FIV transmission...

Question
Hi Iris, Thanks for being here! I got a new cat from the shelter who we actually thought was pregnant. I brought her to the vet who ran the FIV test which came back negative, he also ran the FIP tests because she in fact wasn't pregnant, so he was concerned about the swelling in her stomach. I'd never heard of FIP before, and the staff at the vets didn't tell me that she wasn't pregnant when I went to go pick her up. I brought her home to my 3 other cats thinking that nothing was wrong. The vet called yesterday and said that she tested positive for coronavirus, but he didn't know if it was FIP or not. The new cat, Sophie, did have roundworms too. We've had this new cat for a week now, sharing the litterbox and water with my other cats. I've been adding colloidal silver to their water, maybe that will kill it before its passed on? But I'm thinking now that I should quarantine the new cat, but will that do any good at this point? I would think that if the virus were to spread, it would have done so by now. Any suggestions? Thank you for your help, Kristen


Answer
Please quarantine her immediately as a precaution and contact me directly at my personal email address (which I do not give out as a general rule but I make exceptions for FIP situations.) Can you tell me what the test results were, exactly, and what lab did the test?

Is the cat eating normally? Does she have any upper respiratory symptoms? (sneezing, teary eyes etc.)? How do you know for sure that she is not pregnant? Have any other blood tests been done?

I do not want to upset you -- that is why I am giving you my personal address and I will even get on the phone with you if necessary, but I suggest that you try not to get too attached to this new cat. This could be a false alarm but you never know. . . if there is an enlarged abdomen and a positive coronavirus test you do need to be very concerned. Other tests will need to be run. Unfortunately there is no way to treat or cure FIP and the only thing you will be able to do for her, if that is what it is, is put her to sleep before she suffers too much.

The good news is that your other cats are unlikely to have been affected unless Sophie has a particularly virulent strain of FIP -- and try to stay calm because at this point we still don't know for sure that she does have it. I am trying to be prudent, though.

I will check email early tomorrow morning. I'm in the Eastern time zone. I am going to be pretty tied up from 10 oclock into early evening but depending on what you can tell me about the test results and Sophie's current condition and symptoms, I will try to advise you tomorrow night. Write me at purrform@tiac.net.

iris

p.s. Unfortunately I know far too much about FIP from personal experience and while I normally don't try to compete with vets on any other issue, in this case I probably know more than the average vet. So I'll do my best to help you through this. I realize that doesn't help much when you are contemplating losing a cat but it is the best I can offer at this point.