Re: FIP

[Lernermichelle]

It's great she is eating.  FIP in itself is not contagious, according to current thinking in the veterinary community.   They think it is caused by a mutation of a corona virus, but there are many corona viruses and most cats carry them and in most cats it never mutates.  Corona viruses are very contagious, so contagious that I think the majority of cats have been exposed to them and test positive for them.  So if your kitten has FIP (hopefully not), your other cats probably all carry a corona virus already but it does not mean any of theirs will mutate. Mutation is very rare, and so FIP is rare.  But there seems to be some anecdotal correlation between FeLV and mutation, in that there is some thought that more cats with FeLV might have viruses mutate into FIP than among negatives. But even so, most FeLV+ cats who carry a corona virus do not experience a mutation into FIP.

Hope this is helpful.  I learned all of this when I took in one of my positives and then learned she had been exposed to a cat with FIP, and I did a bunch of research and called an FIP expert at Cornell and learned the above information, at which point I released her into the house with the others. It is 3 years later and she is still with me (Patches), though one of my cats who died may have died of the dry form of FIP (though it was more likely lymphoma).

Michelle

In a message dated 6/12/05 2:24:38 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:

I was already afraid of that.  How "catchy" is it for my other cats? How again is that spread- we never see it at my clinic- isn't it pretty uncommon these days or am I confusing with another infectious disease?
She is too young for the baby aspirin or should i say too thin, she does not weigh enough to even qualify for the smallest possible dose.  We just started her on a 2nd antibiotic so fingers are crossed.  I can't believe she's still eating!!