Here is the maverick John Robbie who stole Lisa Cone's heart. Cat owners will appreciate how much he meant to her. He was unique in every way. His unconventional FIP story gave us all hope but he has finally run out of lives and has gone into the next world now. I tip my hat to Lisa who did the very best for her cat. John Robbie's chronicle is sprinkled around this blog - just use the tag cloud to look him up.
(On a therapy note I still don't really understand why Dr Addie is so adamant about promoting arginine and stopping JR's lysine which he had been taking since birth to treat another virus that damages nerves (lysine blocks arginine uptake which herpes needs to replicate - it keeps the lid on herpes in humans as well. ) It's a food, a simple protein that is more easily damaged by cooking than arginine with which it shares a balance that on a natural raw cat diet would not be upset in favour of arginine.)
from FIP fighters facebook posts:
(4/7/14)He is still holding his own. He is on MASSIVE amounts of drugs
including full dosage of Pred and 6ml of PI daily. But he seems (knock
on wood) to be stabilizing again. I won't feel good about it until I
have a good 6 weeks of stable. Then maybe we will talk about decreasing
meds. He is one expensive little cat at the moment. (And he looks quite
pudgy in this picture when he is usually so pointy!) We are nearing 2 years
(Aug 10 2014 )We are saying goodbye to John Robie in about 1/2 hour. He has been an
amazing fighter for almost 2 1/2 years. His FIP has moved into his spine
and back legs. He is peeing on himself and can't really walk. I don't
want to see him get any worse. Good bye my love. You are the best cat
ever.
Pikachu does not seem to have FIP although one vet he was taken to made this diagnosis. He was a wobbler (ataxia) because his brain or inner ear ( vestibular system responsible for balance) had damage after a viral illness but is getting better on PI (polyprenyl immunostimmulant) since early Nov 2012"For
the first few months, his ataxia waxed and waned, but now all that
remains is a head tilt and the deafness. The head tilt seems to get
worse/more exaggerated when he has a UTI or some other issue affecting
his general health.He is doing really well now,
although it took months to recover, and he still has a few neurological
deficits. My only worry is that the virus may reactivate in his system
and he won't be able to fight it off again"
"He was first diagnosed in September/October 2012. We took him to an emergency vet because he was ataxic (wobbly) and had nystagmus (shaking eyes). They originally diagnosed him with Idiopathic Vestibular Disease and said it would resolve within two weeks. When he didn't get better, we got a referral to a neurologist who did an MRI, Spinal Tap, FIP titer, toxoplasmosis test, etc., and said it was in his central nervous system and diagnosed dry FIP. After he became ill, we noticed he had lost his hearing completely. We were basically told to say goodbye to him, but you can't give up as long as you have hope.
The neuro was ready to give up on Pika
and really had no interest in PI or Dr. Legendre. I found the
information
on Dr. Legendre's success with PI and PUSHED the neuro to contact him
and write the rx for the PI. Even after he contacted the university, he
called me back and told me it was too costly and I should just put Pika
down. It was unbelievably frustrating! I'm soo glad I didn't follow
his advice. Even if the PI didn't help his situation, it certainly must
have boosted his immune system in general and definitely didn't hurt
him. " Kathleen Maki Potts
She sent his results to the FIP fighters for opinions.
"Pika's
A/G ratio is 0.9. Anything above 0.8 almost always rules out FIP. A
positive titer for FIP only means exposure to FCoV. It is not
predictive of FIP. An extremely high titer, along with other suspicious
lab results would make me think different.
Also the 7b ELISA was negative. I would definitely explore some of
the CNS stuff and it looks like your vet is doing a good job and looking
at other things. You can always print out Dr. Addie's flowchart and
provide to your vet if they start to explore the possible diagnosis of
FIP again. The slightly elevated liver values can just be dehydration
or a low grade infection."
Moki is a 'famous' facebook cat who seems to have a similar mystery wobbly problem but which didn't resolve, also initially diagnosed as FIP.
Just
wanted to drop a note to say that Tomten & Gizmo celebrated their
6th birthday last week! Yeah! Happy Birthday Tomten & Gizmo! For
those of you who are newly diagnosed and feeling at a total loss. I
wanted to share that bit of news. Tomten was diagnosed July 1st 2012
with dry FIP. He has been on the feline interferon and pred ever since.
While he has his good days (totally normal mischievous Devon Rex) and
his slow days (sleeps all day and scares us to death) his quality of
life seems good. We never thought we would see this birthday so we
celebrated with a nice long walk outside on his leash, a can of tuna
fish, and plenty of cat nip! I don't know how long he has but we
treasure each day! Thanks to everyone who helped him see this birthday! ~ Cassie(details of treatment here )
Many happy returns to Tomten and his littermate Gizmo (who doesn't have FIP)! Cassie is so thoughtfully posting his updates to keep our spirits up as we watch the steady stream of kittens dying from FIP on the FIP fighters facebook community.
This month Mihoshi Barner - the little Ferret with FIP who has been on PI for
over a year, passed away leaving a very sad owner behind. Ferrets do not
live as long as cats so in ferret years I wonder how old he was? Mishka
was 27 in accelerated cat time when she died, which is some sort of cold
comfort. Tomten and Gizmo are the equivalent of 41 human years old wow, nearly middle aged by the catyears calculator ( in the right column menu overthere ) - no wonder he's catnapping all day. Hiphip hooray! Kill Da virus!
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."
"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.
"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.
Paloma
is a blue cream Persian named after Picasso's wife. We
like to name our cats after artists.
This lovely little cat is alive and well thanks to an article her family came across in a cat magazine about Polyprenyl Immunostimulant which she showed to her vet and careful dedicated nursing.
"I
am posting this success story on behalf of my mother, Marilyn Schmitt.
Her beloved cat, Paloma, first got sick with FIP at only 6 months of
age. Things were touch and go for a long time, and we didn't think we
would have Paloma for very long."
"We got her through those 6+ months
by hand feeding her and wrapping her in ice blankets to get her
temperature down. She also had a strong will...her sickness was sporadic
prior to starting the PI."
"When Paloma was over a year old,
however, she started this treatment, and it has made all the difference
in the world. She has been thriving on the medication
for 13 months now, and this once listless cat now has ample energy for
her repertoire of favorite activities that include playing with any toy
that is a ball, playing a variety of games on "her" iPad for as long as
the parents will let her, and being brushed, surprisingly enough. She
has a new lease on life, and we are very grateful that Paloma had the
opportunity to receive this treatment."
"Although she is now thriving, she still begs
to be hand fed." and yes there are interspecies electronic tablet games for cat v. human free to download from http://gamesforcats.com/
"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...it's learning to dance in the rain. " ~ unknown
This is Frank, a three legged Canadian alley cat who is going through treatment with PI for dry FIP.
Frank has started PI back in April 2011 on the Winn Foundation Study by Dr. Legendre. Here's his new family's report from Jan 2013. "In the summer of 2008 Frank was found in an alley by some very kind people. He was taken to a vet clinic as a very sick little boy with a fractured hind leg that was very infected, unfortunately they could not afford to care for the kitten and relinquished him to the clinic for care. The vet clinic took excellent care of this little boy setting his leg and nursing him back to health. Soon after he was well enough to leave the clinic we were asked to foster him. Frank came into our home with a cast on his back leg but full of energy. We had 4 dogs at the time but he fit right in, he soon became the boss of the house. Soon after his cast was removed Frank began to limp again. He was brought into the clinic to investigate and it was discovered that the infection had spread to the bone and the only solution was to remove the leg. After his surgery he returned to our home, by now we couldn't imagine life without him and the decision was made to make him a permanent part of our family. He was as active and playful as ever even playing with our miniature schnauzers. In the winter of 2011 we noticed that Frank had lost weight and brought him to the clinic for examination. He was diagnosed with dry FIP. Thinking it was a death sentence for him we were prepared for the worst but desperately looked into treatment options. Dr.Kremeniuk at Park Pet Hospital found out about a drug trial for cats afflicted with this terrible disease and Frank was accepted into it. Since he has been on the PI he has returned to his normal self and we are so happy! Frank loves to go camping with us in the summer, he wears a harness and eagerly explores the campsite. He is so loved by the whole family and we are so grateful for PI giving him a second chance at life. He is a fighter and is determined to live as long as he can. Thank you Dr.Sass and everyone involved with PI for saving his life".
I'm not yet sure if Frank is still on the PI and at what dose. He's been through a lot and he's obviously determined to enjoy life to the full - thanks to his wonderful new family and vets for giving him that chance! Goodluck to you Frank.
“Some people don't really know enough to make a pronouncement of doom” ― Norman Cousins, Anatomy Of An Illness
Madiera is a year old kitty who had spontaneous resolution of ascites. She was diagnosed with wet fip end of march 2012 around 12 weeks of age.
It is lovely to read about a genuine recovery that demonstrates the bodies natural healing compared to healing that is often termed 'spontaneous' but where the patient has worked jolly hard at repelling the problem. I am reminded of Remarkable recoveries - a speech by Ian Gawler - he recovered from osteogenic sarcoma and his story kickstarted a holistic cancer cure movement in Australia. i think i read in Ian Gawler's biography "the dragon's blessing" something like spontaneous remission - there was nothing spontaneous about it!
She lives with Nicole Griffin-MacKenzie who sent this picture in to the FIP fighters Facebook group (our correspondance copied with permission)
August 19 2012
This is a pic from now, 5 months later and the fluid is still completely gone. ( she loves showers ) we are very blessed. Just wanted to share because I feel there is hope
NICOLE: She's not on anything just takes pedialyte 3x a day for her stools to stay normal. The first time she was tested by the veterinarian it was with a sample from the fluid in her abdomen, then dr Legendre requested a second test to be done ( due to the fluid disappearing ) and again the tests pointed to FIP , we were going to do the PI and that's why we were speaking to Dr. L but he stated to let it be if she is doing so well Still doing great ( knock on wood) October 8 2012
NICOLE: We got her in February, at 8 weeks so she will be a year next month. We didn't change her diet at all. We stuck with the same kitten food that she was on. The only thing we changed was giving her pedialyte. When we thought she had weeks to live I we were giving her a tablespoon of vanilla ice cream at night but that changed as soon as we noticed her abdomen going down. She was urinating a lot during this time ... Which I'm sure has nothing to do with it
ME: wow what brand vanilla icecream! who knows you may have stumbled onto THE CURE. i'm only half kidding. the urine was the fluid going out. what breed is she? there is 'spontaneous resolution' ie her immune system kicked in on its own; thymus gland is still there i think at 8 weeks, it is not so active in older cats. when did she get sick?
ME:i better explain my self about the vanilla icecream - if you read the anatomy of an illness as perceived by the patient by norman cousins and see what he did. i have been searching for the equivalent of funny things for a cat. icecream may be the thing.
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?)
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/
Step 8: Get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw. Step 9: Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink glass of water to take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap. - from HOW TO GIVE YOUR CAT A PILL IN TWENTY EASY STEPS
< Some cats are Zen masters. Sub cutaneous fluids seemed sooooo easy from the video
demonstration by the very pregnant lady vet (nope). We are talking
about a longhaired cat that thinks fur brush is medieval
torture device so the road to health was always going to be a little
extra challenging. She didn't even like the pentoxifylline transdermal
cream (pea sized blob rubbed into ear twice daily) The only patient more
uncooperative than the cat is
my husband - the doctor.
Fortunately Mishka eats size 3
capsules pretty reliably like kibble if we put them in a teaspoon of
moist food served as the entree when she is hungry. Most supplements
have to be downsized anyway - get empty gelatine capsules. More excellent tips on medicating cats from Joel Kehler. Here's one method for getting the little pills down without upsetting kitty. (although it looks like i faked it she did eat the pill!)
What's worse than pills? Liquids. Even 6 mls is a lot of liquid for a cat if it tastes bad. Their natural response is to drool like Niagara Falls and squirting too much in fast may choke kitty. It doesn't actually need to be medicine. The early days of FIP with a dehydrated, inapetant cat required some syringe feeding of electrolytes and food. We found the process so distressing initially - and then we discovered the magic of soothing music. It still wasn't a picnic and if she hadn't perked up within 48 hours we would have pulled the plug. Here's ahow to give liquids video from Lauren via FIP fighters on facebook. Her cat doesn't look impossibly upset by the whole process. "One thing I would like to add that Brian (giving the syringe) did during the video: It looks like when she turned her head he was giving the syringe head on/under nose. Try and avoid this at all costs. It's a lot easier on the cat if you do it on the side and they naturally open their mouth when you do it there.Here's a few pointers:- Smaller syringes are MUCH easier to use. If you're doing this long-term always keep a few on backup because they do tend to break a lot.- If the medicine/food is cold, you can take the syringe in-between your hands and hold it/roll it for a few seconds to warm it up.- If your kitty is nervous be sure and massage the back of her neck and talk to her while you're administrating the medicine/food.- This is A LOT less of a mess but still keep a napkin nearby. You can still make a papertowel bib if needed.- If your kitty doesn't like being on her back AT ALL you can still do this technique but have her on her tummy instead. Still go from the side and still hold her close, it'll make her feel more safe and secure. You don't have to grab the scruff hard. It's only for a little bit of control and comfort on her end. I'm fully against hurtful techniques against cats even if a vet is doing it to get medicine in. I can assure you this in no way harms your cat and it should be instinct for them to accept it.Be sure and give your babies lots of love and kisses after this and possibly a treat if they're not too stressed over it so they associate this with some kind of positivity instead of a majorly hated event."
Polyprenyl
immunostimulant is a taste issue for some cats, the insert says 1%. It
was initially tested via injection - now it is approved for oral use so
unfortunately the company are refusing to advise on injection except to
say it will sting as it is hypertonic. After a somewhat traumatic first
effort when i tried mixing the entire dose into Mishy's lunch we settled
on a pattern of putting it a ml at a time into a well in a level
teaspoon of moist food and carefully pushing this shut and serving it
piecemeal to a very hungry breakfast kitty. Any higher ratio leads to
rejection. If she starts to look satiated we stop and start again an hour later -
she is sometimes full after 3-4 mls. A heaped teaspoon is actually a
prey sized meal for a cat. The PI is only stable after mixing with food
for about 30 mins and must be kept out of the light. Video of how we do it
here is Tanja's unhappy experience of using PI with her cat Sampson :
I
chose to go with PI as I was looking for that miracle that would keep
Sampson alive a lot longer, and the successful cases looked better on
paper than the interferon; unfortunately for Sampson he threw a clot and
with everything he was battling at the same time I could not morally
try to make him recover from that plus the FIP.
Personally
I do not think the PI was working for Sampson, before he threw the clot
I had already decided to stop the PI treatment, his belly was also
starting to feel quite fluidy and I believe it was transforming into the
wet form. It is a gamble and I do and don't regret using PI. If I
hadn't I would always wonder but the process of giving him the PI in
such a large amount by mouth was quite stressful for him and I wish we
hadn't spent our last days doing that.
Sampson,
he was honestly the furry love of my life and miss him so much that it
feels like a piece of me has been torn to shreds, if i could go back and
they could offer me an injectible, absolutely without a doubt i would
do that, giving it orally was the worst part of the whole thing, no
matter how i did it.
Videoing the method could be good, i was
giving S-man the full amount in one go because he wouldn't eat the food
with any on it, and i didnt want to give him the meds more than once in a
day because i felt bad making him do it again, we just had a big treat
of chicken loaf afterwards.
Injecting sub cutaneous vitamin C was actually orders of magnitude less stressful than a misguided attempt to use ascorbic acid in her food or as a syringed supplement. (note: Sodium ascorbate though is virtually tasteless to a cat.) Although it must have stung like a bee, it was quick and we were forgiven eventually. We decided 4 shots only after the IV was removed to taper the dose down and give her the best start at the beginning of her illness. Mishka now gets interferon by injection. Actually it is knowing the routine that makes it unstressful - shot and then noms. It really helps to be given at a consistent time and the same 'medicine location' not used for sleeping or feeding, held by her bff Michael. She even stays relaxed with him in the car and at the vets.
"My
beautiful John Robie. Still doing well 8 months after his FIP
diagnosis. He is a miracle thanks to PI. ( Polyprenyl Immunostimulant ) " ~ CatMom: Lisa Cone
7th Dec 2012
John Robie on the stove - a favorite place. 33 weeks on PI and still going strong!
Happy Catmas John Robie and Lisa!
The charming Jon Robbie is named after the antihero of "To Catch a Thief" since he stole Lisa's heart!
John
Robie (approximate BD of June 25, 2010).
"John
Robie is an active 2 year old, curious, kittenish loving brat. His Dry
FIP is concentrated in his intestines and it can be uncomfortable for
him to poop (he meows in the cat box), but he's otherwise a normal cat
and has even gained some weight. He actually looks (and acts) like a
normal (but not fat) teenage cat. It is difficult to remember that he
has a fatal disease. But, he's a feisty one and strong. He bounced
back from exploratory surgery like it didn't even phase him. I think I
knew then that he was going to be my fighter and he sure has.
He was dumped
in a parking lot at 5 weeks old and found by me. He's probably some
exotic mix as he is VERY different from all of other street cats. He
had terrible fleas and ear mites when I found him and a slight URI but
was otherwise healthy. He was just going to be a foster, but he was too
amazing and I fell in love, so he became a part of a household with 8
other cats. When he was a year old, I fostered 3, 4 week old kittens
for a few months. He was always and indoor cat. He started losing
weight in late March and we took him in to our vet almost immediately.
My normal vet diagnosed FIP immediately and told me he had a few weeks
tops. I have too much experience with vets not being proactive so I
went exploring. A client of mine (I'm a pet sitter) had a recent great
experience with a vet that works with pug rescue (I also have pugs) so I
took him there for a second opinion. They were much more proactive,
did exploratory surgery, took a biopsy and was willing to work with
getting him PI.
That
vet was Airport Irvine Animal Hospital Irvine, CA. They also started
him on Prednisone, Trental (pentoxifylline) and an appetite stimulant right away. He
responded pretty well right away to the meds. We got approved for PI
and he started on that on April 7. I weaned him slowly off of Pred, but
when we got to the point where he had stopped the pred completely, he
started doing badly again. I upped the pred to normal dosage again
until he stabilized again, then weaned him down to .25 mg every other
day. He has remained on .25 pred every other day, 1/8 Trental every
other day and PI every other day since then and it has been the perfect
combination thus far.
Oh,
one other thing...None of the 8 other cats in my household (who are
older than JR) have shown any signs of FIP (yet), nor have the foster
kittens that were "raised" by JR shown any signs of FIP. I hope it
stays that way. " ~ Lisa
Amen to that.
April 2013 update:
still doing amazing! John
Robie is still on Prednisone at one year. A dose of .25 ever other day seems
to be the ticket for him. He does NOT do well when he is off
completely.
May 2013 update:
His update
is currently in flux. He was stable on the same dosage of all 3 meds. We
decreased his Pred and he took a turn for the worst.
We
upped it back up to the original dosage then slowly decreased it
weekly. As of 2 days ago, he is started showing symptoms again with the
Pred at .25 every other day.
So now we have increased it again to .25 every day.
Hopefully that will stabilize him.
The trental and PI dosage remains the same.
Fortunately John Robbie is back to his playful self on the daily prednisone. Please be cautious when the cat is doing well; they really do look normal and start perhaps fussing about medications so that people try to scale the medications back. I have collected several case histories of cats who have had problems when their doses were scaled back like Abbey. Oliver Mackinnon takes his 5mls of PI DAILY for 3 years and only now is starting to think about scaling back, Blade has been chugging along on his meds for 2 years - if it ain't broke dont fix!
UPDATE MAY 2015 - Madiera is still a happy healthy cat!
