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About the Dreaded Feline Infectious Peritonitis
What do you need to know about feline infectious peritonitis? It is said that breeders fear feline FIP more than any other disease, and it is the leading infectious cause of cat death. Infection rates are high where crowded conditions exist. This fatal communicable disease is difficult to diagnose. It's symptoms are many and varied, and tests are sometimes inconclusive.
The symptom list for this disease ranges from sneezing, to fever, to personality changes, to entire body system breakdown. There is weight loss, anemia, depression, and the list goes on.
The cause of FIP is a coronavirus infection (FCoV). Infected cats will shed coronavirus in their saliva and feces, which is why cattery residents are at high risk. Crowded locations allow the virus to spread from cat to cat. The good news is that not all cats exposed to the virus will experience symptoms, nor will all develop feline FIP.
Otherwise healthy cats will typically fight off the virus, but may shed FCoV for a full two months. Of those who do develop the disease, the onset of FIP may occur weeks, months, or years after the initial exposure.
Feline FIP symptoms can by very different for each affected cat. The symptom list includes symptoms common to many other ailments. In addition, there are two types of the disease, and different cats may have various areas of the body affected. This makes diagnosis based on symptoms very difficult.
Following exposure, a cat may produce antibodies but not actually develop the disease. This makes positive antibody tests for feline FIP inconclusive. Since diagnosis is difficult, FIP is even more dangerous as it spreads easily without detection.
With respect to signs and symptoms, some cats will show evidence of a respiratory infection and sneezing. In younger cats, the most common signs are a recurring fever that doesn't respond to antibiotics, failure to grow, and increased laziness. Other symptoms may include watery eyes, sneezing, intestinal problems, and nasal discharge.
Additional symptoms will depend on which form of the two types of the disease is present. Also, some cats may have combinations of both the wet and dry forms of the disease.
With the effusive, or wet type of FIP there is a yellow fluid build up in the chest cavity or abdomen. This causes difficulty breathing and swelling of the abdomen.
Symptoms for the dry, or non-effusive type include the growth of masses in the eyes and brain, the kidneys, and lymph nodes. In addition, there may be signs of neurological disorders such as loss of balance, and eye problems with a change in color or cloudiness in the iris of the eye.
The only real prevention method against this difficult to diagnose disease is limiting your cat's exposure to infected animals. While a coronavirus infection (FCoV) does not ensure that your cat will develop FIP, it's best not to take the chance.
Feline infectious peritonitis is incurable, and is considered to be fatal once diagnosis is confirmed. Since this disease can show up many years after exposure to the virus, a diagnosis may come as a surprise. Perhaps of some comfort to cat owners is that feline FIP is relatively uncommon, and affects less than one percent of the general cat population. In catteries, however, the rate of infection can reach 20 percent.
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Kurt Schmitt publishes the website for cat lovers with details on fip symptoms and other cat illnesses.
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