FIP was a terrible tragedy, an awful viral disease that would routinely force us to euthanize cats that hadn’t even reached their first birthday. We all dreaded the sight of that tired, big-bellied kitten on the exam room table (often accompanied by a weeping child) that was headed down a dead-end path. It was grim, to say the least. Just seven years ago, I wrote that I had never seen even one of them survive. Today, though, we can comfortably start those same kittens on medicine the very day of diagnosis and expect them to be moving around the house in about 24 hours, then starting to eat their meals in about 48. How did that happen?
At the very moment I was posting that piece on our blog, rumors were swirling and small news items were leaking out of China, where the human population was suffering a relatively alarming respiratory disease outbreak, caused by a coronavirus that eventually declared itself king of the world. Massive amounts of money and time and brain power were allocated to the battle against COVID during that time, of course. Researchers were frantically digging up everything they could find on coronaviruses and the medicines that might be used to combat them. Drugs and devices were being fast-tracked through the regulatory agencies. Through various channels, some of those resources eventually spilled over onto a coronavirus cousin that was less contagious—but, with virtually no survivors, far more merciless—and just loved to pick on helpless kittens. You know it as FIP. The two most effective drugs for fighting FIP today made their name during the pandemic as treatments for people infected with COVID-19. These drugs came to market much more quickly than expected, as befits such a dire situation. Then, after the heat of battle had subsided, they were able to trickle their way down to the feline population, which is how veterinarians are allowed to prescribe them today.
Now, this is not to say that COVID-19 and its entourage of scientists are solely responsible for solving the FIP problem, because that is categorically false. There was a solid body of research put together by veterinary virologists and epidemiologists, most notably Professors Niels Pedersen and Yunjeong Kim, who were hot on the trail of a cure and had it almost in hand when COVID struck. Suddenly, all coronavirus resources, research, and drugs were refocused on saving the human race, and the kittens had to take a backseat. COVID turned all of our lives upside down, but the foundation for FIP treatment wasn’t lost in the shuffle. We used to absolutely cower at the appearance of these dumpy, potbellied kittens and their tearful little owners, but now… a new day has actually dawned for FIP.
Dr. M.S. Regan