Rudy Rex Destroys FIP

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Rudy’s FIP Story

Rudy was always smaller than his sister, but in June 2019 I realized that the size difference was drastic. I looked into Rudy’s eyes and felt that something was very wrong with him. I decided to take him to the vet the next day, 15 June 2019. He presented with a fever and mucoid diarrhea. We thought it might have been an infection that he picked up somewhere between Florida (where we currently live) and Virginia (where my family lives--we go there every summer). That was a Saturday. I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was more, so on Monday morning, 17 June, I took him back. Rudy had stool in his colon and required sedation to remove it. There a severe colon stricture was found. The vet said he had never experienced something like that in his 32 years of practice and he would likely need bowel surgery. He referred us to surgeon. They kept Rudy overnight and gave him fluids. The next day he seemed to have perked up a little and a week went by without noticeable decline. I thought maybe the stool impaction was the problem and soon we could get his colon fixed. Then Sunday, 30 June 2019, it seemed like Rudy was declining rapidly. I planned to take him back to the vet the following day but they were closed for the week of July 4th. I started calling around to vets that perform surgery so if he needed it, he would be evaluated and treated by the same vet. I couldn’t get an appointment until Wednesday, 3 July 2019, but I figured that was pretty good considering what Rudy needed. He was very ill at this point. The vet noticed that he was icteric (jaundiced). I honestly didn’t see what she saw as far as yellowing of the skin, but his blood work showed that his liver was definitely in distress. My poor Rudy was suffering from a very serious illness. They kept him all day to do did a bile acid test, took x-rays, and gave him some fluids. His x-ray did reveal prior injury to his pelvis, likely from the fall through the ceiling when he was a kitten. That might have been a reason for his colon stricture. We were referred to an internal medicine veterinarian, to be seen the following Wednesday. We also got an antibiotic and medicine to help with his inappetence and constipation. On Friday, 5 July 2019, I didn’t think Rudy would make it to the following Wednesday. He seemed depressed and not like himself at all. He bit right through my right index finger when I gave him his antibiotic and I knew then that he needed something. I didn’t know what, but I couldn’t wait and let him die. So off to another vet we went. I gave them the info and they mentioned the possibility that it may be FIP and if so, there is nothing to be done except humane euthanasia. I actually thought by this point that Rudy may have FIP, but I didn’t want to accept that my baby was dying.

My husband was deployed. Two days before he left on his deployment, our 12 year old black lab named Ikey died suddenly and unexpectedly due to dilated cardiomyopathy. Six days after Ikey died, we learned that our 13 year old Australian Cattle Dog named Diesel had lung cancer. Rudy helped me through the most difficult days. So I decided that I was going to help him--I just didn’t know how yet.

That vet agreed to keep him overnight so I could have him transferred the next day to a specialty vet in Richmond, Virginia. I picked him up Saturday, 6 July 2019, and my mom went with me to get Rudy evaluated there. He was officially diagnosed with FIP and it was recommended that we euthanize him. I was not ready. I needed to take him home to see my kids. So we went back to my parent’s house. I explained what was going on to my kids and they were heartbroken, too. Monday, 8 July 2019, the county animal control officer came by to put Rudy on a 10 day quarantine for biting me. I explained the situation and he said that if Rudy died within the 10 day watch period, they would have to take his body for necropsy and not return him. That really broke my heart. I had joined several groups on Facebook a few days prior that were FIP information and support groups. My mom and daughter both encouraged me to fight FIP. They said if he was dying anyway, why not try something. So I decided to get a trial medication that was used by Dr. Niels Pedersen at UC Davis. Of course, it isn’t available in the United States so I had to get it from someone that got it from China. It was to arrive the next day. On Tuesday, 9 July 2019, I took him back to the clinic that we went to on Saturday for an ultrasound and meet with an internal medicine vet. She refused to do anything for me and kept urging me to euthanize Rudy. I cried and begged her for an ultrasound. I needed to know for sure what was going on before I made such a decision. I mentioned the possibility of liver flukes since we live in Florida and he liked to eat lizards. She dismissed that but eventually agreed to do an ultrasound. She returned to me a few minutes later to let me know that Rudy’s colon was essentially closed due to inflammation. He also had tumors in his abdomen. She again urged me to euthanize him and I refused. I did not want Rudy dying on a cold, silver table, and I was not prepared to bring home a dead cat to my kids. She told me that I was being selfish and prolonging his suffering. I looked into Rudy’s eyes and I saw him telling me the same thing: let’s fight this. I went home and the medicine was there already. I had everything I needed to start the fight against FIP. We had 12 weeks ahead of us.

Daily injections. In a cat. Cats are crazy.

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