Help my kitty! Giardia? FIP? What is this!? The vet can't tell us!?

Question

Background info: A 10 week old Kitten was given to us from a Ragdoll breeder (friend-of-a-friend) about 4 months ago. Obviously, in that situation you can be sure that kitty has some sort of issue, so we checked her out. She had mildly gooey eyes that the breeder said would come and go. She claimed that this was the reason she couldn’t sell her, in combination with the fact that she has a brown patch on her belly that disqualifies her from breeding/show quality buyers.

To the point: At first, she had some pretty bad diarrhea that smelled absolutely nauseating. Multiple vet visits and fecal samples later, we couldn’t find the reason. We treated for giardia with metronidazole, but she was so tiny that we had to give her 1/8 of a pill each dose. It got a little better, so we upped the dosage once she got a little bigger, then did a third round after that. She has been off of the 3rd round of medicine for a month now. At this point, the diarrhea is exactly as it has been since the first round. A little squishy, a little greasy, shaped like pretzels (instead of cow-pies like before), a little stinky, but not even close to what it was at first. It’s strange to me that no matter how many rounds of treatment we do, she keeps up the mild symptoms whether she’s on or off the medication. It makes me think we’re treating the wrong thing, but it did help at first! The vet has never found anything but “too much bacteria” in her fecal samples. We’re giving her beneficial bacteria now, and switched to a less rich food. Next step is to look into a protein allergy/irritable bowel, but she doesn’t seem to change whether her food is rich in protein (Evo) or crappy (Iams).

Here’s the scary part- the vet mentioned that we might should test for FIP. If you’ve heard of it, you know that it is always fatal, and can’t be conclusively diagnosed until post mortem tissue samples can be examined. They can do a $180 blood test for the presence of Coronavirus, which is what can mutate into FIP, but 95% of kittens from catteries have this virus and it never becomes anything else. I’m not sure I even want to know. It would probably just make me more worried. She doesn’t seem to show any other symptoms. Her eyes are goopy from time to time and she seems to get nasal congestion along with it. She plays a lot, but she also sleeps a lot since she’s a ragdoll. We’re getting her spayed next week, and I’m afraid to pay so much money and then watch her take a turn for the worse.

What do her symptoms sound like to you? Should we test, or is it just expensive and pointless? Is there anything else she might have that we could treat? Should we try a different form of treatment for giardia and assume the allergy-like symptoms are unrelated? She’s 5 months old and most kittens with FIP show the most severe signs between 8-18 months and typically die within 2 weeks of presenting those symptoms. I’m so confused and so worried about her!

Answer 1

Yikes. Why did you take this kitten? Sounds like you're dealing with some horrible backyard breeder. She didn't do you any favours by giving you this kitten - she just wanted someone else to deal with its vet bills.



Definitely get her tested. And next time - don't support breeders like this. Go to a shelter and ADOPT.

Answer 2

Time for a new vet. Vets often say 'FIP' when the real answer should be that they don't know. She *will* test positive for coronavirus, so what is the point? It's really a waste of the money for testing, and could be better spent on finding her real problem. Has the vet tested specifically for coccidia? That's another often-overlooked source of diarrhea, and is only treated with Albon - the metro won't touch it. Her goopy eyes sound like a herpes virus - extremely common in cats that come from what we'll call less-than-reputable breeders. L-lysine can fix that up.



At this point, I would either find a different vet, and go there with all the testing that's been done so that her records can be reviewed. A consult with a veterinary parasitologist might be helpful - they can run some tests on odd bacteria, etc. that a normal vet won't think to look for. They are available at big vet teaching hospitals, like U Penn, Cornell, and so on. The sample can be mailed to them, so even if one isn't close by that isn't a problem.



Food allergies and sensitivities can be really tough to diagnose. And if it is food, the new food you're trying has to be used for a period of several weeks to see if it makes a difference or not. I have fostered a couple of cats with IBD, and they did extremely well on the EVO and also California Natural. Might be worth a try for the CA Natural.



Good luck - the answer is out there somewhere, and it's probably not FIP.

Answer 3

We breed Maine Coons and let me start by saying it's usually my husband who deals with all things medical, but I've picked up a bit of knowledge. Ten weeks old is a bit on the young side to adopt out a kitten, so that surprises me. We don't let ours go until at least 12 weeks. We also wouldn't let one go who had these strange undiagnosed symptoms but I guess all breeders are different. Can you call the breeder and ask their input?



The vets might not be able to identify what is wrong without a whole bevy of tests, and you still may not have a conclusion at the end of all that. If you're in doubt, please take the kitten in to a second vet who may be able to offer more help.



My best guess (and this is a guess from the info provided) is that the stomach problems are probably unrelated to goopy eye. Some cats just have eyes that you have to clean a lot and I am not sure if Ragdolls have their own set of problems I've never had to deal with. It could be herpes in the eye, or it might just be allergies. It might be able to be treated with eye drops or allergy meds. All critters (and kids, lol) seem to get eye-boogers and runny nose from time to time and it's not a big deal.



The stomach problem sounds much more serious though. It sounds like there might be a malabsorption problem. I've never heard of a kitten that young having Giardia, that's usually picked up outdoors from drinking infected water as far as I know. Have they treated with antibiotics? My first guess would have been coccidia, I've provided a link below on it. It's usually temporary and treatable (a course of liquid antibiotics) unless the kitten has a defective immune system. We did have one kitten who didn't make it because his immune system never kicked in. I am not saying this to scare you, only to let you know that such things do exist.



You're right about the Coronavirus, it's pretty much everywhere. The comparison seems to be like a bad flu would be in a human, but they do get over it. They get sore throats and cough and throw up and after a while get better.



We have had kittens who had chronic off and on diarrhea as kittens and then they outgrew it and are healthy, happy adults when their immune systems kicked in.



If you're really in doubt, have the kitten checked by another vet. I'm not sure I've been very much help, other than hopefully provide a bit of moral support. I hope everything works out.

Answer 4

ask for a blood test as that shows most things up,you have done a lot for this cat hope it works out,but if blood test comes back bad it might be best to let little thing go rather than prolong it,it will be hard but i think the breader knew there was nothing can be done ,think they might have lied to you about a few things

Answer 5

I think you should get a second opinion from another vet. To be honest, it sounds like your veterinarian is trying to scare you by telling you that it could be the worst case scenario.

Answer 6

My money is on giardia. There is nothing in what you are saying that suggests FIP to me and I have experience of both forms of FIP.

Answer 7

This might be just food allergies. My kitty had bad, foul-smelling diarrhea for a while until I learned he had Feline Eosinophilic Granuloma Complex ( http://www.vet.uga.edu/VPP/CLERK/Starnes/index.php ).



He eats a special raw meat diet now and he's good to go :)



You might try feeding him a different food.

Answer 8

Just do what your vet thinks is best for you to do.

Answer 9

listen to your vet.