Michelle - if she is eating well, and has not lost weight, she probably does not have FIP - I lost only one cat to FIP a few years ago and lost 6 to dry --- but what's very consistent is that FIP cats' appetite does go down and star losing weight - if it's wet tip, it progresses very fast - other illness like liver disease can also cause fluid in tummy as well -- so usually with FIP kitty with dry form, they may have lost some weight in other area but has a swollen tummy, my gurfunkle did not have FIP, but passed with liver disease and had fluid in tummy --
_____ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2007 11:55 AM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: fip question I spoke to my vet about lucy, and he did not see a reason to bring her in. He agreed that her discomfort for a few hours in the evening is probably related to her ibd and to up her flagyl and pred a little. I have, though, probably irrationally, started worrying about wet FIP. Her sides look a little pooched out to me, which may just be that she had lost some weight for the couple weeks she did not want her turkey mush and looks a bit skinny all over and has just started gaining it back so may be gaining it back in her tummy first. But, not knowing why she is getting uncomfortable for a few hours a day, and being paranoid about fip, I started worrying that maybe the poochiness is fluid accumulation. I looked for a wet fip photo online but can not find one. I found info on wet fip symptoms, and it did say that fluid accumulation can happen slowly and that other symptoms can be intermittent inappetance and depression. Does anyone think she could have fip? When she is not having the discomfort, she is pretty normal, maybe a slight bit less active than usual, but she is eating quite a bit. When cats get wet fip, are the symptoms normally constant? Should I be worried about this? And is fluid accumulation very obviously fluid, or could it look sort of like tummy weight gain (i.e. when I look at her from behind, her butt looks thin and I can see her sides sticking out a bit, rather than just chubby all over like my other cats). Does the fluid feel mush like water, or firm? If I press on her belly, it just feels like her stomach is bigger. Thanks for any thoughts or advice. I think if I call my vet and ask him this he will think I have gone round the bend, but I am feeling anxious. michelle
