A Poke A Day To Make West's FIP Go Away
West was rescued as a tiny kitten on a farm in Harrisburg. She’s had health issues her whole life but her health had finally improved and she was ready for a new home! Then, disaster struck. 6 weeks ago, her belly started to expand in size tremendously. We knew it wasn’t normal so off to the vet. After blood work and imaging, was diagnosed with Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP). Up until recently, FIP has been a death sentence and something no cat survived but recently a drug has been found that can cure this horrible disease. West was started on the treatment for FIP. West is suspected to have the wet form of FIP that causes a large fluid buildup in a cat’s abdomen. Soon after, it was discovered she has a cyst growing on her right kidney that is 14cm in length. The largest the vet clinic had ever seen in any cat. The medication to cure FIP consists of daily injections for about 84 days followed by an observation period of another 84 days. The catch? It’s expensive. Each vial of West’s medicine is $65. She needs 5-6 vials every two weeks for the next three months. This comes out to about $25 a day for the injection alone. She also needs monthly vet visits, blood work, and imaging throughout the process. The good news? West has completed over a month on her treatment and it’s working! Her belly size has gone down from 17 inches to 14.5 inches. The cyst on her kidney is also down to 9.5cm from the 14cm it was a month ago. West may need to have one of her kidneys removed down the road, but we are taking it one day at a time. She is happy, playful, and growing! You’ll also notice her cool mohawk hairdo! The hairdo helps us see where the injection is going and if any of the medication leaks, as it needs to be removed from her skin to prevent sores.
Will you help us pay for some of her daily injections? Each daily injection is about $25. We are hoping people can donate towards a poke a day so we can make West’s FIP go away. West is the first CRAN kitty in our care who will be receiving this miracle treatment! We’ll be posting about West’s FIP journey on our Facebook page so stay tuned for updates! West is leading the way to what we hope is a day when no more cats will die from FIP. If you have questions about the disease, reach out! This is a learning journey for us all!
Update 6/13/22
West had her 60 day FIP check up this week! We are so very happy to report that she continues to do amazing with her treatment. The vet office was surprised to see a completely normal looking cat come through their door! From a death sentence to an almost perfectly healthy cat! Her blood work continues to improve. Her weight has stayed around the same which is great since it means there isn’t more fluid build up in her abdomen. After her FIP treatment team reviewed her lab results, they decided to bump up her injection doses to 2.2ml from 1.4ml. This is due to her growing some since we started her treatment and to make sure we finish off strong since she only has one month left of her treatment! Some of her blood work is still not looking as perfect as we would like so we also started a supplement to help her immune system, ProBoost. She will be getting this twice a day. She was also seen by an Internal Medicine specialist to address the large cyst on her kidney. Great news overall as well! The specialist concurs that this is likely FIP but she believes it’s the dry form of FIP (same treatment). Her cyst is now at 6.5ml compared to 14cm when we started this journey. Specialist has requested a special diet for West, weekly Vitamin B-12 injections, and monthly broad spectrum deworming. Overall, this little girl is a fighter and she is kicking FIP’s butt! How can you help? Each vial of her medication is $65 plus shipping. She is going through one vial every two days so we need help covering these costs and her ongoing vet appointments! Can you donate a day worth of injections to help West beat FIP?
Update 7/9/22
West is our cat undergoing the exciting new treatment for FIP. It is typically 84 days of treatment and West just went in for her check as she is close to 84 days. The good news is West has responded really well to the treatment and is so close. The bad news is her blood results weren't quite what she needed to stop treatment. She has also developed some sores (very common) from the injections so now requires pills. Each pill cost $12. She needs to take 6 a day. That means her daily treatment is now costing $72. The manufacturer of the medication we are using is covering 1/2 the cost of the pills for us since she is going past the regular 84 day mark. That will bring her treatment down to $36 a day (still a substantial amount). This does not include her bloodwork she now has to get every two weeks or the ultrasound we have to continue to do monthly. Can you help West? Maybe cover one day of treatment with a $36 donation?