My sweet, silly kitty Maui was diagnosed with FIP, a devastating disease that until recently had no cure. There's an antiviral treatment now that works wonders, but I need help covering the costs.
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Great news! Maui had his 4 week blood work on Friday. Everything is looking so good. He's improved in everything they check for with the blood work. He's gained a full pound in the past month. Behaviorally, he's also shown more improvement since my last update. In addition to his eyes returning to normal, at one month in he's now back to playing with the other cats like he used to. He's been racing up and down the hallway and batting toys around like a maniac. He zips up and down the cat tree and jumps on the windowsills to chatter at birds outside. He does still have some very slight neurological symptoms (a bit of coordination problem in his back feet sometimes) and some vomiting recently, but over all we're very pleased with his progress. He still has two more months of injections to go and I greatly appreciate any donations to help with this medicine that's saving his life!
Maui is a happy, playful, loving 3 year old cat. I fostered for a cat rescue group for a few years and he came to me with the rest of his litter when they were about 10 weeks old after being sprung from the local animal shelter by the rescue group. The rest of his litter was adopted out but Maui became a "foster failure," meaning I kept him because he was so silly and sweet! He was wonderful with other kittens I fostered after him, grooming them and playing very gently with them. He loves to snuggle with me and the other cats and dogs in the house. He loves to play and climb his cat tower.
In January 2021, he started losing weight. I took him to the vet and they did blood work and an oral exam but they didn't find anything. In February 2021, he rapidly started developing neurological symptoms, including stumbling, dragging his feet, problems jumping, a head tilt, problems swallowing, vision problems, and ocular ulcers. He went back to the vet and after thorough exams he was diagnosed with dry FIP with neurological and ocular symptoms. Just a couple of years ago, FIP was a death sentence for cats. There was no cure and really nothing that could be done except treating some of the symptoms for a few weeks until the cat succumbed to the disease. FIP had a nearly 100% fatality rate until just a couple of years ago.
But things have changed recently. A vet tech at the clinic happened to be treating her own FIP positive cat with a new antiviral treatment that works wonders. She and the vet spoke to me at length about the treatment. It requires daily shots for 12 weeks, plus regular blood work to check his progress, and possibly other treatments along the way to respond to symptoms or an extension of the antiviral shots if he's still showing signs of FIP at the end of the 12 weeks. This drug works wonders, though. So many cats who have completed the treatments have been cured and are going strong more than a year after their treatments ended! I'm hopeful Maui will be another success story.
Maui has already received one week of treatment and he's doing great so far. Most of his neurological symptoms are gone. He can walk normally, jump, climb, and groom himself again without any balance issues. He's gaining weight and eating a ton! He's started grooming the other cats in the house and getting in my lap again. He still can't see much (if at all) but the ulcers on his eyes have cleared up. This is all great progress after a week of the shots.
The downside is that his dose of medicine costs about $40 each and he needs 84 of those doses, plus needles and syringes, blood work to monitor his progress, and possibly additional doses if his symptoms haven't completely cleared up yet at the end of 12 weeks. All told, the estimated costs are around $4,000.00. I greatly appreciate any amount you can contribute to saving Maui and giving him a long, healthy, happy life! Thank you so much.
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Great news! Maui had his 4 week blood work on Friday. Everything is looking so good. He's improved in everything they check for with the blood work. He's gained a full pound in the past month. Behaviorally, he's also shown more improvement since my last update. In addition to his eyes returning to normal, at one month in he's now back to playing with the other cats like he used to. He's been racing up and down the hallway and batting toys around like a maniac. He zips up and down the cat tree and jumps on the windowsills to chatter at birds outside. He does still have some very slight neurological symptoms (a bit of coordination problem in his back feet sometimes) and some vomiting recently, but over all we're very pleased with his progress. He still has two more months of injections to go and I greatly appreciate any donations to help with this medicine that's saving his life!
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Maui finished shot 14 of 84 last night. Two weeks down, ten to go! His symptoms have improved so much. The vet said he was totally blind around the time he started treatment. His pupils are responding to light again and he's tracking things with his eyes. He no longer stumbles or drags his feet when he walks. He's gained a pound since he started the treatments and he's almost back to his pre-illness weight. Not only are his physical symptoms better, he's feeling better, too. In the last couple of days he's begun playing with toys and the other cats again, and he's been coming to get in my lap. Thank you for helping Maui get better!
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Mar 21
Mar 05