Rae's Diagnosis

Rae's vet, Dr. Fransik called. After her latest bloodwork the previous Monday, it appeared her liver enzymes and inflammation had gone up rather than gone down. We'd been giving her hepatic support tablets and milk thistle, and the antibiotics fixed her bladder and kidney infection. But her blood said she was worse, not better.

"I don't think this looks good," Dr. Fransik said. "Without a liver biopsy, we don't know for certain, but the way she gets better then worse and better again, I suspect she has the "dry" form of FIP."

She went on to explain that FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) has two forms: the "wet" form in which the abdominal cavity fills with pus and the cat must be immediately put down. In a quick aside, I put to sleep a cat named Joey who had the wet form of FIP in May of 2015. More on her in other posts. Anyway, Rae has the "dry" form in which the disease progresses, while still deadly, might (maybe) be managed for a time. She suggested two drugs: Prednesone, a steroid, for the inflammation running rampant through her body and Interfuron to help her body fight the disease.

I picked up the Prednesone the next day, but the Interfuron had to be ordered from a drug company in Arizona. The steroid helped her appetite and she began eating better.

More in the next post regarding Rae.

​SLXLM