Expert: Jessica - 8/12/2010

Question
hi Jessica,
I recently have taken my 3 yr old cat to the vet with eye problems and weakness and head tilting on the left side. Her appetite is fantastic and shes still using the litter box. The vet put her on Clindamyacin while waiting for the results of her blood panel to come back. She is responding well to it and showing slight signs of improvement. Do you have any experience with Fip cats responding to clindamyacin? I've been reading as much as I can and I dont seem to be able to find that medicine as a treatment for Fip. I know there is no treatment but prednisone seems to be the most common approach. My vet seemed almost certain it's fip. Should I get a second opinion? Thank you Jessica. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi Kelli,

Sorry to hear about your kitty!

This isn't to say it can't happen, but none of my FIP cats have responded to clindamycin.  Prednisone seems to be the only thing that has made them feel any better.  

Clindamycin isn't a typical treatment for FIP.  Many vets will treat suspected FIP patients with a broader-spectrum antibiotic, usually Clavamox or Zeniquin, which treat a wider range of infections.  This is because FIP patients tend to have low white blood cell counts and can suffer secondary bacterial infections.  

Clindamycin is often prescribed to treat invasive infections of the skin and mouth and also an infection called toxoplasmosis.  This protozoan germ can cause many of the neurological symptoms that FIP can, including eye problems and a head tilt.  

When you see a dramatic improvement of symptoms in response to clindamycin, this may be a strong indication that the cat’s symptoms are being caused by toxoplasmosis and not FIP.  Clindamycin does cure toxoplasmosis.  If the cat only mildly improves, it may be because the clindamycin addressed some secondary infection the kitty had.  This will provide some relief, but the cat will still be battling the FIP.  

I think that your vet has probably treated the situation appropriately for a kitty with symptoms of an infectious neurological disease for now, by placing the cat on clindamycin to see if she will be cured.  If the clindamycin doesn’t cure her, this would seem to rule out toxoplasmosis as the culprit, and would suggest that she does have FIP.  At that point, talk to your vet about placing her on prednisone to help her feel better and a prophylactic antibiotic to help prevent infection.  If you prefer, you could certainly do a battery of tests and even be referred to a neurologist, but most vets find these tests don’t result in any answers in these particular cases, and they’re a great expense.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed that she continues to respond to the clindamycin!

Best wishes!

Jessica