Quote Originally Posted by Yorkie Lover View Post
Oh, I am so sorry! Could somebody tell me what FIP is?
Feline Infectious Peritonitis is a disease cause by a strain of corona virus. There are two forms of it; wet and dry. Both are usually fatal. There is no cure or treatment except symptomatic treatment (as in, you just treat the clinical signs).

In Ernie John's case he became EXTREMELY lethargic and wouldn't eat or drink, his body was consuming his Red Blood Cells so he was also anemic; and fluid was accumulating in his abdomen (hence "peritonitis"), which caused his abdomen to become distended (it swelled because of fluid accumulation) and put pressure on his thorax, which caused him to have breathing problems. He was put on oxygen and did ok, but was still lethargic. Without oxygen he had an extremely hard time breathing. The decision was made to put him to sleep because we knew his condition would only worsen.

JD is displaying similar early signs but nothing is certain. Ernie John had fluctuating temps for weeks leading up to his euthanization.

With this disease you can be a carrier and not show signs for weeks, months,or even YEARS with or without shedding it (being contagious). One of our instructors had a cat that lived for 13 years before showing any signs. But once you start showing clinical signs, it usually goes downhill in a matter of weeks or even days.

I believe there is a vaccine, but its effectiveness is questionable.