Feline coronavirus / fip.

Question.
I hope you can help with our problem. I recently bought two 12-week-old Ragdoll kittens
Muffin and Pooky, Our kittens instantly won our affections and we dote on them. However, within two weeks, the smaller, Muffin became unwell. Initially, she was not interested in playing and a visit to the vet confirmed a temperature and she was diagnosed as suffering from a viral infection. She responded to treatment but relapsed when the dose wore off. Two weeks into her illness she deteriorated. Her condition worsened and we thought she was going to die. Her blood results showed high titer coronavirus antibodies and our vet felt FIP was the most likely diagnosis. Remarkably, she responded' to treatment but a month into her illness she is still unwell she has not grown, she has little interest in playing and she still has a temperature.

Our vet is unsure as to what is causing her illness, but now doesn't think it is FIP. I think that she will eventually succumb to her illness, whatever it is; I am concerned that her brother, as a consequence of her illness, is alone while we are at work. I was thinking about getting another kitten but my wife finds this callous, My main question is do you think I should get a new kitten and how long can introduction of a new kitten be delayed given that Pooky is now 17 weeks old? If Muffin did have FIP should we even be considering getting another kitten and exposing her to the risk of disease?

Answer.
The questions you ask are very sensible but difficult to answer without knowing what the cause of Muffin's disease is. Sadly, many aspects you describe are suggestive of FIP.
I would suggest that it is not a good idea to introduce a third cat into the household while Muffin is still unwell. There is likely to be an increased risk of passing the infection, whatever it is, to the new kitten, and introducing a stranger may place extra stress on Muffin.

If Muffin does die, then I would strongly advise that you ask your vet to undertake a post-mortem examination to establish the cause of her illness. FIP is caused by a virus called feline coronavirus (FCoV), but by no means every cat that is infected becomes ill with FIP. Many healthy cats carry FCoV and suffer no ill effects. However, in a small proportion of cats the virus causes widespread inflammation through the body, resulting in illness and eventually death.

Coronaviruses are highly contagious. Healthy cats that have FCoV in their bowels shed the virus in their faeces, so if another cat shares a litter tray with the infected cat, or plays with and grooms the infected cat, then the virus will spread. Where several cats live in the same household it is safe to assume that if one cat has FCoV, then all the cats will too - but this does not mean they will all develop FIP. Even if one cat does develop FIP, it is most likely that the others will remain healthy carriers of the virus.

The tests on Muffin confirm there is FCoV within the household, and we must assume that Pooky also has FCov. Again, this does not mean that he will go on to develop FIP, but it does mean that he would pass the virus on to any new arrival. Since the new cat is likely to come from a place where there are lots of cats in the same household, it is likely he would already have a FCoV infection, in which case FCoV in your own household would not add significantly to the risk of the newcomer developing FIP.


You have two choices. You can wait to see if Pooky eventually clears the FCoV from his bowels, and then try to find a new kitten that is also free of FCov. The alternative is to accept that the cats will carry FCoV and to try to reduce the risk of either cat developing FIP.

_{source Your Cat Mag.}