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/

Pikachu - a wobbly cat

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.

Murphy - misdiagnosis of wet FIP

Mischievous Murphy from Germany is a kitten successfully treated for bacterial peritonitis which was initially mis-diagnosed as FIP in April 2013 when he was 8 months old. Fortunately Jennifer did not give up. She found a second opinion from another vet, who although she could not rule out FIP even though his abdominal fluid tested negative for coronavirus, committed to save him and went for treating the treatable in the face of uncertainty. Murphy was given Suanatem (Metronidazole and Spiramycin) and recovered quickly.

This continues the series on misdiagnosis. Please make sure you check out Dr Addies's diagnostic algorithm's for FIP on treatment page before losing hope. And donate to FIP research which is working towards a fast and reliable diagnostic tool. In australia this is University of Sydney with Jaqui Norris.

Tomten might not have FIP

Goodnews/badnews update from Cassie nearly a year after Tomten was diagnosed with dry FIP and put onto interferon highlighting the difficulty with diagnosis:

"Tomten is hanging in there. I gave him the last of my interferon on Thursday night and now I am in a waiting game for the shipment to arrive from UK. I am praying it will be here on Monday. I injected him last week on Thursday, then Sunday then Thursday again. Just like last year after an injection he clearly responds for a few days so I am anxious to get him back on an every other day regimen. By Wednesday of this week he was spending all of his time in his favorite cat bed only getting up to use the litter box. He is eating but was being fed with "room service" several small amounts a day. After we injected him... he woke up at 3:30 am and got into bed with us. Friday am he woke up and followed me down to the kitchen to eat his breakfast. Last night he cuddled downstairs on my lap and even carried his favorite toy around for a few minutes.... its amazing to see his response after the injection so now we just have to pray we get the interferon quick!

On another positive note.. Dr. Ratti connected with Dr. Addie and shared Tomten's history... Dr. Addie doesn't think its FIP but has suggested another lymph node PCR biopsy but this time using a lab in California with a researcher who is has a lot of experience with FIP. Dr. Ratti is beginning to wonder if he could have a foreign body lodged in his intestine which could be causing the granuloma.. Here is to hoping we get the interferon fast and its not FIP."

just click the cloud button for the other posts about Tomten.

Leap of Faith

"Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it." - Tori Amos

I wrote this just before Mishka died on Feb 1st but I've decided to post it unchanged. Update: a few edits and see the comment from Dusty's mum below!
--------------------------------------------
Dusty is the reason we are treating Mishka. Dusty survived wet FIP of the lungs in part thanks to injections of feline interferon and oral prednisone in 2007. I first wrote about him in a post about Hope http://onecatlife.blogspot.com/2012/10/hope-is-black-swan.html

Virbac sent me the case history and amazingly here was a cat I could believe in because I knew the vet practice in Sydney (I think my mum even took our old cat there on occasion. Chloe was a stray my brother took in who lived to be 17 on a commercial diet without ever getting regular vaccinations btw)  so I phoned the vet, Simon Craig who verified the cat was still kicking and had made it off the interferon. Based on Dusty's outcome we did the math and decided we could afford the treatment on the basis of expecting a dead cat or a cure in a little over two weeks - but there you have it, each case is unique and Mishka has not progressed as well - but she's not dead either, so the budget is completely blown by five months worth of extra drugs. We have apparently converted an acute illness into a chronic one - as allopathic medicine does so well.

Possibly due to her more advanced disease ( she has abdominal FIP as well) her own genetic challenges (she is a Birman, Dusty is a Scottish Fold) or that two week delay or not using the steroids first up. Dr Addie does mention in her wet fip case study, which I only recently read, that the wet FIP response to FOI is higher for cats with FIP of the lungs, and doesn't seem to work as well on abdominal FIP.

My suspicion is this is because abdominal FIP can be cryptic for longer in that area without causing distress. Mishka had abdominal fluid for a few weeks to a month perhaps before we knew she was sick.

It wasn't until her lungs really filled up that we rushed to the vet. Perhaps she was also dehydrated somewhat and thirstier than usual. Here she is the night before, mucking about and looking ok:

She may have been sick for much longer as the earliest signs are so hard to detect as abnormal, if indeed they were - she started being more sleepy (thought that was natural as a cat growing older and not being a kitten any longer), more cuddly and purry - well she got to know us and that's a nice thing, she was very hungry and insisted on 4 am snacks - well she's a growing cat. She got so chubby she was stuck in her cat door - that was cute (ok my son had at that stage twigged something was up. "mum Mishka is not a cat anymore" ? "Definition of a cat - fits anywhere the head fits" ??!!! )

Definition of a cat - fits anywhere the head fits

 Mishka's Leap of Faith

 
and so we followed the example of Dusty. I feel like a cartoon character that's headed over the cliff - can't stop running to look down now or gravity will reassert itself. Hoping to make it to the other side on pure momentum. Courage kitty - leap!

New Years Tomten

"Winters come and summers go, year follows year. but as long as people live at the old farm in the forest, every night the Tomten will trip around between the houses on his small silent feet."

Cassie from New Jersey just updated Tomten's status and the news is great!

"Hi everyone,

I just got back from Tomten's ultrasound. Good news. No GI tumors. His Lymph nodes are still enlarged but have visibly shrunk since last September's scan.

Bad News: Dr. Harrison who has secured the the Virbagen Omega from the UK and helped Dr. Ratti with his treatment plan is leaving Animerge for Chicago. (Good news for all the felines in Chicago!!)I have reached out to Dr. Ratti to see if she can take over ordering his meds. I bought a 24 week supply so hopefully we have some time.

I have also suggested to Dr. Ratti we do the feces PCR to see if he is is still possible for the virus. Though my bank balance might want to defer that for a few weeks as the ultrasound and 24 week supply of his liquid gold was steep!

He had a great weekend. Wrestling with his brother, counter surfing, hunting bugs... Right now he is cuddled up next to his brother Gizmo and the two of them are on the ottoman looking out the window at our lake and watching the geese. Its too cute.

I hope everyone's furry friends have a good day as well.

Cassie"

Reccomended Vets for FIP

" The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. " ~ Ann Landers 

When Karmen's 10 month old kitten Bunny died of wet FIP in the lungs in December 2012 her vet from Companion Veterinary Hospital PS planted a tree as as tribute. This was a sweet thing to do for someone who had to put down a young cat in such distressing circumstances.

Contrast this with veterinary practices who would stack charges onto ordering our interferon because you can. Reccomended FIP experienced practices on a database, you can add your reccomendations there.

Frank

"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.

Blade

" For everyone of us that succeeds, it's because there's somebody there to show you the way out. " ~ Oprah

 Blade lies in Michigan USA with Joni Swanson, still hale and happy in Jan 2013 over two years since first diagnosis. When I stumbled across Blade's story I was amazed and hopeful to see he was having weekly drainages of his effusion. At that time Mishka was up to her 4th drainage and i was unsure if we were going to slowly starve her to death by doing more because that was the most any other cat I heard of ever had to have before they either died or got better. So seeing Blade in such good health after 2 whole years gave us courage to proceed even though I do not have details of bloodwork or diagnostics. His veterinarian is Dr Paul Crawshaw at the Wyandotte Animal Hospital in Wyandotte, Michigan.

"Forget the ridiculous amount of toys, I just want to sit in the basket!"

October 9 2012 Joni Swanson writes:

"He will be 8 on October 30th, couldn't believe we were dealing with this at his age, but other than his little belly, you would never know he was sick. We have 5 cats and he is the most feisty. We have gone from once a week to once every four weeks, as of last week. 

The dr uses the ultrasound machine while using a catheter to remove the fluid. Every once in a while they say he starts flipping his tail and becomes vocal, but is a good boy for the most part. The fluid removed is between 1/2-1lb...was 410cc, used to remove 300-400 per week....when they bring him back, he acts perfectly fine. Jumps off the table, is a little nosey, then goes to his carrier. Dr gave me some medication to give him before i take him next time, said it will take the edge off. Otherwise he hasn't been given anything. It is about $86 each time......don't even know how we did it financially 2 yrs ago when he was going every week, guess I always hoped for a miracle.....it kept me going. I call him my million dollar kitty. 
He gets 1ml of interferon and 1ml of prednisone. The vet charges us $20 for the interferon (good for 2 mths) and the prednisone prescription is $32. Also crush 250mg of Rutin, a dietary supplement vitamin, to put on a spoonful of canned food 2-3 times per day. 
Was told by another vet that I didn't have to bother after he confirmed the FIP, but I continue to do what I had been for the previous year. I could talk all night about my little Blade.....sorry to keep blabbing......my heart breaks for all the babies lost to this horrible disease."

November 23, 2012 Joni Swanson writes:

"He is doing good....had 320 ml removed on Tuesday. He had a plateful of turkey and is napping now Talked to the dr about the different vitamins I have seen and asked about PI (polyprenyl immunostimmulant,). He said he would look into the PI, but said Blade is doing so well, why change anything."

Blade update: good news from visit on January 2nd 2013

"only 200ml was removed, down from 260ml removed 3 weeks prior, ultrasound showed less fluid and Blade weighed the same as the did after the 260ml was removed. Dr says he is an exception....just can't figure it out, but whatever it is, it is working. I know FIP is not curable, but Blade sure gives me high hopes! I also cut back on prednisone and interferon, used to have no problem giving him the medication, but when he started running and hiding from me, I wasn't going to force it down him. Could the steroid cause more fluid buildup? I don't know, but other than that darn fluid, you would never know he was sick. He is the king of the house"  

Long live the king :)

Alfie

FIP is notoriously hard to diagnose if it is dry form - but even the wet form does have a differential.

Dear all,
Today we had to say goodbye to our 11 week old baby Alfie. 3 days ago he started to get sick; his appetite was gone, he was lethargic, I could feel his spine and ribs while his tummy felt "healthy" as if he just had eaten.

All these symptoms worried me, so I went with him to the vet the day after. They took blood samples to send to the lab. The abdominal puncture fluid was clear, colourless and not stringy.

The following day we got back the results from the lab and they were not consistent with fip. Today, we took him to a clinic for an ultrasound, a Rivalta test and an analysis of the puncture fluid. The Rivalta test was very clearly negative and through the ultrasound we learned Alfie had a congenital disorder; his pericardium contained not only his heart but also a big part of his liver... This is not a inherited disease but "just" something in the embryonic development that went wrong :(

Without surgery there was no chance for Alfie, so we didn't have a choice but to give him this chance and left him there for surgery later today. Unfortunately Alfie was already too weak or maybe just too young too cope with the anaesthetics and died even before the surgery could start. Obviously we are very sad about this...

For three days I lived with the sadness, stress and insecurity that a lot of you have been through too when you discover your kitten might have fip. I have been in contact with some of you and I searched the internet for information about fip and differential diagnosis while at the same time I was afraid to believe it could be anything else but the much dreaded fip... It's for this reason that I want to share Alfie's story. If you think your kitten might have (the beginning of) wet fip, insist on all the tests at once. Blood and puncture fluid analysis, Rivalta test and ultrasound of abdomen and thorax, because my Alfie is proof that this can give some of the symptoms presented by fip.

PS On the picture you can see Alfie in better days... We miss him so much :(

from Cattery SmittenKitten

Dr Pedersen's comments on expensive diagnostic tests

"Okay, I'm not going to do many graphic pictures, but I do not understand why veterinarians have so much trouble diagnosing it like me, okay. I do not understand it because there are just the two forms. There is the wet form and the dry form and sometimes there is a little intermediate as they can switch from one to another and you can catch them in that transition stage, but people seem to have a hard time making this diagnosis, and like Al said, if you have a young cat from a shelter cattery that has a distended abdomen and has this yellowish, mucinous fluid that contains the right kind of inflammatory cells, high protein… gee, what else is this? What else can we call it? And the problem that we have is that because the diagnosis of FIP as I said, once they become clinically apparent, they’re going to die, okay, and I tell you right now, they’re going to die. There is no treatment. Okay… that I know of, that has been successful to reverse this thing. Okay, so basically because it’s a fatal disease, people especially veterinarians, and especially owners and especially pathologists; do not want to tell you that this is a fatal disease. They say, just as Al says. You get tired of seeing a path report that describes, there's a clinical history just like FIP, lesions that cannot be anything but FIP and then they say, characteristic of FIP, typical FIP. What does that mean? You tell me, does it have FIP? Just tell me.

And so, the problem is that in any of these kinds of diseases where there is a 100% mortality and believe me, owners are just as guilty because owners will push that risk, and is there a chance that it is this, or it is that, toxoplasmosis is one million, you know, is it the mycosis, one in a million, you know, all of these things, and so, they are always grasping for stuff and they are pushing it, and the more they push you, the more diagnostic tests that you ask for, and the problem is that hardly any of those diagnostic tests are 100% correct. And so, even the PCR test maybe only 80%. Immunohistochemistry might be 70-80% depending on what you do. The blood work is not 100%. They are all just little things that help you make the diagnosis, but there is not a single test that’s simple, short of taking a biopsy or taking some fluid, and doing a specific test by a lab that knows what they are doing, which is another problem, okay, to get a decent result back. And then, you know, then there are still veterinarians refusing to believe that antibody titers are not necessarily diagnostic, so they will continue to do the FIP virus serology on a whole bunch of cats. One cat will die of FIP in the cattery. They will test every cat for $30 or $40 a cat, and then they’ll get the results back and then they will say, “Well, I don’t know what they mean.” So then they’ll call me up. Well, I didn’t order 50 serologies at $50 a piece, you know, and so they wanted a free consult, you know, as far as I never charge for consults, but they want a consultation as to what that test means, well, no veterinarian should ever ask for a test that they do not know how to interpret it.
If the results come back [Applause] if the results come back and they can’t interpret it, why the hell did they ask for it in the first place?"  from WINN feline foundation 2011 FIP symposium

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

John Robbie

"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!