Waiting period after FIP
Chuck
Howdy cat lovers,
Even after reading the FIP FAQ, I'm still a little uncertain about how long
it can survive outside a host.
I had to euthenize my friend, Scooter, after he finally subcomed to non-
effusive FIP. That was back in August. Since then I've cleaned all my
upholstered furniture and moved to a new apartment. I was thinking of
lysoling the wooden furniture, too.
Have I done enough? Has enough time passed for lingering viruses to die?
I don't want to get a new cat, just to have it suffer the way Scooter did,
Chuck Sembroski
cmse...@ghgcorp.com
EdWynn
No one can give you an answer on that one. But, most papers I have read
state that the life outside the feline body is a matter of days.
Sounds like you have done all you can, I'd go for it.
Lost one myself to FIP last summer, and we now have a new one.
Ed
EdWynn
Chuck wrote:
>
> Howdy cat lovers,
>
> Even after reading the FIP FAQ, I'm still a little uncertain about how long
> it can survive outside a host.
>
> I had to euthenize my friend, Scooter, after he finally subcomed to non-
> effusive FIP. That was back in August. Since then I've cleaned all my
> upholstered furniture and moved to a new apartment. I was thinking of
> lysoling the wooden furniture, too.
>
> Have I done enough? Has enough time passed for lingering viruses to die?
>
> I don't want to get a new cat, just to have it suffer the way Scooter did,
>
> Chuck Sembroski
> cmse...@ghgcorp.com
Chuck,
Been there, done that, not fun. My Vet will not hazard a guess on your
question. However most of the papers I have read indicate that outside
the feline body it survies only a matter of days.
I lost a six month old Siamese mix a few months ago and had my place
scrubbed and cleaned repeatly as well of getting rid of everything he
played with, litter box, etc. Problem more complicated as we have two
older cats who could be carriers, they were certainly exposed. Our
little guy went down with "wet" FIP.
I finally decided it was time and purchased a purebred Seal Point
Siamese and had him shipped in from San Diego. That was about six weeks
ago. Have had him to the vets three times so far because I am gun shy,
but all is well, Thank God.
Less that 3%of US cats get FIP, but I sure do not want to experience
that again either. If this one were to contract it, that would be the
last kitten for me.
Ed in Las Vegas
Rich Coad & Stacy Scott
Chuck wrote:
>
> Even after reading the FIP FAQ, I'm still a little uncertain about how long
> it can survive outside a host.
>
I've been unable to get a definitive answer on this, as well:
evidently, it simply isn't known, along with so much on FIP.
My Gilligan was euthanized back in June due to noneffusive
FIP, and all I can say is that when I told my vet that I
did not intend to adopt another kitten, at least for a long
while -- I have two other, now elderly, cats -- he said,
"That's probably a very good idea."
I'd been under the impression that about six months would be
considered long enough, given a thorough cleaning. My own
instinct would be to wait a year, simply because -- as you
note in what I snipped -- it would be just too heartbreaking
to be wrong.
Stacy Scott
Helen and Charles Goodwin
I read an article in Cats magazine which was commenting on an article in
Veterinary Record of 23.11.96.
It seems that now FIP can be diagnosed from examining faeces. They
examined 23 cats with wet FIP, 5 with "dry" and a pathogen free control.
Corona virus was isolated from all 28 positive cats and the article said
there is concern that cats infected with corona virus may shed the virus
in the faeces for a period of 17 days without showing clinical signs.
It was advised that any cat showing corona virus in such a test should be
isolated at once. No new cat or kitten should be introduced until the
infected cat died and the premises have been thoroughly disinfected.
This is a precis of an article which was itself taken from the article by
the researchers (D Addie, S Tooth, A Herrewegh and O Jarrett).
It would seem that it is OK to get another cat so long as the house is
thoroughly disinfected. Unfortunately it didn't say how long the virus
lives for.
The person who wrote the article in cats is Alison Ashford. She likes
to use formalin gas to disinfect and says it kills everything: you shut
windows, make sure any large cracks are blocked. Take a large pyrex
bowl and put two tablespoons of potassium permanganate crystals into it.
Pour over it three quarters of a breakfast cup of pure formalin
(formaldehyde) and then get out very quickly. She says this produces a
very toxic gas which is guaranteed to kill all virus and bacteriae and
spores.
I would check with your vet about the above. I tried it once about 25
years ago but can't remember much about it now.
Helen
Milton E. Moskowitz
> Have I done enough? Has enough time passed for lingering viruses to die?
>
> I don't want to get a new cat, just to have it suffer the way Scooter did,
>
> Chuck Sembroski
> cmse...@ghgcorp.com
Knowledge of FIP is sketchy at best. I've heard reports saying the
virus can't live for more than a day or two, perhaps a week. But then
there's the footnote that it has been shown to live for up to 7 weeks to
a few months on some things.
I too had to have my little buddy put to sleep due to FIP, and right
now I'm in the process of watching my other cat (who hasn't yet shown
any signs of the disease). My doctor suggested that if she's fine
within 6 weeks, I could then consider getting another kitten. BUT, she
suggested vaccinating the new one, and isolating the two of them until
the vaccination series was over. (I vaccinated Pandora as soon as I
found-out about the FIP).
Yes, I know that the vaccination's effectiveness is questionable, but
my Doctor thought that giving the vaccine would be giving the cats the
best possible chance of fighting-off the FIP virus.
I know I haven't given you a time-frame, but probably if you wait a few
months, you'll be okay. My situation is a bit trickier in that I've got
a cat who could possibly now be a carrier, and may never show symptoms,
but be fully able to infect another kitten. The only way for -me- to be
100% sure of no more transmission is to wait until Pandora is gone.
But, since your Scooter is gone, (and you don't have any potential
carrier cat), you're probably okay to wait a few months and then get
another one.
Btw: I would suggest sterilizing the cat's things (i.e. food and water
bowls, litter boxes, etc.) in a bleach and water solution. (Everything
I've read says that a diluted bleach solution WILL kill the FIP virus).
You might also want to consider throwing-away any of the cat's
"favorite" things, such as a scratching post, or whatever. Maybe it's
paranoia, but I certainly think that a $25 scratching post is total
garbage in comparison with the potential safety of your new pet.
Good luck. I'm sure your new kitten will be a-ok!
Jill Gavornik
Your right about your cat being a possible carrier.. I am
in the same situation. My cat Panda had FIP and I also had to put
him to sleep and I have an older cat LittleOne who now may be a
carrier.
As far as getting the cat tested it is almost impossible
most of the research tells you that once you have them vacinated
(which by the way is only 60% effective) they will show up positive
for FIP since the vacination is a small amount of it. So they (vets)
are still debating whether the tests are effective.
I also have read several articles on FIP stating that the
living cat can be a carrier for several years?? (I think it was up
to 3yrs?).
Also to clean the effected areas you can try a mix of
lestol and water, it will kill off the virus.
Another thing about FIP is that they are not definetly
sure if it could be passed to dogs. I read several articles
that said it could mutate into another disease in dogs.
You might want to check out this site:
http://web.vet.cornell.edu/public/fhc/fip.htm
it gives a little more information on fip.
Jill :)