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FIP

    Feline infectious peritonitis, called FIP, is a fatal cat disease with no cure. The FIP virus is a virulent mutation of feline enteric coronavirus, or FECV, which causes mild inflammation of the intestinal lining. The minor genetic mutation that leads to the FIP virus allows it to grow in cells other than those that line the gut.  The disease results essentially because the cat's immune system is overreacting to the virus.

The Disease and Its Two Forms

    In young cats - the usual victims of FIP - the most common signs are a fever that comes and goes, lethargy, and failure to grow. Additional symptoms depend on which form the disease takes: wet or dry.

Cats with the wet form of FIP have a yellow sticky (high-protein) fluid containing white blood cells (mostly neutrophils) in their chest or abdomen. This fluid may cause breathing problems or abdominal distension. Cats with dry FIP have tissue masses (granulomas) on the kidneys and lymph nodes, and in the abdomen, liver, brain, eyes, and elsewhere. In addition, they may have hazy debris in the eyes, their neurological system may be affected, they may experience signs of liver malfunction, or they may progress to wet FIP.

How Cats Get It

    The common origin of the disease is an infection with FECV that mutates into FIPV. About 5 percent of FECV infections in young kittens will go this way. The incidence of the mutation is probably lower in older cats. Cats can acquire FIP through contact with FIP-infected cats, but this is fairly rare because the virus usually stays in tissues other than the gut (so it can't be excreted and infect other cats). For example, one form of FIP is a brain infection, which is a dead end for the virus. If a cat with FIP sheds a coronavirus in his feces, it is usually of the FECV type.

Identifying the Disease

    FIP is hard to diagnose and can't be confirmed with a single test. Most cats with FIP are young (under 2 years). After age 3 or so, there is a good chance that a cat will not develop FIP.

    One difficulty in confirming FIP is that the antibodies to FIPV are the same as those to FECV. Hence virtually all cats in multiple-cat facilities will test positive because they have FECV antibodies - yet most don't have FIP (no matter how high the antibody concentration is).

    If tests indicate FIP and your cat has the fluid characteristic of the wet version, the diagnosis can be straightforward. If your vet suspects your cat has dry FIP, a biopsy is necessary to confirm the diagnosis. Since FIP is usually only one possible diagnosis, you can hope that the biopsy will reveal some other disease instead. Biopsies are taken by surgery. With dry FIP, the biopsy will show a particular type of inflammation called pyogranuloma. A pathologist can also detect the FIP virus in tissue with a special stain called immunohistochemistry.

Treating FIP

    Virtually every cat with confirmed FIP dies. Sometimes immunosuppressive drugs (steroids) and broad-spectrum antibiotics will slow the disease's progress, but this treatment doesn't cure the cat. Some veterinarians use substances that stimulate the immune system, but this seems inadvisable, since the immune system is already overreacting to the virus. I've heard of vitamin C therapy, herbal therapy, and other "natural" approaches, but we don't know how to manipulate a cat's immune system effectively and we don't want to stimulate the immune system.

If your cat has FIP, you may eventually have to make a decision about euthanasia. Ask your vet for guidance, think about quality of life issues, and talk to other people who have faced the issue.

Preventing FIP

    If it were possible to protect cats from FIP, the key would be to keep them from getting FECV.  Basically all cats in multiple-cat homes are exposed to coronavirus so despite screening and appearing to be FIP-free, this doesn’t guarantee that a cat won't develop FIP. Your Cats will be safest if they're indoor-only pets.

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