever now and then; but if you don’t measure this you don’t know it. The cat doesn’t eat, play and is obviously ill. The stomach will get filled with fluid. The cat has a stomach like a balloon; how thick it is….depends on the progress of the disease. The veterinarian can diagnose if it concerns FIP by taking some fluid out of the abdomen or by means of an echogram. The fluid is characteristic, clear but syrupy.

There is no medicine against FIP, unfortunately. The professors in Utrecht and also in other countries are doing many research but they don’t know much yet. In some households it occurs with one cat, while in other households many cats die. It is therefore supposed to be contagious but it isn’t always. That is what makes it difficult. People also think that it is genetically determined. But nothing is sure. Stress seems to be a factor, but the cat must be susceptible to the virus then. But no cat will survive this disease. If your cat dies due to FIP, you tend to become terrified  due to the infection risk for your other cat(s). The best way is to discuss it with your veterinarian. He will know which form it is and will inform you concerning the infection risk. It might be wise to carry out an autopsy, first of all for your own confidence and secondly to help the professors. The more they know the sooner a remedy will be found. Unfortunately that’s still in the future…..It doesn’t always end in disaster on a very short term. You can read here the story about Brigitte.