Our little girl Kumiko
Brandon and I chose the name Kumiko because it means companion child in Japanese. We got her as a friend for Julia. She is only one and a half years old. My sister noticed about a month ago now that she had a wise look in her eyes. A few weeks after that she started to become thin and tired. Blood tests and clinical symptoms have led our vet to the diagnosis of Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP). FIP is caused by the body's immune system creating ineffective macrophages in response to a mutated feline corona virus. These abundant macrophages travel with the virus through out the body and end up attacking areas like the CNS. FIP is a fatal disease.
Right now she is hiding behind a chair. This morning she was hiding under the bed. I think the only time she does make the effort to walk somewhere is when she goes to hide. She's not walking very well, but the predisolone does seem to be helping. I wish she would walk to the litter box herself but instead we have been carrying her there about three times a day. I've been sponge bathing her, cleaning her eyes and ears at least every other day. There is a lot of supportive care going on these days.
The best way to make sure she eats well is to encourage her to eat by putting the bowl right under her nose. She's been eating 3/4 of a can of Hill's Prescription a/d Diet a day. Since she won't drink water we have been mixing her food with water to create something that's more akin to a soup. Luckily she seems to like it.
The steriod is meant to depress her immune system which leaves her susceptible to other illnesses. This week we picked up an antibiotic to help with her congested nose and runny eyes. I was hoping they would kick in after 48 hours and I think it's done the trick. Seeing your animal mouth breathing with half closed eyes is a very helpless feeling. I ended up giving her saline nose drops the past two days as some sort of effort to make her feel a little better.
Brandon just got her out from behind the chair for the second time. Hopefully she'll stay on the chair and eat some food.
Anyways, that's been my life this week. I've been hoping that she would improve but beyond eating well, she hasn't gotten any better. It's been hard.
Right now she is hiding behind a chair. This morning she was hiding under the bed. I think the only time she does make the effort to walk somewhere is when she goes to hide. She's not walking very well, but the predisolone does seem to be helping. I wish she would walk to the litter box herself but instead we have been carrying her there about three times a day. I've been sponge bathing her, cleaning her eyes and ears at least every other day. There is a lot of supportive care going on these days.
The best way to make sure she eats well is to encourage her to eat by putting the bowl right under her nose. She's been eating 3/4 of a can of Hill's Prescription a/d Diet a day. Since she won't drink water we have been mixing her food with water to create something that's more akin to a soup. Luckily she seems to like it.
The steriod is meant to depress her immune system which leaves her susceptible to other illnesses. This week we picked up an antibiotic to help with her congested nose and runny eyes. I was hoping they would kick in after 48 hours and I think it's done the trick. Seeing your animal mouth breathing with half closed eyes is a very helpless feeling. I ended up giving her saline nose drops the past two days as some sort of effort to make her feel a little better.
Brandon just got her out from behind the chair for the second time. Hopefully she'll stay on the chair and eat some food.
Anyways, that's been my life this week. I've been hoping that she would improve but beyond eating well, she hasn't gotten any better. It's been hard.