Nacho's story: FIP disease

Nacho is a British Shorthair who went to live with his hoomans in August along with his little brother Taco (also a British Shorthair). Since then, they have been inseparable and not only brothers but also best friends.

Unfortunately, Nacho fell ill and they went through an intensive period. Research, injections, medication ánd no playing with Taco. Nacho was diagnosed with FIP.

What exactly is this disease? How can you recognise it and what is the disease process like?

You can read all about it in this blog.

Who are Nacho & Taco?

Taco (right) and Nacho (left) are two British Shorthair kittens who came to live with their hoomans in August. They were exactly three weeks apart and came from two different breeders but did move in together at exactly the same time. Less than two days later, they were already best friends and have been inseparable ever since. How sweet is that?

Nacho & Taco are brothers and the very best of friends!

Symptoms of FIP

In December of last year it was time to have Nacho and Taco neutered. This is normally a relatively minor procedure from which males recover quickly. This was not the case with Nacho. Since the surgery, she noticed a few symptoms in Nacho.

No more playing
Sleeping a lot
Swollen abdomen
Fever

In particular, the swollen abdomen is the main symptom of (wet) FIP.

After this they immediately went to the vet with Nacho but nothing came out of this visit. Of course you trust the vet on his or her word, but there were still many concerns. Nacho's hoomans did some research online and Nacho's symptoms turned out to be strongly indicative of FIP. The gut feeling was good and Nacho was eventually diagnosed with FIP.

What is the disease FIP?

FIP is a mutation of the coronavirus for cats. Many cats carry this virus, but only in a small proportion does it really mutate into FIP.

There are different types of FIP. Namely:

Wet FIP. In this process, the cat develops fluid in his or her abdomen and/or the chest
Dry FIP. This causes the cat to develop inflammation in his or her body. The inflammations can originate in various organs
Ocular FIP. This is avariant of dry FIP in which the eyes are affected and there is an inflammation in the eye
Neurological FIP. This is also a variant of dry FIP in which the cat has inflammation in the nervous system

The diagnosis of FIP is often difficult to make. With wet FIP, the swollen abdomen is often visible and therefore a lot easier to diagnose. Dry FIP, on the other hand, is a lot more difficult.

When a cat is already a carrier of the virus, FIP can often mutate after a stressful situation. In Nacho's case, the castration.

FIP mainly occurs in young cats up to 2 years of age or in older cats. It is said that pedigree cats are more likely to develop FIP, but this has not been scientifically proven. In principle, any cat could get FIP.

Treatment of FIP

Even before the official results, they started treatment for Nacho. There was no time to wait. With FIP, every day, sometimes every hour, is crucial and action must be taken as soon as possible.

Nacho's signs were so clear that treatment was started immediately. Had it not been FIP, the medication would not have been harmful.

Nacho is now being injected at home at the same time every day for 84 days. At the beginning, this was quite easy to administer but this is becoming increasingly difficult. The liquid burns tremendously in his skin and Nacho is in a lot of pain during these injections. So super pathetic but he is doing super well.

After just four days of injections, Nacho slowly started playing again! After about a week, his swollen belly with fluid also started to go away.

It was only after almost two weeks that the official result came from the vet. If they had waited for this, Nacho was most probably beyond rescue. If treatment is not started, FIP is almost always fatal for cats. The hoomans sensed that very well for their little friend!

If they had waited for the result it would have been too late to save Nacho

How does Taco cope with his little brother's illness?

At the beginning of Nacho's illness, Taco really wanted to play with Nacho but couldn't because he was far too sick.

As a result, Taco sometimes attacked Nacho and Nacho meowed at Taco a lot. At some point, Taco realised that Nacho didn't want to play with him, so he looked for attention in other ways. He became extremely busy at home and often ran all over the house.

So the hoomans became Taco's new toy to prevent him from getting bored. Now they are playing together again!

How is Nacho doing now?

The hoomans of Nacho and Taco really see the medication as a panacea! Nacho soon got better and now he really is the old Nacho again. He is even more playful than ever.

Until 15 March, Nacho still has to be injected daily. Two weeks before that, blood tests will have to be done to see if the treatment needs to be extended.

When the treatment is finished, an observation period of 84 days will start. During this, there is still a chance of relapse. It is important to keep a close eye on his behaviour and weight during this period.

All in all, it is an intensive period but after this they hope to be able to call Nacho a real FIP survivor. His little brother Taco is also only too happy about this. You can see that from the photo on the left right! <3

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