Category Archives: Drogo

Drogo, Furkids

2016 Update on the fight to cure FIP

It was about this time last year when we lost our adopted black kitten, Drogo, to FIP. At the time, info available was sparse: FIP was known to be a 100% fatal coronavirus mutation afflicting kittens and young cats with no known pathology. While some anecdotes abound on the internet about kittens surviving “dry” (non-effusive) FIP, reports seem consistent, nearly universally dire, about the chances of a cat surviving “wet” or effusive FIP–which our cat Drogo was diagnosed with.

The 2016 research material that emerged later in the year suggests a new weapon is showing promise in the fight to cure FIP. I listed the sources in my earlier post, pointing to Dr Pedersen’s preliminary research posted on the SOCKFIP.org website as well as the published paper on the PLOS Journal.

A new note has appeared on the SOCKFIP.org website with Dr. Pedersen’s closing update for 2016. In it he suggests that UC Davis and its partners are preparing to move onto Phase 2 research to focus on treatment modalities for the GC376 protease inhibitor on effusive cases of FIP.

Some key takeaways from the Phase 1 study, which I will quote below:

  1. Most disease signs are reversible with treatment:

    Based on what we have learned from our first group of cats, we know that the treatment will require a minimum of twelve weeks and will cause a rapid reversal of disease signs in most, but not all, cats.

  2. FIP-caused neurological issues are resistant to treatment; said treatment does not forestall possible development of neurological problems later:

    Cats with neurologic disease will not respond to this treatment, as the drug does not penetrate well into the brain. We also know that cats with ocular FIP will develop severe neurologic disease during or after treatment. We have also learned that cats that have had FIP for some time will often develop neurological disease while on treatment or after their initial treatment is completed.

  3. This isn’t a cure; the long-term effects of GC376 have yet to be studied:

    we still do not know whether or not we can sustain disease remission in those cats that survive the therapy and remain healthy

  4. Emphasis on the availability of said treatment, restricted to research only:

    The drug is not commercially available and cannot be purchased and must be administered under the institutional and hospital protocols of UC Davis. We understand the desperation that people feel when their cat develops such a terrible disease but our resources are limited and must be strictly focused on the goal of researching FIP what we hope is the first of many highly specific and effective antiviral drugs against FIP virus.

Given this news, I made some brief searches on the net regarding the status of FIP research, in particular, UC Davis’ collaboration with researchers at Kansas State University.

On SOCKFIP’s Facebook, they  linked to a Catster article interviewing Dr Pedersen.

To be clear, this is only the latest research using a recent treatment modality to reverse FIP. There still exists a competing treatment publicly available on a smaller scale that is reported to have limited success treating dry forms of FIP. The University of Tennessee updated their clinical trials document in 2017 promoting Polyprenyl Immunostimulant treatment. It seems the document is courting donations for Dr Legendre’s ongoing research in FIP. It is this research that is cited in the current Wikipedia article on FIP.

Winn Feline Foundation, which has donated to UC Davis, Kansas State, and University of Tennessee studies, has also contributed several grants over the course of 2016 supporting FIP research.

Morris Animal Foundation, also another donor in the FIP fight, announced research and funding in 2016.

As it’s about the time tax returns start getting filed, this post partly triggered by a review of my charitable donations for the previous year, among which is my contribution to SockFIP. I’m glad to see the ongoing effort to find a cure to FIP, including the progress made this past year.

Drogo, Furkids

Antiviral clinical trial news 2016

I received another thank you note from SOCK FIP regarding my recurring donation, so I visited their website to see if any new research was available from the UC Davis team. It appears that a closed clinical trial was conducted earlier in 2016 and a paper published about the findings. The PDF for the preliminary report is posted on SOCK FIP’s site date stamped 5/1/2016: http://www.sockfip.org/pdf/Preliminary_Report_5-1-2016.pdf

Within the report is a link to a published article regarding the emerging research. See PLOS.org for more detail. http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005531

While the news appear mostly positive in tone, please realize that this was a very small study. The brief also states that the protease inhibitor being tested isn’t available outside of UC Davis’ clinical trials program–and to further that limitation, the word “expensive” jumps right out of the page.

Obviously more trials are needed to determine the efficacy of the trial drug, and if found successful, it will take time to be federally evaluated before released for public consumption.

Drogo, Furkids

“Thank you for your donation to SOCKFIP received through Benevity”

Below is the edited text of the response to my charitable donation to SOCK FIP through my workplace matching donation program, i.e. Benevity.

Donation Date:  April 2016
Receipt for $20.00 donation to SOCK FIP
Received through BENEVITY

Dear Anna,

Thank you so much for your very special $20.00 donation to SOCK FIP received
through BENEVITY during April 2016, in memory of your kitten Drogo.  We are
very sorry to hear of your loss to FIP. 

Your gift makes a big difference and is greatly needed and appreciated to help fund
and find a cure for the most complex and heartbreaking of feline diseases.

UC Davis intends to remain on the leading edge in their quest to discover a treatment
and cure for FIP. Much progress is being made and we appreciate your help in keeping
the funds coming as the anti viral field trial continues to reveal new information. 
We are very grateful for your support for this important trial and for all UC Davis FIP
Research and their very talented team of researchers including Dr. Niels Pedersen,
Dr. Brian Murphy and Dr. Pesavento.

Together we will SOCK it to FIP!

With condolences and gratitude,

Carol Horace and The SOCK FIP team
Save Our Cats and Kittens from Feline Infectious Peritonitis
P.O. Box 602
Davis, CA. 95617

501(c)(3) 27-1523038
Please keep and print out this email as receipt for your donation to SOCK FIP.
If you require a USPS hard copy in the mail, please let us know and we will send
a paper copy to you in the mail.
Thank you!!!

Drogo, Furkids

Adopting grief or saving lives?

My man and I  recently shared a conversation about adopting again. I was perusing some shelter baby pictures and forwarded some cute pics when he replied that he was shelter-shy after our last experience.

I hadn’t forgotten Drogo; I had merely diverted my anguish over his loss while I browsed the adorable adoptable kittens. My man’s reminder opened some old wounds, and I admitted I shared the same apprehension. Our little boy had most likely been exposed to the virus that killed him at the shelter; a baby born in a crowded multi-cat setting–many of which requiring medical attention–would have a hard time developing an immune system to fend off disease or infection.

IMG_20150709_154104419_HDR

However, it is sobering reading profile after pet profile that some animals are destined for brief lives in the care of these shelters. Such is the plight of many shelter animals–their prospects for a bright and happy future are rare as they serve short stints in less-than-ideal situations to prove themselves adoptable. The reality is few city/county shelters are truly no-kill. This is the unfortunate circumstance of many a public-funded animal shelter in this country: limited on funds, space, time, and adopters.

My man uttered that adopting another kitten from a shelter would be “paying for pain”. We will long be bothered by Drogo’s loss, and his passing is 4 months old, but still fresh in our minds. However, given the option of dying homeless in a shelter or knowing a brief life in a loving home, it’s hard to argue which was the better outcome.