FIP Update Tyson Aphrodite Pamela

So, first the good news: Tyson is responding well to his medication and we are hopeful that he is going to make it.

His girlfriend Aphrodite (who had stopped eating after Tyson was brought to the vet and who subsequently joined him at the vet) does not have feline infectious peritonitis (“FIP”) but was diagnosed with feline coronavirus (“FeCV”) - which hopefully isn’t as bad as it sounds. 

FIP is a far more serious illness than FeCV. FIP is caused by specific strains of FeCV but most strains of FeCV do not cause significant medical issues. FeCV cats usually do not show any symptoms during the initial viral infection but may occasionally experience brief bouts of diarrhea and/or mild upper respiratory infection which they can generally recover from without veterinary assistance. 

In Aphorodite’s case, she received some antibiotics and has been released back to her home – patiently waiting for the return of Tyson. Having said that, FeCV mutates into FIV in about 10% of cases, so we shall keep a close eye on her – she has an approximately 90% chance of not developing FIP.   

The bad news is that Pamela (who is from a different colony) has not responded properly to the tablet-form medication she has been receiving and she has had to be drained of fluids yet again. She is eating but obviously she needs not to be continuously filling up with fluids. To this end, the vet has switched her to an injectable form of the medication which he hopes may produce better results. Poor Pamela needs a bit of good luck here…. ☹

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