Help Haru Fight Feline Intestinal Peritonitis

Brooke Wilkison is organizing this fundraiser.

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This is Haru. He is my 5 month old kitten who suddenly got sick. His abdomen was very distended, his eyes were tearing up, he had a fever of 104.4, and he had no energy and drive to do anything but sleep. The poor thing could barley walk. After a visit with my vet, they diagnosed him with wet form of feline intestinal peritonitis.

This was Haru the night before I took him to the Vet.

Haru brightened my life and he is my world. He follows me around, kisses my face and sleeps on me every night. He never wants to be alone and he's so incredibly loveable to everyone

I adopted Haru in May at 3 months old. I was depressed, and couldn't get over the death of my 9 year old cat Miya to intestinal lymphoma from the prior year, followed by her sister passing away just 2 days after to an asthma attack. These events devastated me, but I felt it was time, and I spent weeks looking until I found him. He's the perfect cat for me and I love him more than anything in the world, and I can't loose him. He's still so young, and has so much to live for.

FIP is a fatal viral disease that is caused by a form of Coronavirus found in cats. In cats that developed this Coronvirus, there is only a 5-10% chance that it will mutate and turn into FIP. Unfortunately Haru met these slim odds. (https://pets.webmd.com/cats/cat-fip-feline-infectious-peritonitis)

There is no approved cure/treatment for FIP, and it is 100% fatal for the cats affected with no treatment. There is however, a antiviral medication that has proven to work, and it cures a majority of the cats treated. Unfortunately this medication is not FDA approved, so vets are unable to prescribe it, so pet owners all over the world go through other means to obtain this medication.

My vet has been very supportive, and would like me to seek out this treatment for Haru. The issue is, it is expensive. Since you cannot buy the medication first hand, the costs are high to get it through third party means.

Treatment for FIP involves 84 days of consecutive treatment, which involves a subcutaneous injection based off of his weight. On top of injections for 84 days, he will need regular vet check ups and lab work on average to once or twice a month until treatment is completed to confirm the medication is working. Followed by frequent checkups for up to a year after the treatment has finished.

The medication costs vary depending on manufacturer, but can range from 60$ to 358$ per 5ml vial. I was able to get ahold of a brand that costs $75 a vial, and Haru will need roughly 24-34 vials depending on how much weight he will gain through treatment. So that means medication alone will cost anywhere from $1,875 to $2,550.

Any help is greatly appreciated, Haru means the world to me. Thankfully my vet said I caught it early, so with treatment there is high hope. I started Haru on his injections on September 2nd. Today he received his third shot, and there is already improvement. His fever has broke, and he's trying to play. Though he gets tired quickly, and his abdomen is still very distended.

These are images of his labwork.