The Dragon's Blessing

"the dragon's blessing - this deep understanding that suffering can be transformed and be transformative" ~ Guy Allenby

FIP is all about stress. Cat stress. Human stress - my son and I lost our appetites, stopped eating. I lost my spare tire and gained more under eye bags. Naturally we both got a cold almost immediately. Now I don't believe in God, I don't pray - there were no other adults to support me deeply emotionally; even worse - the vets were out of useful ideas so I was searching the internet until the small hours of the morning. I needed to stay strong for Mishka and for Michael. Plus there was no darn way I was going to let FIP take our health as well. 

So from that spiritual void to calm everyone's panic, ease their pain, and later, to mend a broken heart I reached out for music therapy and meditation. All the wooo hippy junk I wasn't going to bother with when I was younger and life was easy. Certainly not in medical school - I was there to learn about drugs and surgical interventions.

I didn't really believe in the power of the mind until a christmas holiday a few years ago. It just bucketed down, and the family's holiday at Coolum was not the escape to sunny Queensland promised. So while Brisbane flooded and a state of emergence was declared, I retreated to the spa to sauna, sip tea and read Dr. Ian Gawler's biography "the Dragon's Blessing". Studies over the years have increasingly backed up what was at the heart of his healing from 'terminal' sarcoma but much derided at the time and for many years after - meditation. It improves the immune system, critical thinking and memory. With FIP I needed all of these things for each of us FAST without heading for a pill bottle. Music of the right frequency was a shortcut to moving our minds into the zone. There's an abundance of suitable music for free on youtube. It far exceeded my hopes for keeping Mishka comfortable and everyone calm during any therapy. Since she was a highly strung cat and we were all empathically wired in together, one buzz in the wrong direction could wind us all up. We even found one track that reliably sent her and my son to sleep quickly. I have kept adding to the playlist now and then for pleasure. It's unintentionally chronicled a mental healing with the tone of the tracks becoming brighter over time.

 Other resources

Dr. Hedy Kober, a neuroscientist at Yale talks about how she began practising meditation to mend her broken heart.

Other resources I collected along the way are on the support and solace webpage. The most amazing was the facebook community - please also check that out and find what blessings you can as you face FIP.

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

Mutant Ninja FIP

"Evolutionary plasticity can be purchased only at the ruthlessly dear price of continuously sacrificing some individuals to death from unfavourable mutations."

~Theodosius Dobzhansky Genetics and the Origin of Species (1937)

Life does not stand still. Evidence of the mutation of Feline crossed Canine coronavirus to produce a virulent form that creates directly cat-cat transmissible FIP disease. Marleen from Facebook FIP fighters group posted this today -

"One of our members contacted Dr. Niels Pedersen from the UC Davic SOCK FIP team and he kindly sent her this lengthy reply (see below). She got his permision to share this with the FIP community.

Q: In a recent article by Wang et al (http://www.veterinaryresearch.org/content/44/1/57) an outbreak of FIP among cats in a Taiwanese shelter was described. This has caused some anxiety among cat owners concerning the potential of cat-to-cat transmission of FIPV. What are your views on this? 

A: I reviewed this paper and believe that this was a case that started with cat-to-cat transmission. However, the virus in this outbreak is what we call type II FIPV, which is a hybrid that occurs between feline and canine coronavirus. The primary strain of coronavirus in most cats is serotype I. Serotype II FIPV are more virulent than type I viruses and there is an old report of possible cat-to-cat transmission with another FIP virus of this serotype. However, this is a very rare occurrence and should not be taken as a universal finding. Cat-to-cat transmission of FIPV is extremely uncommon, even with serotype II virus, and when it occurs the outbreaks are self-limiting because the virus rapidly mutates to a form that does not go cat-to-cat. It is likely that the virus in this outbreak came from a cat or cats that were housed with dogs in another shelter and had not yet had time to fully adapt to cats. 

At this point, we need to define the difference between epizootic (epidemic=human) and enzootic (endemic=human) disease. An epizootic occurs when a new pathogen such as a virus enters a group of susceptible animals for the first time. There is a very rapid spread with a high morbidity (prevalence of diseased individuals) and often a high mortality (death from that disesae). An example would be the appearance of parvo virus enteritis in dogs in the 1970s, an epizootic disease that is now enzootic. Enzootic disease occurs when a pathogen lurks continuously in the environment and only targets individuals that become susceptible. For instance, feline enteric coronavirus is shed by a majority of older cats in a cattery but it is the kittens that take the brunt of disease. Enzootic disease is sporadic in nature and the morbidity and mortality waxes and wanes depending on the presence or absence of disease cofactors. People often mistake epizootic for enzootic disease when several cases occur close together. Epizootics usually get far more attention than enzootics, because they hit like a hammer. Enzootic disease is frequently tolerated, as is the case with feline upper respiratory and intestinal infections and even with FIP. However, the tap-tap-tap of enzootic disease is in the long run far more damaging and causes far more deaths than epizootic disease. 

Q: How can an epizootic of FIP, such as occurred in this Taiwan shelter, be differentiated from the enzootic type disease that causes almost all FIP deaths? Or another way to ask the question in the case of FIP is how can you differentiate cat-to-cat transmission of an FIP virus from the normal pattern of infection, which involves cat-to-cat transmission of the parent feline enteric coronavirus followed by internal mutation of the disease causing FIP virus?

A:  The epizootic of FIP that occurred in Taiwan was easy to characterize, because it could be traced to the introduction of a specific hybrid cat/dog virus that came in with a cat from another environment. This virus then rapidly spread to susceptible cats by contact. The virus that caused the epizootic was also genetically unique from normal enteric coronaviruses that were enzootic to the shelter, confirming that it was indeed a new introduction. As would be expected from an epizootic, the introduced virus changed as it rapidly spread cat-to-cat in the shelter. With subsequent cat passages, the infecting virus started developing mutations in one of the coronavirus-related genes associated with production of a protein called 3c. Coronaviruses that do not produce normal 3c protein will no longer infect enterocytes and are therefore not shed in the feces. This same type of mutation is common to the FIP viruses isolated from cats with enzootic disease. This occurrence of 3c gene mutations was probably the major reason why the Taiwanese outbreak was self-limiting, and not just because a simple quarantine was initiated.

Q: We can all understand that cases of FIP commonly occur in large catteries where FECV is prevalent, and where there is a genetic relationship between affected cats. However, there are also cases where 3-4 genetically unrelated cats in the same household (not a large cattery) develop FIP one after the other during a time period of 6-12 months. Assuming that all of these cats developed FIP due to internal mutation of FECV, this seems a bit strange considering that only a small proportion of cats are supposed to go on and develop FIP after FECV infection. How do you explain this?

A: The morbidity to FIP can range from less than 1% to more than 5-20% in the enzootic form, depending on many factors. In catteries, genetics play an important role, but it is not the sole factor. With random bred cats, non-genetic factors are even more important. We know that the age at exposure to FECV and stressors of many types that occur during primary FECV infection (starting around 9 weeks) are very important. Resistance develops with age and the younger they are exposed the more likely to come down. The problem is that in shelters and catteries the exposure occurs much earlier in life than if cats are running free at a reasonable density. There is no accident that over 70% of FIP cases come from catteries, shelters and kitten/cat foster and rescue organizations. We also know that 20% or more of FECV infections can generate FIP-causing mutants, but yet only a fraction of cats get sick. This means that many cats actually resist the disease. The question then becomes - why do some get the disease when others do not?

Q: Which are the most important stress factors that can influence the development of FIP in young cats?

A: In principle anything that interferes with a kitten’s immune response in that critical period between 9 weeks when they usually first see FECV and 16 weeks or so when their immune system really starts to become mature can potentially tip the balance towards disease. Vaccinations, deworming, early neutering, moving to a new family – all of these things can affect the immune system, plus all of the common kittenhood respiratory and enteric disorders that occur during this period. However, it is impossible to weight the influence of one or another, or any combination. I like to use the term “perfect storm” from the famous movie. You get FIP when enough bad things come together at the wrong time.

The Bottom Line - House your cats in small groups. Do not stress them when they are young. Protect kittens from encountering FeCoV until their immune system is strong and don't inbreed.

How to Give Medicine to an Uncooperative Cat

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

Shironeko - Results may vary

< 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 a how 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.

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!

Vexed Vaccinations

" In cats we now recognise that vaccinating with too many vaccines in the same place all the time can cause fibrosarcoma, a nasty cancer." ~ Nancy Scanlon, DVM, Chino Hills, USA

The annual boosters for our animals used to confound me. I imagined pets had a most bizarre immune system - forgetful regarding life threatening viruses but functioning perfectly with regard to all other viral and bacterial assaults. They didn't seem to be in anyway prone to the petty common illnesses that snotty humans suffer. No vomiting illnesses, no boxes of kitty kleenex were needed each winter and the dogs were happily rolling in anything dead, bounding about in the wind and rain, and taking any opportunity to eat cat poo - yummy.

http://www.lifewithcats.tv/2011/05/29/kitty-vs-kleenex/

Holistic vet Dr Yasson says science confirms annual vaccinations are unecessary

http://www.holvet.net/pet_vaccinations.html

"Current Veterinary Therapy, 11th Edition, which is one of the most significant textbooks in veterinary medicine to date, says that vaccines tend to last a lifetime in dogs and cats.   Dogs and cats in old age do tend to have more chronic disease when they have those vaccines repeated on a yearly basis.  Annual revaccinations are unnecessary"

Lisa A. Pierson, DVM gives her rationale and reccomendations for a sensible feline vaccination schedule. http://www.catinfo.org/?link=vaccines

"There is nothing in the scientific literature to support annual vaccination with the FVRCP and Feline Leukemia (FeLV) vaccines. It is well-known that:

• the vaccines commonly used for cats confer immunity for much longer than 1 year - and actually provide lifelong immunity in most instances for panleukopenia
• adjuvants contained in killed vaccines put cats at risk for fatal tumors (sarcomas)
• even the non-adjuvanted FVRCP vaccines have caused sarcomas, as have the PureVax vaccines
• natural immunity to feline leukemia is very strong by the time the cat reaches ~1 year of age
• the FVRCP vaccine is strongly linked to kidney inflammation"

To those I would add two comments:

1."Saving a small fortune"  if the pets live to be as old as First Cat 19yrs, and NewDog 11yrs. Neither and Senior dog who died at 19, have been vaccinated for many years since we gave up sending them to boarding if we go on holidays - it makes much more sense to employ a house sitter.
2. Vaccination is a huge antioxidant stress.
"One research worker in the laboratory had been immunizing animals against diseases like tetanus and Diptheria.  His experience showed that after being immunized, some of the animals died suddenly within 24 hours.  These deaths had been attributed to anaphylaxis.  Authorities the world over had decided that this was so (it is a severe allergic reaction).  I suggested that vitamin C deficiency was the cause.  The animals involved did not make their own.  Like primates they required it in their diet.   To discover the truth only required a simple experiment.....
     The result was definite, unquestionable and final.  Half of a group of animals were supplemented with vitamin C before being immunised.  None died.  The un-supplemented half continued to die at rates equal to those found in previous experiments.
    The importance of this discovery can hardly be stressed.  In Australia and all over the world, infants were being immunised.  Those whose vitamin C status was low were at risk.  here, at last, was experimental evidence that supported my claims that stepping up immunisation campaigns among Aboriginal infants increased the death rate."  Every Second Child  by Dr Archie Kalokerinos, M.D. (p.139-140)

A cat makes vitamin C but as far as I can tell they are low on the list of responders able to make around 40mg/kg daily. They will in the wild naturally derive vitamin c from prey. The antioxidant vit C and E are not easy to preserve in processed foods - they have to be topped up before packaging and survive sitting on shelves for months. I wonder how they actually compare to raw foods of similar caloric value? I expect Dr Belfield DVM will know - he gives all his pets and patients supplemental vit C.

We roll the dice when we choose to intervene. My husband's cousin is severely mentally disabled due to the MMR vaccine.

In humans vit c status can make all the difference between a 'routine' vaccination and disability or death. "In Archie’s opinion, the death rate in the Aborigine babies and children stemmed from widespread subclinical scurvy, which resulted in every second child dying, after the medical profession’s vaccination teams swept through the districts." HIs latest book is about Shaken Baby syndrome and is free to download http://www.vaccinationcouncil.org/2012/08/14/dr-kalokerinos-last-book/ Dr Kalokerinos also predicted that there would be widespread problems from the Ford administration 1976 swine flu vaccine program - and indeed there was, prompting it's early termination, and including a fantastic Mafia Boss death link ( really Hollywood could not have come up with a better plot!)

and in humans fatal mistakes in manufacturing as well as straightforward vaccination related deaths still occur in children particularly with their fragile immature immune sytstems. Ashley Jade Epapara  died in her cot 24 hrs after receiving the infamous 2010 fluvax http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/deaths-linked-to-anti-flu-vaccines/story-e6frg8y6-1226441791947

Ebony and Ivory

"I have no opposable thumbs but I oppose everything." ~ Henri, le chat noir

William Braden of Seattle has a successful series of faux french short films featuring the moody tuxedo Henri and his white housemate only known as l'Imbicile Blanc - two yin yang cats who present his philosophies from a catseye view such as this vet visit -


which got me to thinking if Mishka ever gets as world weary as Henri we will be pulling the plug, but right now she's easily pleased -sunshine, noms, a quite place to nap, perhaps an exciting bit of string or a paperclip.

Our own yin yang pair of cats are equally complementary; the dark tortie 'first ladycat' Tish ~ a moggie who hasn't seen a vet in over a decade and prefers raw meat, preferably hunted down by herself is 19 while the unfortunate fippy blond birman Mishka is just 2.

Our years of experience with Tish in no way prepared us for pedigreed princess Mishka - canned fish addict and hairball hoarder. Apparently moving home, dumping flea powder and worm medicine into Tish who can outgun a copperhead snake does not stress her system to breaking point. She greets all our visitors with graceful purring but ...

Mishka is freaked by new people and funny smells. For her to have come this far with treatment is a testament to her underlying pluck - the inner snow leopard in our little fluffball.

Christmas Wish for Mishka

"Has The Cat been a good The Cat? That is the question...." ~ Tummymountain 

Oh I so think she has! Do visit the Tummymountain link - i didn't want to steal their picture of cat's wishes - it is heartmeltingly cute and accurate.

Cats live in the moment so Mishka's not counting sleeps to Christmas and neither is she stressed out waiting for the latest wonder drug that might help her win out over FIP ... but I am! We are waiting on PI - the Polyprenyl  immunostimulant (which we were told doesn't work for wet FIP) we now know has apparently cured one cat named Miracle, and an enzyme preparation called Serapeptase. Pray customs have some xmas spirit though they are not noted for it :(

and we have reached the end of the financial tether - actually i think we passed that redflag months ago but apparently cats are colour blind. If you were thinking of sending me a christmas card save a tree, if you were going to take me out for a cup or coffee and cake, save my aching joints by hitting the donate button below instead - paypal doesn't take much off it and they are secure.

Just by donating $5 you can help Mishka pave the path for other FIP cats with experimental treatment. Dr Norris Associate Professor in Veterinary Microbiology SYdney University says PI is definitely worth a try in Mishka - 3 months survival is a very good result so far. Mishka has the rarest and most advanced sort of fip affecting both lungs and abdomen. PI is only available in america and its use for FIP is considered 'off label'. We can raise a few extra hundred to also set up a stockpile of PI for rapid response for australian cats. The drug's price is quadrupled by taxes and customs forms which have to be purchased each time the PI is ordered so if can spread this out it over one big order this helps and importantly avoids delays in treatment which are fatal for FIP cats. If you are going to treat FIP do it early. Viruses multiply by doubling - do the scary math. Dr Norris is importing two boxes with her own money.

Once protocols for treatment are established through trial and error the survival rate goes up - it's not just all about double blind research studies. Sick cats like Mishka also just have to do the hard yards of the learning curve in the early days.

FIP is a rollercoaster

"Being diagnosed with a serious illness can seem like a roller coaster ride; scary, up and down, out of control.
Remember, the following is also true of roller coasters:
1. It's less scary with a friend
2. If you stay on the ride to the end you won't get hurt
3. It's okay to scream"

~ borrowed from a post by Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis

As you can see I hate rollercoasters and so does Michael - the others are 007 cool with it which may have something to do with differing levels of reaction to having a terminally ill kitty.

1. Yes much less scary with a friend - Mother/son bonding is a little known benefit of having a fippy cat.
2. Not sure about point 2 - one can step off the ride at any time by euthanizing cats (but not humans yet in australia) It goes smoothly for some but others have had a traumatic time, notably if the cat freaks out at the vets and tries to scramble back into the kitty carrier or dies with its eyes open. There are misdiagnoses - it is not easy to diagnose dry FIP and it is suspected many cats will be euthanized who may have recovered from some other self-limiting illness - or fail to receive the correct treatment
3. aaaarghhh!!!! Don't automatically expect understanding from your friends, or nearest and dearest. Even those with pets have been known to utter "It's only a cat!" Note the use of IT. Use the padded cell of cyberspace and do your screaming in a dedicated FIP support forum or facebook group.

The ups and downs of FIP are extreme. Mishka has earned the nickname 'Lazarus cat' - i have video evidence of resurrection.

A Long Ride

 

 On Friday last I was thinking "euthanase" as either her appetite was so poor (bad sign) or Mish was now the fussiest cat in the world in space - fussier even than the one pictured on the fussy-cat food which she is too fussy to eat. Fussiness v. inappetance is a good sign (expansion of vocabulary is another little known benefit of FIP in humans) But the universe took charge and sent our new vet away for the weekend so euthanasia was not possible till Monday earliest.

Plus she woke me with retching noises at 4 am yesterday. For a panic stricken moment I thought we were back at square one with a chest full of fluid (our acquaintance with FIP began with an early morning emergence vet visit after I mistook symptoms of suffocation for a hairball). Sat up with her a bit longer to be sure it really was a hairball this time and was so tired I forgot to turn off the grill before leaving the house.
The universe then saved us as my husband came home at lunchtime instead of having a chat with me at the health expo, due to a 'misunderstanding' and switched it off or I might have burnt house down and kitten up!
At dinner time I finally seized the bull by the horns ( poor Mish by the cheeks ) and syringed in some Lectade with Nutrigel and for good measure smeared a fingerful on her chin --> about a minute of unhappy vanilla flavoured cat. Some fish was offered to take away the yuk and HUZZAH she ate it!

claws moving human cushion back into place

Later I lugged the fippy little furball complaining out to the lounge room to watch tv with dad. Couch potato mode is actually classified as 'active' if you are a tired fippy cat because you are out socialising, snacking and grooming rather than buried in a furry heap alone in a bedroom feeling sorry for yourself. She got comfy on her favourite human cushion, Kevin McCloud showed us some nice houses while she polished off seconds, then tidied her fur and fell asleep - the picture of a contented kitty. Her breathing is not wheezy anymore - I even hauled out the baby stethescope to check. A nice big hairball on the carpet would have made us all even more happy!

Now i had to edit this post to tell the end of the story....

 

We had decided to drain her at home to prevent the extreme trauma she suffered from having this done twice before with two different vets and made preparations which were delayed by the receptionist from hell. This woman specialises in mucking me around, why I have no idea - first she said to come over and pick up the sedative, then when i show up instead made me book an appointment a few days later but when i arrived for that she claimed the vet didn't do appointments on that morning and he wasn't there - lies lies - he was out the back. So with a critically ill cat at home I  got yelled at and belittled, had to beg ,..... shaking and tearful I finally was given the required meds. It was almost too late.
Mishka was still happy and active though very full of fluid as it was now three not two weeks since her last drainage, ate a good lunch as she wasn't going to be drained until the evening. Husband came home to find she had vomited all the food and a small hairball but things didn't settle - she kept bringing up fluid. We suspected impacted hairball and she's no candidate for surgery - I REFUSED to lose her to a hairball! Frantic text message to a supportive vet, purchased catlax and shoved it in; the vomiting stopped overnight so we drained Mishka 400 mls and gave her subcut fluids /vitamin C. Afterwards she looked the best she had in a month. The upshot is that she will need draining perhaps every two weeks unless we can get control of the inflammation leading to the effusion.

Still on the ride.....

A Deliberate Cat Life

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Thoreau

Are you dying every day or living every day? 

Is our little cat dying more than living? That is the question we ask every day with FIP. Today Mishka was living - waiting by the door after breakfast to head off into the sunshine, enough pounce to try for a lizard that scuffled past her favourite resting place under the ash tree. So it was a good day.

When you find out your cat has got FIP you ask what could you have done to prevent it? You have seen at least one thing, probably many things, on the list of stressful events you did which depress the immune system causing the virus to mutate inside your cat, and will waste some time beating yourself up over it. Rehoming is one of them.

"Mummy, mummy can I have a cat?"

 Mishka came to us when my son's violin teacher moved to England and left her kitty behind, a fluffy indoor cat with dreams of being a snow leopard. Being housebound was never her thing so we decided to take her and give her the freedom of a big sunny garden in which to be a cat. We were aware and prepared if she fell prey to snakebite or a hungry eagle - but a virus she caught indoors from her mum was an irony never on our radar.

So if there is a wish fairy for terminally ill cats Mishka would like the 'catching a bird' experience please in this cat life.

What's on your bucket list?