Help Kiwi beat FIP!

Hi everyone, my name is Sruti! Two months ago, my boyfriend Jake and I found a beautiful, underfed stray cat (Kiwi, because just look at her eyes!) limping in front of our apartment. She practically jumped into our arms and we decided right then and there that we were going to take her in. She's playful, curious, a master biscuit-maker, and loves belly-rubs to the point that we wondered if she was actually a dog in a cat suit. Kiwi is truly such a gift, and we are glad that she no longer has to worry about weathering the brutal Chicago winters.

 

When getting her vaccines and spay surgery, the clinicians who saw her said that even though she's on the smaller side for her age (just 7-12 months old), she's perfectly healthy. And she was -- for weeks, she was attentive and curious, and absolutely loved to eat and play with whatever toys we bought her. Then suddenly, a month ago, she started getting lethargic and refusing to eat for one day a week, and it quickly became clear that it wasn't a one-off thing. When we took her in to the vet, they told us that her symptoms taken together with her age and bloodwork meant that she has a disease called Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP). FIP develops from the feline coronavirus, which is very common, and most cats can fight it off without any serious symptoms. But when the feline coronavirus mutates into a specific strain of the coronavirus, FIP can develop - and this happens in only 1-5% of cases. The symptoms are subtle but pernicious and the disease spreads rapidly throughout the body, causing an extreme inflammatory reaction in either a "wet" or "dry" form. Specialists still don't understand why this happens to some cats and not others. Sadly, Kiwi was part of the small fraction of cats that is unable to fight off this virus on her own.

 

The prognosis for FIP is almost always fatal. Our vet suggested that we give her painkillers and appetite stimulants to make her comfortable, and that we would likely need to euthanize her in a few weeks to prevent her from experiencing the pain that comes with late-stage FIP. Kiwi is the sweetest kitten, and she has brought so much joy in our lives - we want to give her the richest, happiest life possible, and her early-stage symptoms gave us hope that there might be more that we could do for her. We immediately started doing some research on treatment options, and discovered that researchers at UC Davis have studied FIP extensively and have found a very promising treatment for it. In fact, its efficacy is the most promising in cats that fit Kiwi's profile exactly -- young, experiencing early stages, and in the "dry" form. The only roadblock to accessing this therapy is cost, because the drug is very difficult to come by in the US, while it has been approved and available for use in several other countries.

 

We want to do everything we can to give this sweet, loving girl a fighting chance. We have spent several hundred dollars to give Kiwi the best care we can, but the full cost of treatment will be anywhere from $3000 to $5000 dollars, between vet and ER visits to ensure that she is improving and treatment supply. The treatment is safe and cannot worsen her condition, so we are confident that this treatment is her best (and empirically supported) chance at survival. The treatment plan involves 12 weeks of injections and/or tablets and weekly assessments for improvements, and the sooner we can start treating her, the better her odds of survival will be.

 

We would appreciate anything you can donate to help us pay for Kiwi's recovery. Even the smallest amount could make a massive difference for us.

 

 

Thank you,

 

Sruti and Jake