One More Abbreviation

Yesterday I briefly mentioned a disease with yet another abbreviation-FIP. No, I don't think Spartacus has this, thank God. He is doing MUCH better today, back to being his normal bratty self. FIP cats don't get better. They all die. It is a horrible, horrible disease that attacks cats in the prime of their lives, usually the young, healthiest ones of the bunch-so devestating. There is no effective prevention for the disease, no way to accurately diagnose it, and like I said, no cure for it; no treatments have yet been found to be effective against the virus that causes the disease.

FIP stands for Feline Infectious Peritonitis. It is caused by a mutation of a Corona virus that is so common over 80% of all cats have been exposed. So far, the mutation that causes the fatal form of the disease is much less common. It does seem to be more common in stressful situations for young cats, although any cat has the potential for mutating the virus. Catteries, pet stores, and shelters are all reservoirs for the virus as well as stressful, crowded situations that can lead to the mutation that causes FIP. I have seen FIP in single cat households, however. Lenny was my scruffy tabby cat that died of this terrible disese when he was just 18 months old-far too young to have been taken, as is quite typical of FIP. Owners often feel ripped off, having their friends stolen from them before they get to experience life, really.

FIP comes in two forms often known as dry (or granulomataous) and wet (or effusive.) There can be a large accumulation of a yellow fluid in the chest or abdominal cavities which causes obvious discomfort and/or pyogranulomatous lesions throughout all of the organs of a cat's body, which slowly shuts down their function. High fevers non-responsive to antibiotics is a common trait. Corticosteroids like prednisone, often given many times a day, can sometimes bring these fevers down enough to make the cats want to eat a little. Often the stresses of medicating that frequently just becomes too much for the pet and the owners. One of the really frustrating things about this disease (there are so many!) is the difficulty in difinitively diagnosing it. We actually find ourselves ruling out all other causes of the symptoms we are seeing-hoping there is a cause that has a potential for treatment. The accumulations of the fluid, the high fevers, elevations in proteins in the blood, particularly gamma globulins, sometimes a jaundiced or yellow appearance to the mucous membranes-any of these could have other causes but taken together usually do add up to the dreaded FIP diagnosis.

Lenny was a great cat. He was Stella's first nemesis-they grew up together and he was such a pain! We named him after the wise-cracking Lenny Brisco, the detective from Law and Order. When he stopped eating, stopped pestering his sister, then got the tell-tale distended abdomen full of yellow fluid, my heart broke. It was really just a matter of days before he became too uncomfortable and we had to say goodbye-he was curled in his cushy bed at home and I believe we made it as peaceful as possible. I did a lot of cursing about that damned virus, though. It is so unfair.

Cancer and organ failures and other diseases of older animals are terrible, for sure. But sometimes we can understand and accept them a little easier knowing our pets had good, full lives when that diagnosis comes at 14 or 15 years old or so. We are still very sad, of course, but so thankful for all the years of good memories. Diseases like FIP are just thieves-they steal life from us, literally. Hopefully research will continue to help us learn how to recognize FIP-to fight it, and maybe even prevent it someday. Rest in peace, Lenny. And keep on getting better, Spartacus. You sure had me scared!

Peace,
DrReneigh