Hi family and friends. Last week, my husband and I received some devastating news about our kitties…they both have FIP or Feline infectious peritonitis. Sadly, our smaller kitty Val was further along in the disease: she wasn’t gaining weight, she had a huge swollen belly (abdominal effusion) and was having seizures. We made the difficult decision to end her suffering on Saturday. Max had fluid in his lung cavity (pleural effusion) which was causing him to breathe with more effort. Thankfully, he was not as far along in the progression of the disease, so we began treating him with injectable GS, a live-saving medication, validated by many research studies, for cats with FIP. It does not yet have FDA approval so we had some help getting it. His fever broke and his energy levels increased soon after we began his treatment. He had a thoracentesis on Monday to drain the fluid from his lung cavity, and he continues to act like a healthy kitty: he’s eating, drinking, playing and using his litter box without issues, so we are hopeful that he will pull through. However, this is just the beginning of our treatment journey. We are looking at about a month of injecting Max with painful injections followed by two more months of giving him oral medication along with routine blood work. Additionally, he may need another thoracentesis if he continues to have pleural effusion.

We did everything we could for Val and are doing everything we can for Max, however, this has taken a toll on us financially. We are hoping you would consider making a donation to our GoFundMe to help us with our vet and medication bills. We would also like to donate any remaining funds to the FIP Warriors group. Without them, it is likely we would have lost Max, too. If you have a cat or kitten that is having medical issues that the vet is struggling to diagnose, then please reach out to me and I can get you in contact with this group.