Pharoah tries stemcells for FIP and the cure for FIP is found!

One success story at a time

With FIP there is no point being conservative except for the sake of the cat's comfort. So it was no surprise to hear that yet another innovative therapy is being tried - adipose stemcell therapy for dry FIP. The cat is called Pharoah and his vet is Ed Pattison of City Vets, Exeter UK https://www.facebook.com/cityvets/photos/a.128542133823284.22418.128403317170499/957763074234515/

But how interesting is this - the vet who pioneered the use of adipose stemcells for arthritis in dogs in australia, Simon Craig, was the same chap who cured Dusty of wet FIP - see survivor's page

and how dull and unsexy is this - Hip arthritis in dogs by the way you can simply prevent with adequate vitamin C and a proper diet.
http://oneradionetwork.com/health/dr-r-geoffrey-broderick-world-renowned-veterinarian/

Dr Belfield has the word on vitamin c in animals and was kind enough to answer my emails when Mishka was diagnosed. he did try it for FIP of course and it was the one thing he had no success with after it was established :( That's what we are up against.
I have NO DOUBT this is the same with FIP - we can prevent it  simply - no rocket stemcell science required and finally someone in authority is brave enough to say it 

"The best treatment for FIP is not to get it in the first place: if you are going to buy a pedigree kitten, make sure your Vet sends a blood sample to the University of Glasgow Veterinary Diagnostic Services to get a certificate saying that the kitten tested negative for feline coronavirus (FCoV) antibodies: we need to put consumer pressure on bad breeders and reward good ones." Dr Dianne Addie rocks! http://www.theexeterdaily.co.uk/news/local-news/exeter-vets-pioneer-stem-cell-treatment

- see prevention page

• stop inbreeding 
• stop crowding 
• stop malnourishment of starvation and stop feeding COOKED CRAP & KIBBLE to cats - they weren't designed to eat cereal; they are not birds.

Tomten - Where do you go when your cat has stumped all the vets?

A: a cat specialist - case solved by Dr Plotnick! http://manhattancats.com/
The first blog post on I wrote on his case was the Winter Tomten "Yuletide " the midpoint of winter - the cosmic balance between life and death". I feel like we are poised on such a tipping point - and i cant help thinking being in the southern hemisphere the december solstice signals the descent." If you want to follow his story in graphic detail use the labels to find the other posts but now for the news i should have updated months ago! Tomten was originally thought to have FIP around the same time as Mishka. He had already started feline interferon so I drew a lot of strength from the kindness of Cassie answering my emails 2 years ago. For Cassie the drug was a really really big ask as it is hard to import to the USA as well as super expensive. 

"He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever." - Chinese proverb

 So glad her persitence paid off: June 2014 Cassie posted -

Finally a possible explanation for Tomten's illness. Ok I have truly crossed over to crazy cat lady. While making Tomten's next appointment for his Cardio check up I began feeling frustrated that he still has no diagnosis. So I broke down and submitted an e-mail to Cat Fancy magazine's ask the doctor. I felt a bit silly but figured what could it hurt? 

My 7 year old Devon Rex has stumped all the vets he has seen. 2 years ago he stopped eating, started throwing up and was hiding. An emergency trip to the local ER showed that he hadgranulomatous tumor in his intestines. An aspiration of the tumor ruled out lymphoma and based on his blood work he was diagnosed with dry FIP. He was put on feline interferon and methyl prednisone and sent home to die. Only a “miracle” happened and he appeared to get better over the course of two months. Three months after diagnoses scans showed that his tumors had disappeared through his lymph nodes remained swollen and abnormal. 12 months after the first tumor appeared he stopped eating again. Scans showed 3 new granulomatous tumors one of which was in danger of perforating his bowel. At this point his vet moved him to an excellent large regional vet hospital. They consensus was that he didn’t have FIP (based on his longevity). Since he was no longer responding to the feline interferon the thought was to do surgery to remove the tumors. All 3 tumors where removed in a double bowel resection and subsequent gram staining of the tissue was negative for FIP. He appeared to recover for a bit and then went into a tail spin hiding and not eating. He was placed back on the methyl prednisone and within a week was recovering once again. 3 months later he developed an ear polyp and infection and lost his balance. A month of antibiotics and dedicated ear cleaning and he recovered much of his balance but his counter surfing days where behind him. When he was being evaluated to remove the ear polyps it was discovered that his heart had become greatly enlarged and he was in heart failure. We made the decision to leave the ear polyps and focus on managing his failing heart.

Tomten has been lucky to have better care than many human beings and we are very grateful to his vet teams, who have given him an additional two years of life. The vets have all been unanimous that what ever is causing his health problems is an unknown and perhaps is some sort of an autoimmune disease? While we have tried to make peace with the fact that we will probably never know what is wrong with him its hard not to wonder if we took him somewhere else would someone know what is causing his condition? And could we do anything to stop it other than to treat each symptom as it comes up.

Dr Plotnick's Reply:

I think the ear polyps and the heart disease are separate issues. Devon Rexes are at increased risk of developing hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is the heart disease I suspect he has. As for the intestinal disorder, it sounds like your cat has granulomatous enteritis. This is a mysterious illness. Inflammatory bowel disease is a common disorder in cats. With IBD, most cases are due to infiltration of the intestines with either lymphocytes and plasma cells, or with eosinophils. These are types of inflammatory cells. Every now and then, we see a case that doesn’t fit into this pattern. We see what they call granulomatous inflammation. In these cases, the intestines are infiltrated with lymphocytes, plasma cells, macrophages, neutrophils..a whole mishmash of inflammatory cells. It often affects a discrete region of the intestine, rather than diffusely infiltrating the intestines. (Diffuse infiltration is the more common scenario.) (The disease has sometimes been called “regional enteritis” because it affects a discrete region of the intestine). FIP likes to cause granulomatous inflammation, but not all cases of granulomatous inflammation are due to FIP. When granulomatous inflammation is seen on an intestinal biopsy, the specimen should be stained with a special stain that detects coronavirus in the tissue. If the stain comes back positive, the cat has FIP, and the prognosis is terrible. If the stain comes back negative, it rules out FIP. However, the prognosis for granulomatous inflammation in the intestine is unknown. It’s a mysterious disease that no one has really figured out. Some people try steroids, and they work for some cats, in some cases. Other people suggest surgically removing the affected area. There are no big case studies of cats with this type of enteritis, so we don’t really know what the best treatment is. Unfortunately, I think the best approach is the one you’ve been doing, i.e. treat the symptoms as they come up. With him having heart disease, steroids are not recommended because steroids expand your cat’s blood volume, which can put a strain on the heart. I’m not sure how you would treat another bout of granulomatous enteritis if it were to develop again. Good luck with him. I hope he does well.

Dr. Arnold Plotnick

I've asked Cassie for an update - i know some on the facebook group had reccomended the raw diet as she was investigating IBD - Irritable Bowel Disease.  

PS. I love Dr Plotnick's idea of a cat only vet - cats hate the fuss and stress of a regular clinic full of dogs. Poor Mishka's worst moments were not from FIP so much as the 'system' - I won't spoil this feelgood post with the details of that - contact Dr Plotnick http://manhattancats.com/

Tigger

"I'm so happy I could bounce!" ~ Tigger

This is a story I got from one of the FIP yahoo groups. It has stayed in the drafts folder of this blog for over a year. I didn't manage to contact Tigger's mum for more details, a picture and so on. Post is copied verbatim as I expect Tigger's mum wants the story out there. So sadly I don't have details of diagnosis, no bloodwork - that's a caveat, it may not be FIP but it's hard to think of what else could have made him so sick for 6 weeks; my notes say wet FIP.  I can see the precipitating immune suppressing causes are pretty common ones. The move was big one as I recall; I think Tigger had to take a plane ride and was received at the other end unwell. He is a little older than usual. Most importantly Tigger's successful treatment has commonalities with other survivors - antibiotics combined with IV fluids and an immune stimulant - in this case interferon ( i think probably it is feline interferon since this cat is in Europe. ) special food (again wish I knew the details!) and intense daily attention.

Hi. I have a rambunctious male 5 year old cat. His name is Tigger. 5 months ago, I moved to Turkey. He had a shot for Luekemia (sp prob wrong) Anyway BAD idea. Don't ever get your cat a shot for this without getting him tested for the corona virus. I'm not sure if I spelled that right either but it's easy enough for you to google.

Anyway, the move and shot sent him into full blown FIP. His eyes were rolling to the back of his head, sky high fever, skin and bones, boy did I thought he was a goner. We started interferon and vitamins, antibiotics and Iv every day for a month and a half. Each day I spent 2-3 hours at the vet. 5 months later, he is alive and fat and happy. Each day I give him 2 vitamins. One in the morning and one at night. And they have garlic in them, yes, garlic.

If you make a serious commitment to keep your cat alive, I believe you have a pretty good shot of beating this with the help of interferon. I also give him food for sensitive systems and NO treats!! TReats do not help any cat. I have a second cat that seems to be fine and probably live to be 20. Tigger is living on borrowed time but I treasure ever extra moment. I also keep their cat box VERY clean. 2ce a day I clean it. My heart goes out to all owners with fip cats. It's heart wrenching, I know.

My other thought, a year of case history reviews later, is that I feel vets are not paying enough attention to fluid and salt (electrolyte) managment in FIP cats. Sick inapetant cats are easily dehydrated as they are desert animals designed to get most of their fluids from freshly killed prey. Vets seem to devote all the owner's resources to diagnostic gymnastics while their patient slips away from under their noses. Any reasonably sick human wheeled into an ER would be instantly hooked to an IV while this is worked out.
Also on the home front I doubt this cat was left to waste his remaining energy dragging himself to a litterbox too far, up a flight of stairs to the bedroom or being needlessly stressed by a bath (this is not sarcasm - I do actually know of someone who went to the trouble of getting PI then bathed their FIP cat. Predictably it took a downhill turn from there and is not listed on my survivors log.)

picture by felicia ruiyi - deviantart

Tomten - thoughts on inflammation

"drink the wine drink the wine- music, good friends, I'm not dyin' today" ~ Tori Amos

Tomten has been doing the Lazarus cat dance back from the brink for past eight months. He was heading downhill in late June and a surgery was performed hoping the granulomas were from a foreign body like string. However he crashed after the surgery and was very poorly for several weeks.

"Tomten continues to fight but is growing steadily weaker. He has taken to spending the entire day in a pile of stuffed animals in the kids play room. My husband can get him to eat a little bit. He is becoming wobbly on his feet. My husband is still hopeful and when he eats I am too but in my gut I think he is in his final weeks."

But his vets didn't think he was in pain, didn't toss in the towel and a week later on July 26th he turned the corner with last ditch antibiotics, steroids and high energy paste.

 Cassie wrote - "I am scared to to even post this in case it jinxes us but Tom has had a great two days. Since going on the last ditch antibiotics and back on pregnazone (sic) and the high calorie paste he is feeling so much better. He is eating!! He is hanging out with us and Gizmo instead of hiding in the stuffed animal pile. When he got sick last year we did 3 things. Interferone, prednasone, and a course of antibiotics for the herpes which was bad. Since surgery Tom was off the pregnazone and he had antibiotics on the operating table but none since. Keeping my fingers crossed he is turning a corner but too scared to hope. Is it possible he has 18 lives?"

I wonder if I've been underestimating the support antibiotics can provide an ailing cat - even if it's not the primary illness, knocking down the numbers of bacteria multiplying out of their normal range due to host debilitation, may allow the cat enough space to muster his reserves for the fight. "lipo polysaccharides (LPS ) from many bacterial species will initiate acute inflammatory responses in mammals". Maybe we should have tried harder with Mishka's lump.

So his ultrasounds didn't show any other lumps - he went back to happy and active. And Cassie was back to square one diagnostically.

"He continues to do well since the antibiotics and the return to Pred. I caught him playing kitty smack down with Gizmo last night first time in 3 months. I don't know who was happier Gizmo or me. I think Gizmo was letting him win since he out weighs Tomten 3 to 1 at this point. Tomten couldn't have a more loving brother. Now that I have him back again my thoughts are turning to how do I keep him alive and delay the granulomas from coming back. I started doing some internet research trying to figure out what besides FIP causes granulomas and responds so dramatically to antibiotics and prednisone. I came across Inflammatory Bowel disease (IBD). The literature says its rare but can cause granulomas."

 Some informational links and my thoughts on IBD and inflammation:

• http://feline-nutrition.org/health/feline-inflammatory-bowel-disease-nature-and-treatment - My gut feeling (haha a pun) is that Feline Irritable Bowel its not far off human IBD. What you eat determines the gut microbiome. We have a little human friend who had to have a fecal transplant to get rid of his awful colitis. He is a very sick boy who is now off all his meds! Anyone with Crohn's disease or colitis who wants to get cured contact Dr Borody in Sydney.

• http://www.2ndchance.info/inflambowelcat.htm Although i dont have direct cat experience with IBD per se I noted our other pets have better skin on a proper raw diet, which I imagine reflects the state of the gut as it is basically the same as skin - both are made of epithelial cells. Mishka was the big diet fail - i always thought she'd come a cropper on dry food diet but figured (wrongly) I had time to transition her to a 'better' diet. Wrong again - commercial petfood is just wrong, I had no idea it was all so dreadful until she got ill. Now i know even the tinned food, though 'complete', is still highly inflammatory.

• http://raypeat.com/articles/nutrition/carrageenan.shtml  - carageenan is seaweed - not meant to be eaten by cats but it's the thickener in most commercial petfood. It is known to incite inflammation, in fact it's used experimentally to do just that when you need to make a wound to test a cure on!  I have no idea why they dont use gelatin instead, which is anti inflammatory and being connective tissue supplies all the right things for building connective tissue for both humans and animals http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/gelatin.shtml

 

Tam

Tam is a beautiful "Neva Masquerade" or "Colour Point Siberian" who is currently in remission from possible wet FIP (lung) living in France with Virginie. At the end of January 2013  6 month old Tam was diagnosed by her regular vets with wet FIP.  FIP specialist Dr Addie is in France and she is also consulting on the case.
Tam had trouble breathing and a high fever up fever up to 40°C. Her lungs were full of filthy lemon yellow liquid drained twice in 3 days. Amazingly she responded rapidly to antibiotics and prednisone, looking quite well by day 5, and perfectly healthy by day 18.  As you can see Tam is still a picture of health and beauty in April.

Happy May 1st ("Lily-of-the-valley" day for us in France) from Tam!

As usual poor Virginie went through the terrible agony of despair and uncertainty of how to proceed surrounding a diagnosis of FIP which I hope to help ease by chronicling some cases. There are some differences in Tam's presentation to Mishka's which I'll list later.

The Siberian is one of the 3 forest cat breeds that were originally wild breeds from Russia. From Tam's case I have also learned of the new Russian drug Skulachev ions (Visomitin, SkQ1)and eventually also found exemplary breeders Forest Wind who provide a 10 year genetic health guarantee including for FIP! (See breeders database for contact details.) Tam had four and a half shots of Feline Omega Interferon,  a lot of raw beef and is on two drops daily of "Skulachev ions" which are a targeted mitochondrial antioxidant currently used for human eye diseases in Russia. (A similar item Mitoquinone is more frivolously applied to the face to cure wrinkles by the New Zealanders. The lower regulatory hurdles for cosmetics allow the fast tracking i suppose.) Her latest blood tests show significant drop of the AGP level ( a non-specific marker of inflammation raised with infection) compared to 3 months ago.

Virginie tells her story:

Tam, a female 6 months-old kitten is healthy, but little bit more tired as usual. Breath seems heavy. 10 pm, we're trying to think this could wait open hours, but no, something is not right, we went to vet emergency : fever is there, and liquid in chest too.
the day after (saturday), x-rays confirmed the pleural effusion. On Monday (day + 3), we sent blood and pleural liquid to the Vet. University of Glasgow for a FIP profile.
Results are "clear" : for my vets, FIP is confirmed. So prednisolone + antibiotics in routine treatment for supporting the kitten.

Last week X-rays (day + 10) shown improvement : liquid is still there, but far reduced.
At day+18, Tam is as healthy as a kitten could be, ... running in the garden, purring on our laps, eating a lot, fighting with our 6 others cats (all have been coronavirus tested, and are negative to mild-loaded).

We are waiting to start feline interferon treatment (the bottle is ordered)
Or is it something else as FIP-cats are not likely to run the way she is (according to other breeders I asked for advices) ???

There was no bacterial culture of the effusion sample sent to Glasgow University for a FIP profile as suggested in the comments of the lab report so some question marks remain as to whether she had a bacterial infection since there was a high white cell count seen. Dr. Diane Addie has slight reservations about the diagnosis of wet FIP (perhaps based on Tam's speedy response to antibiotics and prednisone?) Tam's own vets are sure what they saw in January was a kitten with wet FIP.  "at that time, we were convinced it was FIP and no hope left, we didn't ask [for the culture]. Later when Tam was so well, it was too late : no more liquid remained (no more in Glasgow, and no more in Tam's lungs !)" The vets nicked a vein when drawing off the effusion, so Virginie says a little bit of blood may be the cause of the high cell count but personally I have reservations about the logic. Looking at it the white cell count seems too high compared to the red to be from simple contamination. Also really if they were so sure it was FIP then why send off an effusion sample all the way to another country for an expensive test? and furthermore especially  on a tight budget wouldn't it make more sense to go for the bacterial culture because you'd have a fighting chance of a good outcome if you treated for it? They gave Tam antibiotics for FIP - I'd think they'd want to be sure it was the right one, or is that just the standard response for a cat with a fever? Mishka had the high fever and mild cold like illness months before she got fluid in the lung (and belly.) At that stage there was nothing to culture except perhaps a straight blood sample. She spent a night at the vet's and was given a shot of a long acting antibiotic.  Months later when she presented like Tam with a day's worth of extreme difficulty breathing the vet drained the chest urgently - it was a transparent fluid amber tinged with blood from the needle. She analysed Mishka's effusion sample in house for cells and protein. Based on that excluded infection - she didn't request the sample be sent for further testing.

From what I can gather Tam only had 4 and a half doses of interferon beginning mid February spaced a week apart starting before being pronounced "in remission". Although Virginie says her vet is following the Isheda protocol it doesn't sound like it to me as that protocol begins with second daily injections. She wrote: 

March 16 Thanks. By now, Tam is still perfectly well. She received her 4th weekly interferon injection last saturday. Dr Addie adviced to continue interferons once a week ; but my vets told the published use of interferon is only 4 injections, and preferred to stop the interferons, to re-do a series in few months if needed. I really don't know what to do !!!

nothing has been published yet on the use of interferons in FIP cases : the manager knows about Dr Addie and Dr Jacqui's work, but as nothing has been validated, and against the lab commercial interests, she advised my vet not to continue interferon (because Tam is asymptomatic ; she is "completely OK", no sign at all of any FIP matter), and to re-do if needed later.

March 20 I was in touch with Diane Addie (I'm currently trying to translate the fip-book in French) ; the problem is that cases of remission already happened in the past without any interferons - and failures with interferons too : so it is difficult to affirm that interferons are really the key.
I read about Ishida and german study. I guess interferons may help, but just help, not cure. I also have to take in account that going to the vet weekly is a trial for Tam : this will not help her, for sure (as soon as she sees the crate Tam is hiding deeply, running into a rush - she really suffers to go to the vet, I think she had a bad experience during her transport from her board cattery to my home, and it is not the time to re-educate her right now).

Money is not really the problem: I want to be sure this would be really useful.

She is doing well for 2 months now, there is no difference before/after these 4.5 (she received what remained in the bottle last saturday - just half a dose) injections of interferons. I even don't know if these made her good or not : there has been no improvement, as there was nothing to improve (she already looked like she was healthy five days after the first "FIP-day").

I'm not that convinced interferons are key in FIP case. Tam is eating a lot of raw beef, I wonder if this is not better.
We did 4 interferons injections (once a week) current march (she was still "healthy" before we started - actually, she was ill only few days, she soon got better, and better, despite her results at FIP-profile ).

On Dr Addie advice and with her help, we've just started to give Tam some "Skulachev ions" ; we asked for FIP-profile at Glasgow vet university just before we started, so maybe we could see a difference between before/after.

Yes there was a big difference,

• from Alpha-1 AGP  2240 in Jan 
• to 540 before SkQ1 
• then 500 which is normal on april 22nd (after 15 days of skulachev ions) and Albumine/Globuline is 0.84

Even though AGP is not a specific FIP marker ( it is raised with other infections ) it is great news consistant with recovery - way to go Tam! Virginie says "Champagne!" Take home message may be that we are in danger of giving up too easily once the idea of FIP is on the table; repeated drainage and at a pinch it seems prednisone, antibiotics and don't forget the raw beef, are potentially able to cure something + they are cheap. Even interferon added to the mix did no harm to Tam. "I cannot affirm interferons, or skulachev ions have cured her; my opinion is that Tam has recovered on her own, we've just helped her. I cannot affirm either Tam is cured ; she is still here 4 months later, growing, eating, playing and her results are very encouraging, that's all"

 Update March 2014 A year later Tam is still alive and well.

Her photo also reminded me of FIP's link to another lovely spring flower, the snowdrop, Galanthus Nivalis which may hold a cure for both FIP and cancer. see 'treatment' page.

Dorothy - Somewhere over the rainbow

Today I got the news that Marcelo's cat Dorothy has also lost her 8 month fight with wet FIP.  Marcelo is in Brazil, not a native english speaker so it was hard to piece together her story. From what I gather Dorothy had a litter of kittens and developed wet FIP of the abdomen last year around the same time as Mishka. The effusion resolved on corticosteroids and human interferon by late october 2012 when Marcelo wrote to the facebook group for advice:

"Hello everyone, news on Dorothy condition. She is still doing fine, playing and eating, but she is not gaining any weight, is there anything I can give her as a supplement to food? Thanks for any help you can share."

Members reccomended Nutrical and a change from her kibble diet to something like Hill's a/d. John Robbie's mum reccomended colostrum powder (which I then started to give to Mishka who was not a fan of Nutrical as JR has been doing fantastic on PI) 

 "I've used Colostrum powder mixed wither with some water (force feed if they won't drink it) or added to wet food. I have used it on John Robie since he's eating well, but I used to give it to my FIV+ cat when he started declining as well as to unhealthy rescue dogs and cats. It really helps with weight gain and overall health and builds a healthy immune system."

Dorothy was given Nutrical twice daily. On November 22 it seems she was also started on PI and the steroids were weaned. In december 2012 she was on 1.0 ml Interferon and reduced from 2 ml to 1.5 ml of PI. but Marcelo did not say  how often she was taking these. In January the dose was further reduced to 1ml of PI and still 1ml of Interferon. In february after Mishka died Dorothy was still alive and very well. "Dory is better than ever, she is still on PI and Interferon, also on Nutri-cal. She seems to be in normal health now."  

Alas she suddenly crashed - like Mishka. Perhaps this is the best that PI can do for wet FIP, perhaps it's better to just leave it out and use the steroids early with interferon.

"My friends, yesterday was a very sad day for me and my wife, Dory health was downhill since last week, it was fast and cruel, so we had to put her to sleep. It seem that even miracle cats ends like this with this terrible disease."
Goodbye Dorothy dear ... if anyone deserves to wake up in heaven FIP cats do.

"Someday I'll wish upon a star And wake up where the clouds are far behind me."

 

Die another day - Toby and 0029

"I'm checking out. Thanks for the Kiss of Life." ~ James Bond (Die Another Day)

oh heck - just as the rest of her seems to be rallying kitty has a 'funny lump' under the skin which is possibly getting bigger. The vet is ignoring it strenuously and I'm not thinking straight - perhaps I should have jumped on it last week and investigated while she was under for the drain. The thing neither of us want to face is the prospect of a malignancy.

Seems she is simply dying more slowly, as our vet puts it - or living to die from something else like Toby - who was an uneutered Tom cat from Woodstock Ontario Canada. Toby lived the bachelor lifestyle, out partying every night and returning home in the daylight hours for food. When he got wet FIP he survived due to the ministrations of his owner, homeopathy and a change of diet (he stopped Taste of the Wild dry food and the pokeweed prescribed by a naturopath amongst other things); Toby fast tracked from having a FIP belly drained in August 2011 to normal function, including the partying, by September a few weeks later. He had places to be and cats to see - ladies to romance, guys to fight I guess and in April 2012 walked off into the night, sporting a swollen leg from an encounter of the 007 kind, never to be seen since by his human, Monika.

There was similar kitty, known only to me as "29" who was one of the original cats on the Polyprenyl Immunostimulant study. 0029 had dry FIP with neurological symptoms, who during treatment got well enough to get back to the killing business but met his match in a coyote. "when he was sick he was hanging around the house, once he started feeling better, it was hunting again, it was bringing little presents to the owners on a regular basis." ~  Dr Legendre WINN Feline Symposium transcript

But of course I am the eternal optomist. Unlikely things happen such as Miko the red burmese being reunited at the grand old age of 17 with his family in Essex, UK after a staggering ten years AWOL thanks to his microchip. Who knows, Toby is merely MIA he may reappear into Monika's life somewhere down the road.

from humortrain

Back from the brink - Lilly

"If you are going through hell, keep going." - Sir Winston Churchill

Lilly and Alethea's journey shows it is possible to come back from the brink but it is only if the owner will devote to two hourly nursing including horrible syringe feeds for as long as it takes. If one can't do that i think don't bother looking for miracle drugs - immune stims need time and basic building blocks in the cells to work a miracle.

"I initially gave Lilly 5ml of PI twice a week. Honestly she seemed to improve in the first week so much I was shocked." ~ Alethea via facebook January 16, 2013

"I want to give an update - if only to give others much hope. In November (2012) my cat Lilly who is about a year and a half old was diagnosed with dry FIP. I was told based on her condition that she would be dead in a few days. She was not eating and I was giving her subcutaneous fluids hourly.

I was told by my vet that the meds are probably not gonna work and that if Lilly recovered it was because she does not have FIP. I don't know really - all the test indicated she did. The uveitis in her eyes was so severe and she was dying right before my eyes.

I gave her her first dose of PI on November 18th and continued to force feed her with a syringe this high end prescription cat food. The food is a/d critical care and I would mix it with water and give it to her by syringe at least 1/2 a can a day.

After a week of being on PI and me feeding and caring for her around the clock she began to show improvement! I was hopeful. Lilly had what looked like uveitis in her eyes and it began to clear. She started eating a little on her own. I continued feeding her by syringe [twice a day] for one month even though she was eating on her own - and giving her the PI.

The uveitis and her blood filled eyes cleared in two weeks from the the time she started the meds. I gave her two [5 ml doses] a week for about a month and a half but now it's only once every seven days. I only give it to her once a week now because a. she seems completely well and b. it's insanely expensive. Lilly weighs about 7 pounds - probably 8 now because she has gained weight.

She hates the taste of PI - but I have learned to give it to her quickly and make sure she gets a treat after. 

Lilly is now 100% - she seems as if nothing ever happened. She runs around and plays just as she did before she got so sick. I pray for her every day that she will live a long and healthy life with me - and so far it looks good.

Best of wishes to all of you - it is so hard to watch the animal we love so much get sick. Just a side note - Lilly was not on steroids except for maybe a week and I never gave her any antibiotics either when she seemed to have a cough. I also took her in for IV fluids in her veins every time she sunk to near death so I could manage her condition better. The little hairless spots on Lilly's leg is where they shaved her for the iv:)" ~ compiled from two Facebook posts from Alethea January 2013

To really fight FIP tooth and claw on behalf of a kitty who really doesn't understand is a hard decision as the outcome is far from certain - Sampson's owner sort of regretted making him miserable with the PI. Others who have ultimately lost their kittens have as well. I can only say whatever happens be kind to yourself, forgive yourself everything and be at peace. When I look back I will look all the way back and remember the happy times, for there were many.

Noms

 

Food does not come in a pyramid for Mishka, just - Noms or Antinoms. (nom = sound cat makes head down in plate of  yummy food "nom nom nom") Strangely curcumin extract. ground eggshell, the appallingly black fulvic minerals, and Dr Wheatgrass extract which all cause my human child to gag are acceptable cat condiments.

Noms - fish, roast chicken, roast lamb, mashed pumpkin, Kraft cheeseslices,whey powder, raw egg yolk, grass and wheatgrass even though this sometimes makes her gag or even throw up (the kitty equivalent of alcohol? so nom i don't care about hangovers?)

Antinoms -raw meat, beef, ascorbic acid, spirulina, glandular, Hills a/d, chicken liver, beef liver, liver powder, liver flavouring, did i mention liver?

Tish's list is of course the complete reverse - except for spirulina - evil green pond sludge which no one except me thinks is acceptable. Mishka will reject the entire plate of food if it contains a particle of antinoms the size of a nailhead.

So of course a raw diet is just what the doctors Addie (FIP research), Lipkin (virus hunter) Kremer (HIV expert below) ordered for our purebred princess. Ziwipeak (airdried meat - fits into the definition of a raw diet as it avoids high/low temp processing ) and raw eggyolk are the closest she gets to a primal diet.

The experts mention L carnitine which is the one amino acid I thought a carnivore would have trouble being deficient in. Turns out we can cook the nutrition out of anything; 

" dog and cat foods are extremely low in free L- Carnitine levels as compared with that found in raw ground beef. Most pets are maintained strictly on commercial pet food diets and are thus kept chronically deficient in L- Carnitine. " Lack of Carnitine causes muscle weakness including heart disease. http://meowmeowmom.wordpress.com/2008/05/05/the-carnitine-conundrum/

Carnitine is easy to get as a powder - but the acidic form has a sour taste which cats loathe. If you cannot pill a cat who won't eat raw try QUINICARN chicken flavoured powder Supplement For Dogs & Cats "Supports Body's Defense Against Physiological and Metabolic Stress" cat dose 250 mg daily

Kremer's Nontoxic AIDS Therapy and Prevention

I am slowly reading a scholarly work on HIV/AIDS by Heinrich Kremer, 'The Silent Revolution of the AIDS- and Cancer-Medicine' A complete summary of the book is available online - http://www.aliveandwellsf.org/kremer/ it has the lowdown on what kicks a system from th1 to th2 and how to prevent that; makes so much sense, like a universal theory of disease. I cut to the healing section yesterday. it has some reccomendations which may translate well to cats. the key is to avoid oxidative stress and support the glutathione levels in the body; FIP cats have low plasma glutathione. it is why dr addie wants us to add arginine to the diet for FIP as a couple of teaspoons of raw red meat a week - again i'm researching precise dose levels for supplemental powders as Mishka won't eat raw ( so much cheaper and easier if she would just eat the meat raw! Amino acid supplementation is fiddly - stuffing up ratios causes much more harm than good.)

NAcetylCysteine NAC another key antioxidant in the glutathione chain may also be useful both as treatment and preventative.
"N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a chemically modified form of the dietary amino acid cysteine. Cysteine and NAC contain sulphur, which is key to protecting the body from damage by oxidation. Other sulphur containing antioxidants include alpha-lipoic acid and glutathione. Glutathione levels are considered the most reliable indicator of the body's resistance to oxidation, and NAC plays a role in glutathione metabolism. While touted by many supplement manufacturers as a precursor to glutathione, NAC probably has more of a sparing effect. That is, it neutralises oxidants in place of glutathione, allowing glutathione levels to be maintained." http://www.manorvets.co.uk/pet-sub-sub/972-n-acetylcysteine/

The Christmas Tomten

“Winters come and winters go, Summers come and summers go, Soon the swallows will be here.” thinks the Tomten.

Yuletide "the midpoint of winter - the cosmic balance between life and death". I feel like we are poised on such a tipping point - and i cant help thinking being in the southern hemisphere the december solstice signals the descent.

Mishka has been going 4 months on the FIP roller coaster. She's on Feline interferon twice a week and a weekly abdo drainage and one week into a trial of PI to see if we can tip the balance over toward life.

There are a few other kittens diagnosed around the same time still alive and well including Tomten - who is named after a scandinavian gnome who talks to the cat in tomten language, "a silent little language a cat can understand."

Nov 2012 "Our biggest fear in the storm was how to keep the feline interferon cold when we lost power. (My vet is importing it from the UK). Jan 1 will be the six month mark so we are thinking about doing another ultrasound then to see how everything looks. Knock on wood Gizmo also seems ok. Not sure how Gizmo would ever handle it if we loose Tom as they are inseparable." ~ Cassie

Gizmo and Tomten, the darker kitty who has FIP, live with the Hallbergs in New Jersey USA. He was diagnosed back in July 2012. His mom Cassie posts updates to the FIPcat support yahoo group. In october his dosages were prednisone 2mg daily and Feline Interferon injections .4ml weekly. Now it is down to every 2nd day for the prednisone and every ten days for the interferon.

Good Yule Tomten and family! Here is a video interpretation of the children's book 'The Tomten' to enjoy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABMDcIJp784

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Hi everyone- sorry its been a while since I posted. Hurricane Sandy did a number on our internet.

Tomten continues to do well. He will be at the 6 month mark since his initial diagnosis on Jan 1st 2012 (Big Day!!!) So for everyone who is new to this site and feeling at a total loss (That was me 6 months ago) there is hope!

For the most part he continues to do well. He is now on the feline interferon injections once every 10 days plus Prednisone every other day. The last two weeks he was a bit withdrawn and less active but the last two days he seems back to himself. (we live in total dread when his behavior changes the least little bit)

I took him and his brother Gizmo for their annual check up last Saturday. His regular vet (he also sees an internal medicine specialist who is leading the FIP treatment) was amazed by him. We decided to never vaccinate him again so as not to stress his immune system. She also took some blood to run a blood pannel. Both Vets agree that they want to rescan him again in January to see if the intestinal mass is still gone and if the lymph nodes are still inflamed.

I think his blood pannel looks much better: The Alb/Glob ration has gone from .44 back in July to .9. Which I think means no longer consistent with FIP. They key change is the alb which in July was 2.2 and now is 4.4. The glob hasn't changed much, its gone from 5.0 to 4.9.

There are some parameters that are really high but Dr. Harrison (the internal medicine vet was pleased. Marlene I would love to get your thoughts on it....

Bets wishes to everyone,

Cassie

Tomtens blood panel

CHEM 21 with COMPREHENSIVE CBC : CHEM 21 (1272)
Test Result Reference Range Low Normal High

ALK. PHOSPHATASE 6 0 - 62 U/L

ALT (SGPT) 35 28 - 100 U/L

AST (SGOT) 30 5 - 55 U/L

ALBUMIN 4.4 2.3 - 3.9 g/dL HIGH

TOTAL PROTEIN 9.3 5.9 - 8.5 g/dL HIGH

GLOBULIN 4.9 3.0 - 5.6 g/dL

TOTAL BILIRUBIN 0.0 0.0 - 0.4 mg/dL

DIRECT BILIRUBIN 0.0 0.0 - 0.2 mg/dL

BUN 37 15 - 34 mg/dL HIGH

CREATININE 1.2 0.8 - 2.3 mg/dL

CHOLESTEROL 142 82 - 218 mg/dL

GLUCOSE 114 70 - 150 mg/dL

CALCIUM 11.8 1
8.2 - 11.8 mg/dL

PHOSPHORUS 4.2 3.0 - 7.0 mg/dL

CHLORIDE 118 111 - 125 mEq/L

POTASSIUM 3.7 3.9 - 5.3 mEq/L LOW

SODIUM 157 147 - 156 mEq/L HIGH

A/G RATIO 0.9 0.4 - 0.8 HIGH

B/C RATIO 30.8 HIGH
INDIRECT BILIRUBIN 0.0 0 - 0.3 mg/dL

NA/K RATIO 42
HEMOLYSIS INDEX N 2

LIPEMIA INDEX N 3

Comments:
1. RESULT VERIFIED BY REPEAT ANALYSIS
2. Index of N,+,++ exhibits no significant effect on chemistry values.
3. Index of N,+,++ exhibits no significant effect on chemistry values.

CHEM 21 with COMPREHENSIVE CBC : CBC COMPREHENSIVE (1272)
Test Result Reference Range Low Normal High

WBC 6.3 4.2 - 15.6 K/uL

RBC 8.07 6.0 - 10.0 M/uL

HGB 12.8 9.5 - 15 g/dL

HCT 39.7 29 - 45 %

MCV 49 41 - 58 fL

MCH 15.9 11.0 - 17.5 pg

MCHC 32.2 29 - 36 g/dL

% RETICULOCYTE 0.1 %
RETICULOCYTE 8 3 - 50 K/uL

NEUTROPHILSEG 58.8 35 - 75 %

LYMPHOCYTES 30.5 20 - 55 %

MONOCYTES 5.0 1 - 4 % HIGH

EOSINOPHIL 5.4 2 - 12 %

BASOPHIL 0.3 0 - 1 %

AUTO PLATELET 192 170 - 600 K/uL

ANISOCYTOSIS SLIGHT
REMARKS SLIDE REVIEWED MICROSCOPICALLY.

ABSOLUTE NEUTROPHILSEG 3704 2500 - 12500 /uL

ABSOLUTE LYMPHOCYTE 1922 1500 - 7000 /uL

ABSOLUTE MONOCYTE 315 0 - 850 /uL

ABSOLUTE EOSINOPHIL 340 0 - 1500 /uL

ABSOLUTE BASOPHIL 19 0 - 100 /uL
_______________________________

14 December  2012

I love CR!!!! Cure is better but I love Clinical Response.

His total protein has gone up from 7.2 in July to 9.3. His Calcium has also gone up from 7.7 to 11.8.

He is eating well. Tomten has always lived to eat. I notice he sometimes now eats smaller amounts and then goes back and finishes it off 15 minutes later. In July his weight fell to 8.0 lbs he is up to 9.6 lbs.

Unfortunately he is addicted to fancy feast cat food which I fear may not be the most healthy but per Dr. Addie's recco I am supplementing it with a teaspoon a day of either Applepaws chicken, Tuna, Salmon. And he is getting raw steak 3 times a week. (Which he loves!!!) Makes up for the injections which he is increasingly getting more agitated about.

I will keep you posted on the scan in January.

For everyone who is new to the site and feeling hopeless (that was me in July- after all this was his second diagnosis of FIP- the first being a misdiagnosis when he was a kitten and actually had herpes. And I figured he couldn't get lucky twice and this was it). Hang in there! There is hope. Every day I have with Tom is a gift. I don't know how many we will have but we all treasure each day we have with our goofy fur ball and his brother.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support!

Cassie
__________________________________

22 September 2012

Subject: [FIPCatSupport] Update on Tomten- still doing well

Hi Everyone,  Its been a while since I posted. I contacted Dr. Addie and she agreed to consult with Dr. Harrison to see if Tomten really has or had fip and if he does to give us some advice on how to manage him since he is doing so well on the feline interferon. Now I am just waiting for the two to connect. Knock on wood he continues to do well. Went for a walk on his leash today outside and he was in kitty bliss!We are so grateful to still have him with us.

Dr.Addie was extremely helpful she suggested we immedietly take him off the L-lysine paste he has been taking for herpes since he was a kitten. Apparently, it interferes with the L'argine uptake. She also recommended we add raw red meat to his diet which Dr. Harrison is open to. So he is now getting chopped steak everyday and canned salmon from COSTCO. The steak is expensive but compared to the feline interferon a relative bargain! I also just ordered some applaws from amazon.com. Hopefully they will like it. His brother is super finkly and they really love their fancy feast but I am increasingly concerned I am feeding them yummy junk food. So we will see how it goes with the applaws.

Tomten is doing great but he is losing patience with us jabbing him every week. Upsetting for me as my once "velcro cat" is now nervous every time I pick him up that he is going to get jabbed. So hard because we can't explain it may be whats keeping him alive. But that being said the weather today was amazing and he loved going out for a walk with his brother.

One super goofy FIP moment is the family has taken to singing to Tomten and his brother Gizmo every night the "Kill the virus song" Modeled after Elmer Fudd's of bugs bunny fame "kill the wabbit song". I don't know that its helping but makes us all laugh and that seems to make the cats happy.

best thoughts to everyone, Cassie

14 January 2013 - click here for Tomtens update Great News!