Rudy +siblings are Hurricane Michael survivors. He joined our family Dec 2018. Diagnosed w/ FIP 2019.
12/15/2023
Well it has been a while since I updated last, but that is mostly because we have a big family and life keeps us busy.
That said, nothing but good news as far as Rudy goes. He is still alive and very well! And VERY loved! He is my sweet kitty boy.
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He just hit 4 years free of FIP!
He has a check-up every year, which includes bloodwork, to help ensure he is still healthy and no red flags show up--FIP or anything else. He will go to his next vet visit in February to make sure he continues to be stable and healthy.
We are so grateful that we had the opportunity to save his life when he "should" have died in July 2019. He has added so much joy to our lives.
I hope that someday soon, FIP can be destroyed for every kitty, and they will be able to live long, happy lives. FIP is no longer a death sentence! The (still controversial) treatment just needs to be more affordable and accessible. Every kitty deserves a chance to fight.
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Here's an updated picture of Rudy, doing an Elvis impression with his lip😉
08/13/2021
A fellow FIP kitty needs your help!
Please help Aurora if you can:
I didn’t even get a chance to introduce y’all to this little chocolate chip before she decided to have a crisis! Aurora came up from Louisiana from our friends at Villalobos Rescue Center last week.
She was totally fine until about two days ago when her abdomen began to fill with fluid. Today it was confirmed, Rory has FIP.
FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) was previously thought to be 100% fatal but there are new treatments beginning to show some promise! The catch - it is expensive and success is not guaranteed. For just the medication, our bill is almost $1,400.
We are going to try to save this little girls life and need all the support we can get. Please keep your fingers, toes, ankles, etc. crossed for her. If you are able to donate, please consider doing so ❤️ she is a the sweetest baby and deserves a shot at beating this horrible virus
It’s the second Friday of the month which means all donations of $10 or more today will be entered into our weekly spicy raffle (i.e. $30 = 3 entries) for any one item in our store (including crewnecks, our new t-shirt designs, cat art, etc.)!! It really does add up! Please consider donating, even if you can’t donate please share!
It's been a long time since I last updated, but Rudy is still going great!
We've had a couple changes to our family...
First, we had a fourth human baby in October. Then in December, we moved from Hurlburt Field, Florida to Fort Lee, Virginia.
The cats are enjoying the change from a one story house to a two story house--meaning lots of running up and down the stairs after the dog goes to her crate for the night😉
Rudy is usually the instigator whenever there is chaos amongst the cats (we have him and 3 females). He is so rotten and also so sweet.
I'm so thankful for the Facebook support groups that existed in 2019 when we almost lost Rudy to FIP. He brings so much joy to our lives and we're so happy he's still with us.
Please contact me if you need guidance on how to fight FIP.
Here's a couple pictures of Rudy recently... first pic is him laying in the baby's (unused) bassinet, and second pic is him watching over his new baby sister after she came home from the hospital🖤
--Rudy's mom
07/07/2020
On this date one year ago I was urged to let Rudy go because he was suffering from a 100% fatal disease. I had never heard of FIP before that day but I was not willing to accept that he was going to die before he really got to live (he was only 7 months old).
Anyone that knows me knows that I'm stubborn and don't just go along with whatever I'm told. My oldest kid would probably be dead if I hadn't fought for her, too. Since my fur kids are almost as important as my real kids, I decided to fight. I started researching FIP. I searched Facebook. I came across a warrior group that changed our lives. There was a possible treatment available that was not approved by the FDA or proven to be safe. But I figured it was worth a shot (no pun intended) because he was going to die anyway.
Well, it was not easy to inject a cat with a (apparently very painful) medication each night, but it worked! He was in liver failure and it was reversed. His colon was completely closed due to FIP granulomatous tissue growth, but that disappeared, too!
He is 9 months post treatment and still doing great.
First three pics are from July 2019, and the fourth pic is from yesterday.
03/08/2020
Rudy's most recent bloodwork, from 11 February 2020. His A/G ratio has not decreased at all since October when we finished treatment.
He was officially deemed recovered/healed from FIP!
02/08/2020
Rudy is still doing great! He hit 4 months post treatment on 1 February. Love my FIP Warrior!
01/22/2020
Just a reminder of where he's been...
Top left pic was day 1 of treatment.
Bottom left was a week into treatment and his liver was healing so he was less yellow/orange.
Right pic is him today, trying to leave because I annoy him by taking pics of him constantly🤣 Whatever, Rudy!🙃
I'm so thankful that our Rudy Rex is still alive and healthy 💓
01/02/2020
Rudy is THREE months post treatment today!!! He is now considered to be cured since he has not relapsed during the three month period.
I could get blood work to verify that he is still doing great, but I don't want to stress him out unnecessarily by dragging him to the vet... so, we'll just keep doing what we've been doing: playing with him, snuggling him, and loving him.
If I think there is any reason to take him to the vet, then I'll request blood work while we're there.
For now, we celebrate our sweet Rudy Rex!
12/24/2019
Wow! What a year.
20 December marked one year since we adopted Rudy.
It has been a bit crazy, but we wouldn't trade it/him for anything.
(Here's a pic of him doing one of his favorite things: snuggling under the blanket with mom!)
We love seeing his eyes so clear and green... an undeniable sign of health after FIP ravaged every part of him--eyes included.
✨✨Only 9 more days until he moves from remission status to CURED!✨✨
11/13/2019
Day 42 post treatment and Rudy has reached a new high weight: 9 pounds!🙌
(For the newbies:
Rudy weighed 4 pounds 6 ounces when we started Mutian II injections.)
When I look at him... I can't believe that he was given such a grim diagnosis in early July.
I am so glad that he's not just still alive, but he's living his best life 🖤 He's amazing!
✨Rudy Rex destroyed FIP!✨
11/01/2019
I took my boy Rudy to the vet on Wednesday because he coughed a few times (I'm now a helicopter cat mom🤷).
He has a slight upper respiratory infection (no fever or anything truly concerning), but we're treating with doxycycline because his body is still recovering from FIP.
He is also up another two ounces, to 8 pounds 11 ounces. Quite the change from 4 pounds 6 ounces in July!
He is officially 1 month post-treatment.
At the three month mark, we'll redo his labs to check for any indications of a relapse.
(Praying for complete healing🙏🏼)
He is my sweet boy💗
10/22/2019
10/22/2019
Rudy's beginning:
This is the ABC News report that I saw after Hurricane Michael hit the panhandle last October. We live about 90 miles west of Panama City. I had no idea why I was so drawn to these kittens, but when I found out they were headed to Panhandle Animal Welfare Society, I felt compelled to sponsor all four of the kittens. I was given the opportunity to adopt one of them. We chose Rudy (previously named Harvey). We had not met him and would not meet him for over two months until he was well enough to come live with us. We picked him up on 21 December 2019 and the kids named him Rudolph Rex.
Rudolph because it was almost Christmas, and Rex because he would stand up on his back legs like a T-Rex. So he became known as Rudy Rex🙂
A month later, I found out that his sister had not been adopted yet, so we decided to add her to our family, too. We renamed her Kit Kat (previously Katrina). She actually helped me realize that Rudy was sick. He was always smaller than her, but the size difference became more evident as time passed.
A woman in Panama City, Florida, said the four kittens suddenly appeared in her home after a ceiling collapsed. How to help those affected by Hurricane Micha...
10/06/2019
I want to share Rudy's story with the hopes that other people might see his story and find hope after receiving a FIP diagnosis (which was typically 100% fatal)... but it will take me a little while to get everything organized and posted here.
Thanks for your continued support for Rudy and our family🙂
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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.
But, I was willing to do whatever it took to help my boy.
