16-yo cat with pancreatitis / Remdesivir for FIP
Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2023 9:56 am
My grey and white senior cat, Paddy, got pancreatitis. He had it once before but it didn't last long. This time my vets were at a continuing education convention so I took him to VCA. They ran blood tests and diagnosed it correctly, but the treatment wasn't good. They gave him Pet Pectillin for diarrhea, Centrin for pain, and amoxicillin. I had trouble with the Centrin because it's for dogs and you're supposed to quarter it, which I did. When I put one quarter tab in the pill popper, it was too small for the pill popper to begin with, and as soon as it got a hint of saliva on it, it disintegrated into paste, making it nearly impossible to give. She also wanted to give him a certain kind of Royal Canin that's easy to digest, but they didn't have any, so I asked for Science Diet i/d (which he wouldn't eat). Anyway, by the time he finished his meds, he still had diarrhea. I gave him time to see if it would settle down with TLC in case it was stress (he's sensitive) but it didn't.
So I made him another appointment with my regular vet, who agreed it was pancreatitis, but his intestines felt swollen, so he did an ultrasound, and said he wanted to rule out FIP (my cats started as feral kittens). That had me extremely worried, because the thing last I knew, there was no cure for FIP, and in addition I have another cat and it's contagious.
Paddy is a fairly large framed cat, but he was in the 8 lb range at VCA and down to 6 something at his regular vet.
The vet told me they now have a cure for FIP, but it isn't licensed in the US yet. It is licensed in the UK. Remdesivir, which works for Covid in humans, which is a coronavirus, also works for FIP in cats, which is also a coronavirus. He said he is unable to prescribe it because it isn't licensed yet, but there is a way to get it online, which he explained. He said he was highly skeptical at first, but he checked it out. He said one of his clients had got it for her cat and it had amazing results in just days, and in the end the cat was cured. He seemed very happy to be able to tell me there is finally a treatment for this, after he's faced it in patients all these years. Treatment is 84 days. [EDIT TO ADD: a related drug GS441524 can be obtained in the US]
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37439383/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6435921/
So he asked if he should do an FIP test, and I said yes. Then I left, prepared to get Remdesivir for Paddy if the test came back positive. Fortunately for Paddy, Libby, and my checkbook, it came back negative.
So now Paddy is on Reglan for the pancreatitis, and he's eating better and it's helping the diarrhea, and he looks better. You can tell when it wears off, by his face and posture. He's OK with being poked, but does not like the squirt when he gets his injection, but I hope he'll learn to associate it with feeling better.
So I made him another appointment with my regular vet, who agreed it was pancreatitis, but his intestines felt swollen, so he did an ultrasound, and said he wanted to rule out FIP (my cats started as feral kittens). That had me extremely worried, because the thing last I knew, there was no cure for FIP, and in addition I have another cat and it's contagious.
Paddy is a fairly large framed cat, but he was in the 8 lb range at VCA and down to 6 something at his regular vet.
The vet told me they now have a cure for FIP, but it isn't licensed in the US yet. It is licensed in the UK. Remdesivir, which works for Covid in humans, which is a coronavirus, also works for FIP in cats, which is also a coronavirus. He said he is unable to prescribe it because it isn't licensed yet, but there is a way to get it online, which he explained. He said he was highly skeptical at first, but he checked it out. He said one of his clients had got it for her cat and it had amazing results in just days, and in the end the cat was cured. He seemed very happy to be able to tell me there is finally a treatment for this, after he's faced it in patients all these years. Treatment is 84 days. [EDIT TO ADD: a related drug GS441524 can be obtained in the US]
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37439383/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6435921/
So he asked if he should do an FIP test, and I said yes. Then I left, prepared to get Remdesivir for Paddy if the test came back positive. Fortunately for Paddy, Libby, and my checkbook, it came back negative.
So now Paddy is on Reglan for the pancreatitis, and he's eating better and it's helping the diarrhea, and he looks better. You can tell when it wears off, by his face and posture. He's OK with being poked, but does not like the squirt when he gets his injection, but I hope he'll learn to associate it with feeling better.