For Cat Lovers Only II

[indra]

Aww. Poor kitty.

I certainly hope your cats are fine, LivLuv.

 

[Lila64]

 

[Catlady]

LivLuv, I am really sorry to hear about Eden. This shelter sounds like someplace you should avoid going forward at all costs since they clearly don't have a handle on the health/sanitary situation there. Chalk up the adoption fee they owe you/Melissa to a lesson learned.

And please don't let this put you off adopting adult cats. Statistically you have less chance of big health problems if you take an adult versus a kitten, b/c kittens, especially ones from shelters, are already behind the eight ball when you get them...immune system not yet fully developed and they've been exposed to all kinds of stuff--that's the case even in the cleanest shelter.

I agree with Sicy, BTW. Since nobody is sure what Eden really had, I'd keep your environment stable (i.e. no new additions) for at least a couple of months before bringing anyone new in. That way if something is in the environment, it will have a chance to be cleaned away completely before any new critters arrive.

 

[Sicy]

And please don't let this put you off adopting adult cats. Statistically you have less chance of big health problems if you take an adult versus a kitten, b/c kittens, especially ones from shelters, are already behind the eight ball when you get them...immune system not yet fully developed and they've been exposed to all kinds of stuff--that's the case even in the cleanest shelter.

I agree here as well.

Please try to find out EXACTLY what Eden had, (I know you are) its very important so that you can know what steps you might need to take with your babies.

 

[Lila64]

got this from a friend...

Cool Black Cat with Green Eyes Go to this site (link below) to see. If you tease her with the mouse Pointer on her chest or stomach she will purr, I got her to meow also, by Rubbing her forehead with the pointer. If you make a slow circle around her Body, (counter-clockwise) not only will her head/eyes follow your pointer, but Toward the top, her paw will go up, and when in front of her paws at the Bottom, her foot comes out like she wants to play with your mouse pointer. (Don't hold the mouse down, just move it) Enjoy! Click on link below


http://www.broenink-art.nl/maukie2.swf

 

[Liesje]

She had FIP. I'm not familiar with it at all and the vet didn't really answer the questions I had, so I have no clue what that is or what to do with the other cats. Fucking bitch

If my cats have it, they're being put down at the first signs. I don't ever want to see a cat in the condition Eden was in.

 

[Sicy]

I sent you some links via pm. I am so sorry.

Here is one more

http://www.vetinfo.com/cencyclopedia/cefip.html

 

[Liesje]

Wellp, tonight will the be the great bleaching and disinfecting event of the century! I'm not going to let myself worry about it too much because my vet says there's nothing we can really do anyway. The other three cats are perfectly healthy and have had a somewhat limited fecal exposure since Eden's problem in the first place was a litterbox one. I guess I'll bleach all the boxes, toys, trays, and bowls and keep the other cats clean and fed premium food and see what happens. Any idea how long it takes for the symptoms of the mutated virus to show?

 

[Liesje]

Any other tips for making adult indoor cats uber-healthy?

 

[Sicy]

Lies, the answers to your questions are in the links I gave you.

Symptoms usually shows up 2 weeks after exposure. Not all cats will get it after being exposed.

I would get all new litterpans and food bowls, honestly. Any litterpan or food bowl that Eden used I would throw away immediately. It is worth spending the money in my opinion. Any bedding she slept on needs to be washed good in hot water.

Not all cats that are exposed to the FIP coronavirus will develop the disease. In colonies of cats in which this disease is known to be present, estimates are that 8 to 20% of cats exposed to the virus will develop clinical signs of FIP. The rest of the cats may become immune to the disease or may simply not react to it. The reason that only a relatively small number of cats exposed to the virus develop the disease is unclear. It is known that the cell mediated immune response is the primary protection for the cat's body in the case of FIP. Cats that do not have a good cell mediated response may be more susceptible to the disease. The humoral (antibody) defense system actually enhances the damage caused by FIP virus and seems to be partly the culprit in the death of affected cats.

Once the FIP virus gains access to the cat's body it takes about 2 weeks for the virus to become widespread. After that, the length of time to clinical symptoms is variable but probably rarely exceeds 2 months. Most cats with FIP will die within 2 to 11 months from the damage caused by the virus, the immune system and secondary problems such as kidney or liver failure. An exception to this might be cats that are able to fight off the disease at the cellular level but never completely clear it from their bodies. It is possible that these cats are carriers of the disease and that they may be affected later in life if some immunosuppressive disease or event inhibits their ability to keep the FIP virus in check.

FIP virus itself lasts in the environment for up to 6 weeks. It is easily killed with disinfectants, so careful cleansing of a household may help prevent the spread of the disease if a cat with FIP is identified in a household with more than one cat. Due to the delay in the appearance of clinical symptoms once infection occurs, it is likely that most cats in a household have been exposed to the virus by the time it becomes evident that one of the cats is sick.

 

[Liesje]

Yeah, I just found that too, thanks. I read through that one site and it helped. So it sounds like we will know within two months. Now I'm glad we've been using this water/cleaning solution carpet cleaner all over the house!

Eden used a smaller litter pan, my extra one, so that will just get bleached and go back into the garage anway. We can toss her bowl b/c it has her name embossed on it

 

[Cleasai]

I'm really sorry to hear about Eden, LivLuv.

 

[bonosloveslave]

Lies, I sent you a PM but for anyone else that is interested, I think this site has a good breakdown of the big questions related to FIP:

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=681

FIP is NOT the same as feline distemper (aka panleukopenia). Very basically, FIP is an uncommon complication of a common virus and is NOT technically contagious.

Her inappropriate urination probably was connected to this - when cats aren't feeling quite right (not necessarily connected with urinary discomfort) they will often start urinating around the house. This was probably her way to say she wasn't feeling well, but FIP was not high on my list of possible connections for what you had initially described. It is usually very difficult to diagnose (and we often are not suspicious of it) until they are already having major complications from it, and there is no cure. There wasn't anything you guys could have done differently or that you did wrong, it was just bad luck

 

[kellyahern]

^So it sounds like it was Eden's own individual immune system's reaction the virus. Is that right?

It sounds like good news for the other cats at least.

I'm sorry Lies, this is a mess .

 

[U2Girl1978]

I don't fucking believe this!

OK, long story....so I made Melissa quit with the meds for Eden over a week ago. She got all bloated, severly dehydrated, stopped eating, and wouldn't move. Since then, her condition has not improved. Melissa took her back to the crazy vet today (because the crazy vet is treating her for free since it's her own damn fault the cat is suffering like this). I just got an e-mail from Melissa as follows:



I'm assuming she's referring to some kind of cat distemper. Fortunately, like most NORMAL cat lovers, all of my other cats have been sheltered in sterile environments and are up to date on distemper shots. But, I'm still really pissed off. Could a good vet really have no idea that the cat was infected? I suppose it's her loss since she had the cat living with over 200 other cats and lord knows how she could possibly be up to date on their vaccinations and medical conditions.

I guess Eden is gone. At least I got to say goodbye this morning. I'm pretty relieved because she's only gone downhill since we adopted her, despite us seeing several different vets and treating her for two other infections she came home with (UTI and cold). I feel bad b/c in hindsight, I should've known it would be something like distemper. She's always walked funny, been very un-catlike, and responded negatively to being carried or lifted.

We were thinking of asking for a new cat for free since we paid $75 for Eden and paid a lot more than that to be treating her for infections they insisted she didn't have, but the whole experience with that place has sucked so I guess we're back down to three for a while. Here we thought we'd do the good thing and adopt the adult, mother cat. I'm sticking to kittens from now on!

omg. I just got sick to my stomach and I'm so upset by hearing this. This vet should be shut down. She has no business at all dealing with these cats. Someone needs to shut her down. I'm so sorry Lies.

 

[bonosloveslave]

^So it sounds like it was Eden's own individual immune system's reaction the virus. Is that right?

Yes, exactly. The complications seen are basically due to an over-reaction to the virus.

 

[Liesje]

We spent the night bleaching everything and bought 100 pounds worth of cat litter! We just caught Beckham drinking out of a toilet, which he NEVER does, but I forgot to get a new water bowl after all the other bowls got bleached and went into the dishwasher. Oops! Then Melissa was chasing him around and she starts shrieking because she remembers we're not supposed to stress the cats, but I told her that Beckham's so used to her chasing him around he'd probably feel strange if she didn't.

Honestly, I think at this point we've done everything we could and I don't want to worry about it too much because there's nothing we could've done and nothing we can do now. The three other cats are very healthy and at their ideal weights, so I'll watch them closely for a few months, but hopefully their health and the fact that they rarely shared litter with Eden will increase their chances. Eden's been sick since we got here, which was at the beginning of January, so I suppose if the other cats caught the virus and will have complications, we'll know fairly soon. Beth, if nothing happens between now and graduation (May) is it safe to assume we're all clear?

R.I.P Eden

Oh, how I loved her spots!

OK, time to put this all behind us....

 

[bono_212]

Oh Lord, I don't read this thread much, but I liked to keep up on Eden's health...I was so afraid I was going to read this....having a pet put down is one of the saddest moments ever...

for ya livluv

 

[Got Philk?]

I will miss this cat too. It was the only cat in the house that would take a nap with me on the couch.

 

[Lila64]

 

[Catlady]

and to everyone in your household.

The advice you are receiving is correct...you've done everything you can and chances are good your kitties will be fine.

PM me if you need any more info...unfortunately, I have some experience with FIP...

 

[susanp6]

Oh no i only just read about your poor puss being put down&i'm so sorry such a lovely thing - i loved seeing your pix 'cos i'm a huge cat lover

 

[kellyahern]

You made her very happy for the past few months and gave her a better life than she ever had before .

 

[bonosloveslave]

Eden's been sick since we got here, which was at the beginning of January, so I suppose if the other cats caught the virus and will have complications, we'll know fairly soon. Beth, if nothing happens between now and graduation (May) is it safe to assume we're all clear?

Unfortunately there are no guarantees. It may be years and years or never. We have seen cats from isolated environments (no contact with other cats) that develop FIP at older ages. They have been harboring coronavirus for all that time and something changes the balance and they develop a mutation and clinical disease (FIP). Many, many cats carry coronavirus. Any cat that carries coronavirus can develop FIP - fortunately very few do.

 

[Liesje]

Unfortunately there are no guarantees. It may be years and years or never. We have seen cats from isolated environments (no contact with other cats) that develop FIP at older ages. They have been harboring coronavirus for all that time and something changes the balance and they develop a mutation and clinical disease (FIP). Many, many cats carry coronavirus. Any cat that carries coronavirus can develop FIP - fortunately very few do.

So Melissa should never get another cat as long as she's living here and/or still has Maximus? She wants to get another one before I leave, b/c Maximus gets bored and then does naughty things, he needs a companion to play with, but she wants to wait long enough so that the house and the cats are quarantined.

 

[bonosloveslave]

So Melissa should never get another cat as long as she's living here and/or still has Maximus? She wants to get another one before I leave, b/c Maximus gets bored and then does naughty things, he needs a companion to play with, but she wants to wait long enough so that the house and the cats are quarantined.

This is what I tell my clients:

When Is It Safe To Get Another Cat After One Dies of FIP?

Since this is not a contagious disease, one can argue that one does not need to wait before getting another cat. If one wants to see that there is no remaining coronavirus around the house leftover from the deceased cat, a 3-month period has been advocated. If there are surviving cats, one can periodically check FIP titers and wait for them to become negative before adding another cat if one wishes to avoid further passing of coronavirus. The new cat can also be screened for an FIP titer. When one considers that only 5% of cats in multi-cat homes get FIP even though in some studies the incidence of exposure to coronavirus is as high as 80%, this wait may not be necessary.

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=681

 

[love_u2_adam]

they suck, yes i know

he doesn't like to have his pic taken...his name is Marley and he is about 8 or 9 years old!!
heres one more!!

 

[Sicy]

Ooooooooo pretty!! Is he a Himalayan?

 

[love_u2_adam]

yes, he is Himalayan!!!

 

[Liesje]

love_u2_adam, you have the COOLEST pets!!! Himalayan cat, Tervuren dog

Thanks guys for all the info and support with the FIP thing. What a terrible thing for Eden. I was putting the dishes away today and her bowl was there, with her name embossed on it....how sad for her. I wish I'd known about that virus, it almost makes me regret getting cats, always having that chance that they'll have to die like that.

Melissa still has to meet with Crazy Vet Lady to pick up Eden's stuff. She wants to ask for a refund of the adoption fee since Crazy Vet Lady told her the cat was infected before coming to her shelter (don't know whether I believe that or not) and now we've got three more cats in danger which made it costly to replace all of their cat stuff, plus the hundreds Melissa spent on Eden for the other complications. It's not even about the money anymore, but Crazy Vet Lady needs to realize what she's doing is unfair to animals and people.

I guess I just don't understand the point this Crazy Vet Lady is trying to make, running a no-kill shelter that's severly overcrowded and infested with infections. She was the one that had to put Eden to sleep. We're worried about our three cats, but she's got 200 there that have now been exposed and are already unhealthy.

OK that's my last rant about it. I have three surviving babies to devote my time to....and they're probably well past due for a claw trimming!

Piccie fest:

The last picture I took of Eden, this past Wed. It was the first time in weeks she got up and went to be with the other cats

Beckham thinking about whether or not he wants to go outside (he's allowed to go out on his harness for 1/2 hr if I have things to do outside)

Maximus, ALWAYS wanting to go outside

Maximus will cry like a baby and beg with the cute face until he gets to go out for a few minutes

It's hard to resist the cute face

Beckham tries the cute face

Some kitty action on my bed last night

My precious baby boy!