Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

I have two kittens, brothers, 6 months old. They had a really tough start to life, bad URIs, one turned into pneumonia. They both recovered, although my vet thought they would succumb to all of this.

One of my little guys has had a distended abdomen for a long time, pretty much since we got him, about 4 months ago. The distension probably started to show 3 months ago. He has been dewormed 4 times, and every time his stomach goes to normal for about a day, and puffs back up again. Also, the distension comes and goes throughout the day. He has no other symptoms of FIP, no loss of weight, appetite, or energy. In fact, he has gained more weight than his brother, and is a healthy 7 lbs. He does have a bit of a bony spine, though his brother does as well.

I brought him to the vet again as his stomach just was not getting better, even after the last deworming. My vet mentioned FIP, and said if I was worried I should get an ultrasound. I wasn't sure what FIP even was until I googled it, and I almost lost it...

So, I guess my question is, if my little guy had wet FIP, would he be in worse shape by now? We are getting a second opinion from another vet on Wednesday as our current vet did not give us much help in the situation.

Thanks for all the advice and help, we love both of them so much and the thought of losing one of them is absolutely heartbreaking...

Hi There,

I highly doubt that your baby has FIP. Chances are that you would already have lost him if he really had this terrible disease, especially the wet form.

I think it's a very good idea that you are seeking another opinion. If this vet thinks that there is fluid in your cat's belly, hopefully an x-ray will be done to find out for sure. If there is fluid, a sample may be taken for diagnosis.

If you can, bring a fresh stool sample to be tested for parasites, just in case. There are parasites other than worms that can cause a cat to have a distended abdomen and the vet may want to test for these.

Take care, and please let us know how the vet visit goes.

Regards,
PHKitkat