SCARLETT'S FIP JOURNEY
Please meet our now CURED Scarlett:)
Scarlett first presented symptoms in October of 2022. It was the weirdest thing I had seen. The pupil of her right eye morphed in to the shape of an eight. We called and emergency vet but they couldn’t help us.
Shortly after that we noticed her health declining rapidly. She had less energy, ate less food and drank less water. Her health continued to decline, and eventually we noticed that she was going blind. My wife and I were devastated.
Our vet referred us to an eye specialist, and by the time we were able to get an appointment she had stopped playing and had almost stopped eating and drinking entirely. The specialist looked at her now fully blind eyes, as well as blood work that we had done a few weeks prior and told us that he suspected she had dry ocular/neuro FIP. He gave us eye drops for Scarlett and referred us to this Facebook group.
Scarlett began injections on December 7th 2022. At the time of her first treatment, she was blind, had stopped eating and drinking, and was too weak to stand. The day of her first injection she spent on IVs at our vet to keep her alive and hydrated. She was so close to being gone.
The injections were hard. Scarlett is incredibly needle averse and gave my wife and I a hard time every morning, but we were determined to save her. By day three of injections her health began to turn. We noticed more willingness to eat, she began to drink small amounts again, and although her energy was still low, she would get up and follow us around.
We continued with injections for a number of weeks, but it became too difficult on Scarlett to continue. By the end of January we switched Scarlett to pills as apposed to injections so that we could continue treatment.
On March 28th, 2023 my admins decided to graduate Scarlett to observation. We were so excited! Unfortunately, after only three days of observation it was clearly evident that Scarlett was relapsing. She rapidly lost energy, was behaving “sad” all of the time, and was struggling with eating again. It was devastating. Its so scary watching your little loved one go through something like this, and sometimes it’s hard to be hopeful. When Scarlett relapsed it felt like she would never get better. I figured that her case was too severe. I figured that recovery was possible, but for other cats and not Scarlett. Thankfully, I was wrong.
On April 1, 2023 we put Scarlett back on the medication. An important note to mention here: If you are reading this and currently deciding what company to choose for treating your cat, please please please choose a company with relapse coverage. We would not have been able to afford her treatment after relapse, but thankfully her medication was fully covered. I can not stress this point enough.
Scarlett remained on medication after her relapse for another 97 days (again, free of charge due to her relapse coverage). The pills were also hard on her. They made her nauseous and the nausea discouraged her from eating. Weight gain was always a problem with her. However, thanks to the patient and dedicated advice from our admins (God bless you all, seriously, we love you), her health, strength and weight all steadily improved.
On July 7, 2023 we for the second time graduated Scarlett to observation. At this point, her health began to thrive. Because she was no longer nauseous from the pills, we focused on eating and weight gain. She steadily gained weight, strength and energy.
On October 1st, 2023 (almost a year to the date of her initial symptoms) Scarlett graduated observation and was officially cured! She has now been FIP free for 96 days!
On the day Scarlett started treatment she was blind, not eating, not drinking, not playing, and not even standing. She weighed 1.5 kg. Today, she can fully see (she likes to murmur at the birds outside), has a fantastic appetite, drinks normally, LOVES playing with her favourite red ball, chases her brothers around the house and weighs a whopping 3.4 kg!
To our patient, kind and dedicated admins Chris Hart, Valérie Bruno, Mon Fipcat, thank you so so so much. We owe Scarlett’s life to you. You are amazing, and we will never be able to repay you or thank you enough for giving Scarlett a second chance.
If you are in the middle of your fight with FIP, don’t give in. It’s hard, it’s scary, it has ups and downs, but there is always hope. Scarlett is living proof of that.
If you are considering treatment for your cat, please do it. There’s so much that is possible, and the dedicated admins in this group have such incredible knowledge and understanding. They can help you and your cat. There’s hope for you too.
Here’s to a long, healthy and beautiful life with our little Scarlett:)