See the kitten in the upper left hand corner. See what is behind him? It is part of the sunīs corona. The corona virus looks something like this, seen under a microscope - hence the name.

What is FIP?
FIP is short for Feline Infectious Peritonitis. FIP caused by infection by the corona virus (FeCV). It is one of the most feared diseases in catteries. It is also one of the most misunderstood diseases, wrapped in a veil of myths and quite often gossip. Letīs change that!
FIP is lethal! It kills cats and quite often brings out the worst in people. Knowlegde should change things, so letīs take a closer look at this dreaded disease!

What is the corona virus? It is an RNA virus that very willingly mutates. It is a viral infection that is limited to infecting intestinal villi. This is one of the most common viruses - it also has equivalents in man, pigs, dogs etc - but remains species specific. In it self the parent virus is fairly harmless - often the cat may only get a minor diarrhoea and/or a slight fever, maybe not even that. In most catteries up to 80-90% of the population is corona positive. This situation is fairly harmless - the problem arises when the virus mutates within a single cat.

My cat has tested Corona positive - is it going to die?
Not likely! The corona virus is very widespread and highly contageous. However only about 5 % of all cats who have contracted the virus, will actually develop FIP. That gives you an average survival rate of 95%!

What are the symptoms?
There are two forms of FIP: wet (effusive) and dry (non-effusive). FIP is a disease with many faces and may not always be easy to determine.
What happens is this: In a cat who has been infected with the corona virus (FeCV), sometimes the parent virus mutates - by then we call it FIP-virus. This is very different than the parent virus. Where the parent FeCV virus will not cause many symptoms and generally is harmless, the mutated form of the virus will cause the catīs blood vessels to start leaking. In the wet form, the chest cavity and/or abdomen will fill with yellowish fluid, containing high amounts of proteins, but no sign of bacterial infection. The cat will be pot-bellied, a clear sign that the abdomen is filling up. This may happen in a matter of only a few days - wet FIP can develop very dramatically and quickly!
Dry FIP is more tricky! The cat will start out with very subtle symptoms. The added sum of symptoms will help pinpoint the diagnosis. You may be looking at a cat, who for weeks is losing appetite, losing weight, being lethargic - jaundice and anemia may develop as well. At some point you will find your self at the vet, and a full blood panel is a good thing to do. Dry FIP will cause tiny "knots" placed different places in the catīs body. They may be found in the heart, liver, kidneys, behind the eyes - when examined under a microscope you will find crystallized virus parts and white blood cells. In some cats the central nervous system (CNS) may be affected, and the cat will start to lose its balance on its hind legs. Any changes in the eyes should be carefully examined.
What to look for in a blood panel: a very high titer, high globulin count and low lymphocyte. Then you might have a cat with FIP - but there really is no exact way to tell other than by biopsy of affected organs, and often we are talking about necropsy rather than biopsy. A cat with FIP is a very sick cat...!

My vet says my cat has developed FIP - is it going to die?
Sadly, if the diagnosis is correct, the answer is yes....
There is no cure for FIP. But DO remember a corona positive cat with no clinical symptoms is NOT the same as a cat with FIP!!! Only a cat with clinical symptoms of disease can be a cat with FIP!

Should I titer test my cats?
That depends on why you want to do titers - what do you want to learn?
Realize that a titer will only show you what you might already know, namely that your cat is forming antibodies against the corona virus. But the test cannot tell you which strain of corona the cat is infected with! Nor can it tell you whether the cat will ever succumb to FIP in the future!
Remember this: Only about 5% of corona positive cats will develop FIP! The titer is mainly a bunch of meaningless numbers - it will cost you lots of money, but if you are looking for guarantees of life, this is not the road to take. Titer testing cats with no clinical symptoms is fruitless!

How is the corona virus spread?
The primary route of infection is faecal -> oral. In other words, the virus is spread via the litterbox. Kittens and teenage cats will shed up to 100 times as much virus in their faeces compared to adults! It is therefore important to keep litterboxes clean - and maybe not have too many kittens running around at the same time, sharing litterboxes if you want to keep the viral load down.
The virus is only very sparsely spread in saliva - only in newly infected cats; only for a few days and in very low degree. It is not really considered a route of infection.

Read this next paragraph very carefully: Only the PARENT corona virus is spread via faeces! A cat with FIP in outbreak is not contageous! The parent virus may still be shed in its faeces, but will be harmless - it is the mutated form of the virus that will kill the cat. HOWEVER - the mutated form of the virus connects to the macrophages. This is a special type of white blood cells - these are not shed from the body! Therefor a cat with clinical FIP is NOT contageous. Remember this - it may take away the edge of panic attacks, when you first encounter FIP!

Itīs overwhelming - what can I do?
Good husbandry is a good start. Keep litter boxes clean. Try to keep a harmonic cat group - stress can sometimes have an influence on the immune system.
Some may try to raise corona negative kittens by doing early weaning. This means removing the kittens from their mother at age 5 weeks and letting them grow up in isolation. However - this method is certainly not for everybody! Give it careful consideration before you go down this road!
The corona virus is highly contageous - and the risk of cross contamination is quite obvious. You may do your very best, but it IS very difficult to keep up quarantaine in a regular home. You must also consider if you can properly stimulate the kittens in isolation - if they turn into frightened pets because of lack of human contact, how much will you have gained? And be prepared that IF you chose this solution, their mother will be severely affected by losing her kittens at such young age. Yes, she WILL get over it - but she is likely to search frantically for her kittens for several days. It can be quite heartbreaking to watch. Therefore early weaning is not for everybody... Personally I find that if kittens can only be raised safely by removing them from their mother much earlier than nature would have it, maybe it has come too far and a new and different strategy must be found. This may include changing bloodlines!
Because you may also need to look at pedigrees! Part of the key to why some cats develop FIP while others donīt, is genetics. Some lines / breeds may be clearly more prone to develop FIP than others. Take a stern look at the lines you are working with - it may be that some cats need to be removed from your breeding program.
And learn to live with the fact that FIP is nobodyīs fault! It just happens - sometimes peopleīs children get cancer, but you donīt see anybody shouting "bad parents" at them... Same thing with cat breeders - FIP is not a disease that anyone "gives" to their cat! The key is in each catīs own immune system response. Cell- mediated immunity, unfortunately, does not protect a cat against the corona virus (FECV). Antibody-mediated immunity is needed to clear FECV infection. Cell-mediated immunity is only effective in controlling FIP mutants of that benign coronavirus. Setting up cell- mediated immunity with an intranasal vaccine is useless in preventing a cat's infection with FECV. Where there is FECV, there is the POTENTIAL for FIP. But almost all cats that have FECV infection do not develop FIP. Why do some cats activate a cell-mediated immune response and others a antibody-mediated immune response? We donīt know yet.....

So is there a vaccine - or not...?
Most likely not...! If a cat cannot wage an adequate immune response to the native virus, it cannot form an effective immune response to the vaccine strain either.
There IS a product out there, being marketed as an FIP vaccine. But many scholars believe it to be at best useless.
Here is a report on the value of the FIP vaccine: University of Giessen. It is in German language, about 150 pages and somewhat discourging to read. The conclusion of the report is that in the test made here, more cats in the group of cats who received the vaccine, ended up dying of FIP, than in the control group who did not receive the vaccine! You may draw your own conclusions as to its safety...