a few thoughts and updates

It's been a long while since I wrote here, and truthfully I don't have much to add. But I know I do get emails still from some of you who went through the worst of the outbreak with me, and I thought maybe we'd just do a quick update now.

I was very worried about the stress of the move on the suspect FIP cats. And all the others. I am happy to report that 10 months after the move, the one of the two FIP cats has passed as expected (from dry FIP) The other cat is still isolated by herself in a bedroom and while she does have some bad days, she is still a good weight and enjoying her life.

None of the others at this time show real obvious signs.

I still continue my own homeopathic treatments as well as pulses of clindamycin for the gingivitis that many of them suffer from chronically.

I had hoped to have things set up to do my own labs by now, but my son's cancer has returned and my focus for now is on him.

I still see chronic obvious things with the cats/kittens that either were in the original rescue group, or were related to those who died from the FIP. These are the "indicators" in my personal observances.

I think that like all retroviruses within my own cat population, we've now seen a mutation from the very virulent strain to one that I have little doubt will in time still take some of my cat's lives, but does it in a slower more insidious way.

I also believe that there are still answers to be had out there, but I just don't see any of the current research ever producing either a vaccine or an effective treatment. I hope that changes in time.

My heart broke when Zilla died and I will when time permits continue to work on this on my own in the future. In her memory. In the memory of so many of you who have also lost precious furbabies to this abomination of a disease.

Will post again in a few months with another update. Blessed to all the furkins and their families.

the straw that broke the camel?...heck no

sometimes I feel like I couldn't possibly handle ONE MORE THING...and yet somehow I do. Some (my family included) would tell you what else should I expect when I take on so many. But truthfully..if I don't who does...but one does need to draw a line someplace.

my daughter got a puppy a few weeks ago from a neighbor who no longer wanted it. A very cute little white Chihuahua. Did we need another dog..heck No...but we love him and he's a great dog.
The other day he and my dachshund Gingersnap were chasing each other from couch to couch...really seemed innocent enough...Chibi (the Chi) jumped off the couch and broke his leg. Not onto tile, or slate, but onto carpet...who would have ever guessed?....
much less a puppy....I really thought my head would pop off...but fortunately after the momentary panic passed, I treated him for shock (remember how in a previous post I mentioned how you should NEVER be without Ringer lactated sub cut fluids?? ) and pain...etc..
so now he has been treated and his leg is in a cast that I swear weights more then he does.
I know that while I will forever be scraping the bottom of my pocketbook for pennies to take to the coinstar, my life is fuller, better, happier because all these unwanted pets have come into my life.
IF some weeks I cut back my own food budget for cat litter, that is okay...I would never make a different choice.
My mother would say I was nuts for having tnr stray cats out of my own expense...and planning to get the neighbors cat done soon since she's had two litters this summer..but the truth is...it's only money...I could drive a nicer car...mine is 17 yrs old and has 255000 miles, but I love it...I could use a vacation, but the last time I took one, I hated it, couldn't sleep and worried about the animals the whole time I was gone. What I have traded in lifestyle, I have gotten back a million times in life.
Yes, my heart broke with each FIP death...and will never be the same after losing Zilla. And some people might use unsavory terms such as "collector"...yes, I collect what others throw away. They are well taken care of and well loved.
and I swear...this is the last one....really...truthfully....
well right after I get the three little kittens....who's momma needs to get spayed...

the move, an update and a promise to continue

well, it's been a while since my last post. Moving to a new area, a new home, and a new life has been great, but exhausting.

all the cats are doing well. I know that is the most important update. Mo and Lily who I was worried would pass from the FIP have actually improved greatly in the new house, though they still are separated in my son's bedroom. In a few months, I will have a titre run and make a decision about perhaps letting them out.

I had a group in the Netherlands interested in the FIP cats, because of how many I have lost, but in the end they bailed because my vet didn't have enough information for them on the cats that died and they didn't want to pay the fees to have samples/or the frozen cats overnighted to them. I was VERY disappointed and I think they missed a great opertunity to gain valuable insite. But I have not given up hope yet.
I still believe my cats hold some answers. It will just take more time.
In the meantime it has become obvious to me that both the house and the town we were living in is not innocent in it's contribution to the declining health. My own son had cancer, and last month, the 10th person we know of died from leukemia in the town. The obvious improvment in the cat's health and the great improvement of my own health since the move, leads me to believe that there were contributing factors to the great numbers of FIP. More food for thought for sure.
On that note, I can happily report that my fibromyaligia has been in complete remission since the move and I have never felt better, so those lack of symptoms can't go unexamined.

From the begining

I am going to be writing up the entire FIP history for a research group, so as I do, I will share it here for everyone.
Sorry to be away so long, but the move and adjustment has really been a LOT OF WORK.

Good news is that despite my utter terror, all the cats seem fine so far, Mo and Lily, thought isolated in my son's room haven't declined anymore and everyone loves the new house, the carpet (which isn't staying) and all the extra room.

The wildlife at the new house is amazing and I am feeling better then I have in a long time. I have realized that first with Brian's cancer, then with the FIP cats, I really wore myself to threads. The good news is that this place is so nice, so peaceful that even though there will always be such a huge hole in my heart from the loss of Zilla, I feel much better.

The picture is the Luna Moth that came to my back step this morning to dry his wings. Once he dried out, he flew to a nearby tree leaf where he is sitting now, drying his wings again because we just had an other freaking downpour...what IS with all this rain. It's been raining all the time since mid april now.....

The Move from Hell

Okay...first off the adds on the page are to help generate cat funds. if they become too annoying or don't generate anything then I'll remove them.
But I need some lab equipment...

The move....how to describe it...well first off I'll say that you can't make stuff up like this...it took 3 hours to load the cats into carriers and my suburban. In the end, we couldn't fit 7 cats. They went in another car.
It's an hour and half drive from the old house to the new house....and about 19 miles from the new house (according to my gps) I burst a radiator hose. At 5:00am...in the rain...first exit off route 80?...by the prison of course....
thank goodness I had a case of water in the car....I filled up the radiator with the whole case and limped to the house exit...then stopped at a convenience store and got another 2 gallons of water. By then the car was overheating again as it had leaked out all that water again. We were 5 miles from the new house....we got to the new house at about 6am...the cats had been in carriers a long time. Someone pooped and stank up my car badly....peeeeuuuwww.
unloaded everyone with food and water and litterboxes and collapsed to sleep for a few hours.

moving day

well, I really never quite believed we' d make it and it isn't over yet, but that is oging to be a whole blog in it'self.

I'll be off about a week unless I find an internet cafe, and I might not have time....say a prayer everyone moves well.

see you all soon.

testing for FIP

One of the most frustrating things I personally have encountered is the testing or shall we say there for lack of accurate FIP testing.
PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) testing is the best and brightest there is to offer at this time, and yet it is still not completely reliable in it's results. Not because of how the test is done, but more as in how the virus plays with science.
This page from Cornell University diagnostic testing services explains the test's limitations very well.
http://www.diaglab.vet.cornell.edu/test/factsheets/FSFelCoronaviursRT-PCR.pdf
The impracticality of isolation and testing in a multicat household in this manner is frustrating at best.
I do isolate the cats I know to be sick, but those who don't look sick, just might be typhoid mary's?, It's hard to accept that I do the best I can, and not feel like it's like I'm Sisyphus.

For Ickis (pictured) and Zilla and Dora and all the other loving lives lost to this disease, I will never give up looking for answers.