FIP in 9 Month old kitten

[whisket]

I need help with my beautiful 9 month old kitten. He has been diagnosed with FIP. He is currently on a medical regiment of antibiotics and prednisone daily. Is there anything else out there that might go with his regiment to help him? Is there any chance this disease can be cured permanently?

[Traci]

Exactly how was FIP diagnosed? A positive coronavirus does not always confirm FIP....do you know if an FIP specific PCR titer was done and do you know what the results are? If one has already been done and it was by chance 'four-fold', you might consider getting another one done 4 weeks from the initial one to see if changes in the titer have occured.

What were/are the health symptoms/signs of illness that accompanied your vet's diagnosis?

Unfortunately, there is no cure for true confirmed cases of FIP, it is a fatal disease, usually fatal within 3-6 months of diagnosis (providing it is clinically, accurately diagnosed and differentiated from various other diseases that can mimic the same signs and symptoms)

You might want to have your vet review the following website: FIP - Diane Addie, DVM ...and you might want to get a second opinion from another vet (preferrably a feline-only vet or feline specialist in immunology).....many false cases of FIP are assumed, for this reason, it is critical and imperative that other diseases are ruled out.

[Guest]

Traci...he filled up with fluid in his chest cavity and had lots of trouble breathing. They drained the fluid and put him on the meds I mentioned. His protein tests out at 12 right now and it was 10 when they first checked.
They did an x-ray in the beginning and you couldn't even see his heart. The last x-ray was taken the end of January and you can see the heart, but still shows some of the junk in the chest cavity. Since he has been on the meds, he is improving every day. I will check out what you suggested when we see our vet next week. Thank you and I hope I answered some of your questions.

Sharalene

[Traci]

Well, again, were other causes of the fluid ruled out, just for an example: chylothorax...chyle is an infection that occurs mainly from the intestines and moves throughout the abdomen/chest...the fluid is usually a milky-white color but sometimes can be straw-colored, like fluid from FIP....this is just one example of differentials that need to be ruled out. Fluid around the heart can also be straw-colored.

Was the fluid sent off for a cytology to a pathology lab?