Riley

By FieldHaven Feline Center

One day, we got a call from Bradshaw Animal Shelter that they had a possible FIP kitten and his sister that were going to be euthanized if they didn’t find rescue placement. The staff was aware we had been helping FIP kittens and cats, so they were hoping we could help. If the videos and the pictures of the head tilt, wobbly walking, cloudy eyes, and enormous tummy weren’t enough, they also tapped some fluid in the belly and sent the picture of the yellow liquid. Riley needed to start FIP treatment immediately!

Riley and his sister Izzy made their way to FieldHaven and went to a foster home where Riley started treatment. After a couple weeks, Riley was improving, but not super quickly. It was odd, but we figured every cat is different. Until one day, our poor Riley almost passed away. Our FIP administrators quickly jumped in and told us to up his daily injection dose to double! Within days, he went from dying to playing, jumping, and gaining eye sight back!

We got to the end of the 84 days and his bloodwork looked great, but he had an odd cough. We did some chest x-rays and it looked as if he had and FIP granuloma (not uncommon in severe cases). Riley was put on an 8-week extended treatment were he was receiving one injection of his original medications and two injections of another new medications. Luckily, his cough began to resolve. His little personality is so funny and his joy is contagious. He was a little shell of himself when he arrived and now he plays with every cat, kitten, puppy, or dog he meets! He LOVES cuddling, purring, and playing with his foster moms’ hair! We are currently waiting for his chest x-ray recheck to come back to see is he is ready to enter his 84 day observation period!

Diagnosis Date: July 10, 2021
FIP Type: Neuro
Treatment Completion Date: TBD
Cure Date: TBD
Source: Bradshaw Animal Shelter
Caregiver(s): Dallas Butterfield
Veterinarian(s): Dr. Alex Rensing, DVM (FieldHaven Feline Center)
Status: Cured