Steve
Dale co-chaired this all day symposium at the Western Veterinary
Conference in Las Vegas with Dr. Susan Little…Together,
they brought together the best minds in the world on feline virology
in the world to share what is known about the number one kitten
killer. FIP remains the greatest mystery in veterinary medicine.
If
you care about cats and FIP, but couldn’t make the vet conference,
visit our audio archive for a Pet
Central interview Steve did with some of those who presented at
the symposium.
Steve
says his goal is to clarify misconceptions even vets may have
and to encourage further research.
Unraveling
Mysteries of FIP at Western Veterinary Conference
By
Steve Dale
F –
I – P are the three letters that horrify pet owners and
veterinarians the most. Experts on the disease converge for a
day long symposium at the 77th Annual Western Veterinary Conference,
February 20 through 24 in Las Vegas, NV.
The Western
Conference is arguably the most prestigious and largest gathering
of its kind, attracting over 14,000 medical professionals to discuss
everything from the recent resurgence of rabies to advances in
senior pet care. Just as we have a nation filled with aging people,
the same is true for our pets. As far as anyone knows, President
Bush isn’t considering a government program to pay for their
health care, and while incredible advances in veterinary medicine
make it possible to pets to live longer quality lives, that cutting
edge care doesn’t come cheap. Other topics include cognitive
dysfunction, a kind of doggy or kitty Alzheimer’s, and advances
in laser surgery and dentistry.
However,
among all the topics – and there are hundreds to be discussed,
FIP has captured the most interest. FIP or feline infectious peritonitis
is the only major infectious disease of dogs and cats that eludes
veterinary medicine. It is fatal. Worse, it kills mostly kittens.
“It’s
devastating,” says Dr. Susan Little of Ottawa, Canada, a
feline veterinarian who will be speaking at the FIP Symposium.
“People have often suffered the death of an older cat; they
finally muster the fortitude to go out and bring home a little
kitty, and then FIP happens.”
Little
adds, “FIP is fascinating and challenging because it acts
so different than most infectious diseases – it doesn’t
play by any of the rules.”
Dr. Niels
Pedersen of the University of California School of Veterinary
Medicine at Davis might be called the father of virology and infectious
diseases in cats. He’s likely knows as much about FIP as
anyone on the planet. He hasn’t presented at a major vet
conference in years, and this will likely be his farewell appearance,
though he plans to continue to research the disease in his lab.
“When
I fight an infectious disease, I consider it like waging war,”
he says. “I haven’t ever had a more worthy opponent.”
FIP is
thought to be a freaky mutation of the corona virus. Most cats
are exposed to the generally corona virus (Pedersen says anywhere
from 40 to 90 per cent of pet cats). This is no big deal for the
overwhelming majority of kitties, since the corona virus (which
can cause the common cold in people) is typically asymptomatic
in cats. In other words the virus is so mild that most cats who
get it usually never get sick. Some cats with the corona virus
do get mildly ill for a day or two (they may throw up and have
diarrhea).
However,
for reasons still not fully understood, it’s thought that
in about two per cent of cats with the common corona virus a sort
of freaky mutation transforms the benign virus into the ravaging
fatal autoimmune disease called FIP.
Pedersen
notes a parallel to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
that occurs in people. SARS is also a result of a mutation of
the corona virus. Pedersen is happy the SARS endemic is under
control, but feels the corona virus can mutate anytime and cause
another disease just as SARS came onto the scene overnight.
“We
had an opportunity here because FIP does have parallels to SARS,”
he adds. “We need to understand more about the mutations
of corona viruses.”
One point
Pedersen will make at the conference is that there is no single
diagnostic test to determine if a cat has FIP in the first place.
Pedersen
helped to develop a titer test (a kind of blood test) to determine
if a cat has been exposed to the corona virus.
“The
overwhelming majority of cats with the corona virus, of course,
will never get FIP, so this these (titer) tests are of limited
value,’ reports Dr. Melissa Kennedy of the University of
Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, Knoxville. At the conference
Kennedy will reveal her detailed research on the various diagnostic
tools used to determine if a cat has FIP. She talks about diagnosing
FIP akin to building a brick wall. “Yes, a positive result
of a titer (blood test) is one more brick on the wall, but just
one brick,” she says.
Pedersen
agrees, adding some veterinarians still mistake a positive corona
titer for an FIP diagnosis. That mistake may be fatal. If there’s
one thing worse than a cat succumbing to FIP, it’s a cat
that’s euthanized who didn’t turn out to FIP after
all.
Dr. Diane
Addie from the University of Glasgow in Scotland presented on
FIP at the North American Veterinary Conference in Orlando in
January. She recommended feline interferon omega (or human interferon
omega) to help treat the kitties diagnosed with the disease. However,
her hopeful comments are controversial.
Pedersen
says, “You might as well use chicken soup.” He questions
what little data there is to support the drugs’ use, and
worries about people having false hopes for recovery and the formidable
expense of the medication. What’s more, feline interferon
is not approved in the U.S. and may be difficult to import.
“FIP
is a very hot topic,” says Little. “The good news
is that today we understand far more about this complicated disease
than we did only a few years ago. Are we near a cure? Well, no.
Not really.”
Little
is also a vice president at the WINN Feline Foundation, a not
for profit organization that funds research into feline health
issues. She’s hopeful that increasing attention from both
the veterinary profession and the public will mean more dollars
for research.
To
learn more about FIP, and also the WINN Feline Foundation, log
onto www.winnfelinehealth.org
or call (732) 528-9797. If you have a cat you suspect has FIP,
learn more at www.orionfoundation.com
(where there are additional links).
