Surviving FIP
Aside from being an author, I am many things. An actor, a traveler, a wife, a friend, a sister, a troublemaker, and in the summer of 2020, I added crazy cat mom to that list.
After years of wanting cats, I finally adopted two fur babies.
Shortly after adopting Meeny and Mo, Mo became very ill with FIP, a disease most vets will tell you is 100% fatal. I was told to put Mo down.
Needless to say, there were a lot of tears. But I'm an author. It's my job to get characters out of impossible situations, so I turned to good old Google and started looking for options besides euthanasia.
That's when I found the FIP Warriors, a group of dedicated cat lovers and vets who were willing to help me treat Mo.
The process was long, emotionally exhausting, and at times seemed hopeless. Halfway through Mo's treatment, Meeny was also diagnosed with a more aggressive form of FIP, and we had to put our sweet girl into treatment, too. She was so bad off, the vet actually questioned the morality of our even trying to keep her alive. But I wasn't wiling to give up on either of my fur babies, not if they might have a shot at long-term, pain-free survival.
This week, Mo has been officially declared cured of FIP. It took eighty-four injections, eighty-two days of observation, lots of tears, and plenty of money, but he's a happy, healthy cat.
Meeny is still in observation but is thriving and shows every sign of being cured as well.
I've taken them both back to my local vet for blood tests, and both have been declared miracle cats. I couldn't agree more.
Though my author research skills led me to the right people to be able to help my fur babies, that's really not why I'm writing about FIP on this blog. I'm posting this because thousands upon thousands of cats with FIP are put down every year, simply because the information about FIP Warriors is hard to find.
Yes, there's a good reason for it, and yes, if you message me, I would be happy to point you to the right people, and yes *hopefully* within the next year, all vets will have the necessary tools to treat FIP without pet parents having to deep dive the internet in a desperate search for answers.
If you or someone you know has a cat with FIP, please contact me. Or, if you're a Facebook person, look up the FIP Warriors. FIP is not a death sentence for your fur babies, and the further we spread the word, the more lives we save.
