Hello everyone,
I am very worried about Coco at the moment she is not well at all.
I have just come back from the vets and I have to go back next week. If her temperature is still high, she will be having some blood tests.
Has any one had any experience of FIP? How can she possibly have got it? Shes indoor only and my only cat.
I am feeling very worried, I would be grateful if any body could help me understand how she can catch it and what the symptoms are and is the prognosis always bad?
Do not borrow trouble. There are many causes for these symptoms. For example, calici infections are common and they cause a fever.
FIP can strike any cat. It is a mutation of a virus that is EXTREMELY common and it is almost impossible to prevent exposure. It can be carried into your home at any time. It can be carried in the cat's system without symptoms for a long time. Even a vet visit can be the place of exposure. FIP is understood to be always deadly. However, it is almost impossible to get an ironclad diagnosis of FIP because other survivable medical problems can seem like FIP. So, even with a tentative FIP diagnosis one still has to treat the cat for the other possibilities and not give up.
I'm so sorry to hear that CoCo is ill did your vet mention FIP to you?
How long has CoCo been ill? and what other symptoms is he showing?fervor alone does not mean FIP.
I would not jump to FIP as symptoms can be that of a lot of illness.
There is a coronavirus test But it can not yet distinguish the mutant causing strains from the ones that cause no serious health problems.
I don't want to give false information out so here is a site for FIP
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/fip.html
I lost a kitten to FIP the wet forum.
Please keep us informed as to how CoCO is doing
Hopefully it is something that Coco will get over. Did the vet give you any medications to be taking in the meantime. With a fever, I would have thought he might go ahead and do some blood tests to see if it identified if it was an infection or what was going on.
Please keep us informed on how things are going.
Thanks Jan, I just have a bad feeling about this. I'm trying to be positive, but she is not eating, just drinking loads but she does look bloated, and the vet said her stomach felt full,which considering she hadn't eaten was unusual. Anyway she is on a course of antibiotics and we go back to the vets on Tuesday, if her temperature hasn't gone down he will do some blood tests. Fingers crossed
[quote=jellybean]
I'm so sorry to hear that CoCo is ill did your vet mention FIP to you?
How long has CoCo been ill? and what other symptoms is he showing?fervor alone does not mean FIP.
Thanks for the link I will take a look at it later.
As for the other symtoms a couple of weeks after we got her she had conjunctivitis, which I know is quite common. She also has had really bad diarrhea, which could be because she had some wet food (Science plan kitten pouches) so I stopped giving her that. She now doesn't seem to want anything, is less playful, sleeps alot and has a bloated tummy. She also wees and drinks loads.
The vet mentioned FIP and said it was really difficult to diagnose and that none of the tests were conclusive. He said I should hold of getting her fixed at the moment. That made me think! Does he think I shouldn't do that because it would be a waste of money because she might have to be put down??!! I have since been reading a lot about it and consiquently crying alot
Am I just being paranoid?? He also said Ragdolls aren't the strongest of cats!!
Clearly, your vet does not know much about Ragdolls, but that should not affect the care given. He is right that a sick cat should not have surgery - no matter the sickness. It would make the surgical process more dangerous.
Have you called your breeder
If not you need to call her and let her know what is going on she may be able to help you.
Her tummy may be up set from the wet food you can try giving her canned pumpkin if she still has diarrhea most cats like it.
You can offer her a teaspoon. make sure it is not pumpkin pie filling.
Your vet is right there is no conclusive test for FIP that is why you should not give up on her and try not to think the worst.She could have very easily something else going on.
" Fortunately, the disease is very uncommon. In households containing only one or two cats, the FIP mortality rate is around one in 5,000."
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-care/f...nitis.html
Those are pretty good odds, considering that most of those 5,000 cats probably do not have the same loving care that you give to Coco, and most are probably outdoor cats!
Cheer up (-: Linda is right, it could be a hundred differant things that are less dangerous than FIP. I do hope Coco feels better soon
So sorry to hear Coco's unwell. Crossed fingers it's nothing too serious.
I've just got back from the vets with Izzy, my british shorthair. I noticed she had conjunctivitis in her right eye tonight, it was clear this morning. The vet put a iodine strip across her eye to check for any damage or foreign body and her little blue nose turned green lol.
Apart from the eye, she is fine and all my cats are indoors so I'm a bit perplexed as to how she got it, these things can and do happen despite all we do to keep them safe.