How is the viral condition Feline Infectious Peritonitis or FIP diagnosed in cats?

 Unfortunately, there is no single set of tests that can determine if your cat has developed FIP. This is because FIP is a mutation of a virus that in 90% of cases is a few days long stomach bug, however in some cases, that very common coronavirus mutates into this very serious life threatening dangerous form called FIP.

Diagnostics are hard because simply testing for the coronavirus does not mean that your cat has FIP. There are however a common set of symptoms that are often seen in FIP cases.

Typically it's found in younger cats, usually under 2 years old. They generally will have an accumulation of fluid in their abdomen and if that fluid is extracted and tested it will be a yellowish color and show high protein and white blood cell count. In addition to this, cats often have a very high fever, they're very lethargic, and they aren't eating and drinking like they should.

FIP is a very difficult condition to diagnose correctly, however, the following diagnostic tools combined can lead to a veterinarian diagnosing a cat with FIP: 

• a good history of the cat
• the current clinical symptoms 
• diagnostic tests like titer testing the blood to see if coronavirus is present 
• testing if there's fluid in the abdomen and looking at levels of protein and white blood cells 

So, today's cat tip is that it's very important as a cat owner you're aware of the symptoms of FIP just in case you ever run into this situation with one of your babies.

The great news is that this condition is no longer 100% fatal like it used to be. There is a new treatment that's been approved so be sure not to miss the next video and blog so you can learn all about it. 

Keep giving your pets the best of natural life!

~PetCoachApril 

April Arguin A.S., C.P.N., M.P.H

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