Ash is an 8-month-old Scottish Straight kitten who has had a very rough start to life.

We brought Ash home at around nine weeks, and he was a normal, happy, sassy, and chubby kitten. But around 18 weeks old, in just a matter of days, Ash went from being a spunky sassy little grey mink to a depressed, lethargic, and anorexic kitten. He was on death's door.

We immediately knew something was wrong and rushed Ash to the vet, where they agreed he didn't look good at all, and we started blood work. They sent us home with some fluids, and we waited for the results.

Two days later, I got a call back from our vet with the worst news about my kitten. At just five months old, he was diagnosed with Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP.)

As the vet read her conclusion over the phone, my heart sank. I felt nauseous and held back tears and a shaky voice. The vet could tell I was distraught, and she said, "You need to gather yourself and listen to me very carefully, there is treatment out there, and you need to join a group called FIP Warriors 5.0 immediately. FIP is nasty, and you need to start treatment as soon as possible."

Without thinking, I requested to join the group, and our journey to save Ash had begun. I had no idea what the next few months would hold, but losing my kitten was not an option.

If you have ever heard of FIP or done some reading on it, almost all medical literature considers it 100% fatal, that is, until recently.

I joined the group at around 11 pm, and they had medicine within my zip code ready within 15 minutes. I thought... there is no way I am going to a stranger's house with my sick cat in the middle of the night. So, I didn't go and set a time for the next day during daylight hours. If I could go back in time, I would have gone at midnight, 3 am, or whenever.

By the second injection, Ash was back to scratching his post, eating and drinking, and even playing a little. It's as close to a miracle as I have ever seen.

Fast Forward! Ash has successfully completed the treatment phase as of 2/14/2023 and is now entering the observation phase, another 84 days of monitoring bloodwork, appetite, weight, and overall health and energy. We are now 2/3rds of the way done, and if all goes well, he will be deemed cured on 5/15/2023.

We chose to commit to treatment, and Ash is now healthy and only a few weeks away from being deemed cured. For this, we are grateful!!!

Unfortunately, our pet insurance Health Paws, has denied all claims as they do not cover FIP. This has left us with a rather large debt for medical bills from FIP diagnostics, ongoing bloodwork, and medication to treat various issues we were unprepared for.

Our vet believes the medication, while very safe, took a toll on Ash. He is battling gingivitis and kidney issues, which we are confident he will overcome. He has already shown improvement.

The cost of treatment was about $45 a day for medicine, but we will have spent about $10,000 by the time we are done with vet bills for labs, medicine, and procedures.

We appreciate any help we can get, but most importantly, we hope that awareness of FIP Treatment spreads and more cats can be cured and live a normal life. Many vets still recommend immediate euthanasia for an FIP diagnosis, which is unnecessary. This treatment has nearly 90% success rate. 

Update:

There are now two groups on Facebook in the US to help treat FIP:

FIP WARRIORS 5.0

FIP GLOBAL CATS

You can learn more about FIP here

Thank you, all!

Ash