Expert: Charlotte Sherrell, DVM - 7/13/2008

Question
My friends twelve year old cat has F.I.B feline infectiuos peretinious and will be pts today. Qu1 How long will it take her fourteen year old cat to show the diesease?  Qu2 She has been visiting a puppy which she is collecting on friday, This is a diesease carried on clothes so the puppy will now be a carrier?  She has been told she can't have the puppy? Is this true?  Thanks in advance for you comments my friend is too distraut to contact you Sue

Answer
Sue -

There is a possibility that the fourteen year old cat may not have contracted the disease at all. The etiology of FIP is quite complicated and the likelihood that the older cat has FIP is slim, but that would depend on her exposure when she was younger.   Since I do not know the symptoms of your friends' cat, it's hard for me to say what was going on with since definitive diagnosis of FIP can be difficult.  However,  it is likely that a fourteen year old cat should have already shown signs of the disease if she is affected by it.

There is no reason for your friend not to be able to have the puppy - he cannot carry FIP. FIP is not transmitted on clothes, it is shed on feces and oronasal secretions.

Best Regards,

Charlotte Sherrell, DVM