Pet Lovers

[mariadomenica]

Three letter I wish I never heard of  FIP.  Two weeks ago my daughter called me.  She has two brothers that she adopted together.  They had never been apart and often slept intertwined.  The all black cat presented one morning out of the blue with a rust colored eye.  We immediately whisked him off to vets.  He was only 13 months old.  His brother is fine.  From local vet we went to bigger  Aminal Hopspital in larger city.  Little Cole spent 3 nights in ICU.  They ruled out all possibilities.  All signs pointed to the dreaded fatal FIP.  I am people nurse.  I don't claim to know much about cats.  We brought the cat home for 3 agonizing hours.  We returned with my 8 yr old hysterical grandson.  We had no choice the sweet kitty was in organ failure...this I knew.  Now my worries are for Tucker the remaining brother.  How will this effect him.  He has been looking for Cole.  We are all so brokenhearted.  My daughter took out a loan for $5000.00 hoping there was someway to save the cat.  We are all broken..  I wa strong for my daughter...I did not want kitty to suffer...my daughter I think was hoping for a miracle.  I guided her through what had to be done.  Now I am falling apart over it all.

[Imaoldhippie]

My heart is breaking for you and your family and your precious kitties.  Im so sorry.  God bless.

[deb5555]

Sorry for your loss, it says it's a cat coronavirus, is it contagious to the other cat?  I hope not.  

[SXMGirl]

@mariadomenicaI am so sorry.  I have never heard of FIP but I just looked up info, and there does not appear to be symptoms that are noticeable.  Very scary for cat owners.

[Sooner]

I am very sorry for your loss.  Especially for the children.  I think it is a good time to talk with them about life and death and about the fact that animals don't live usually as long as we do.

Also, that an animal doesn't understand that medical procedures are to help them like people can, and that in light of all of that the best you can do sometimes is end their suffering.  And that while it might make you feel worse, you have to think of the animal and think it is hard on you but kind to them.

At least that is how I was brought up to think.  Some disagree with this today.  But I still believe it.

Bless you and I hope all of you find comfort and peace in the days ahead because you are all kind and did your best. 

[NickNack]

I am so sorry for you, your daughter and her other kitty's loss.  The other kitty will probably look for his brother for a while.  He will be fine though.

[PAlady]

My heart is broken for all of you. 

[kitty60]

So sorry for your loss.  I had two littermates who as indoor cats spent all their time together.  When I lost my male cat suddenly we gave his sister lots of love.  We let her sniff the blanket we took him to the vet in and she adapted well and lived for several more years.

[Tori3569]

I am so sorry this happened to your family.  We had it happen too.  Adopted a brother and sister that were approx 9 months old from a rescue.  Poor little Eddie had FIP and passed away at 18 mos.  I was so heartbroken, as was his sister Joey.  It's a horrible disease and sadly affects kittens too.  

This may not be helpful to you right now, but about a month later we adopted 2 more and that was what finally brought Joey back to her old self.  The two new ones were approx 6 month old kittens and she still loves them so much 8 years later.

I am by no means suggesting your daughter go out and adopt again so soon, just sharing what worked for us.  
I hope you are all doing ok, especially your grandson.  Extra hard for kids. 

[mariadomenica]

Thank you EVERYONE...I would I would find kindness, strenght and understanding...plus of course prayers for us..  We are struggling...Many blessings and I guess I thnak God for people like us I wouldn't want it any other way !