My Pet World: Research may soon lead to treatment for cats with FIP

Susan Gingrich is upbeat about the most devastating illness in cats, feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). Gingrich established the Bria Fund with the Winn Feline Foundation 10 years ago after her little Birman, Bria, succumbed to the fatal disease.

"We felt helpless. I just wanted to do something, to find a way to support cat owners who are at a loss about what to do when their kittens are diagnosed, and to support research," Gingrich recalls.

With initial "seed funding" from her brother, Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, she created the Bria Fund through the non-profit Winn Feline Foundation, which funds cat health studies. Supporters from around the globe have raised nearly $350,000.

FIP, which occurs most often in kittens, is a caused by a mutation of the otherwise benign corona virus. The virus can make cats feel lousy and cause tummy upset and/or a slight fever, but usually dissipates quickly, even without veterinary intervention. However, sometimes, for reasons still unknown, the benign virus transforms inside the cat into the fatal immune-mediated disease called FIP.

"No question, the Bria Fund is quite remarkable," says Dr. Vicki Thayer, executive director of the Winn Feline Foundation. "Susan has created distinct channels for cat owners around the world to get information and support, and she's mobilized efforts to raise money for research."

"Those of us who've had cats who died of FIP have become a kind of online family," says Gingrich, a retired nurse from Loudon, TN. "The emotional toll of seeing what happens to these kittens is heartbreaking."

Once thought rare, FIP turns out to be somewhat common. According to Dr. Niels Pedersen, professor emeritus at the University of California-Davis Veterinary School, cats under about 3 years old (particularly kittens) have anywhere from a 1-in-100 to 1-in-300 chance of developing FIP. While that may sound insignificant, about a million cats die annually of FIP.

Over the years, Winn Feline Foundation has funded the work of Pedersen, a legend in veterinary medicine, more than any other FIP researcher. Dr. Diane Addie, another researcher, says via email from her home in France, "My own work on FIP brought me into his (Pedersen's) sphere and he gallantly and generously invited this unknown upstart from Scotland to participate in the first ever FIP symposium hosted at UCD."

Pedersen has called Addie a "very stubborn lady," for her steadfast belief about how the disease is formed in cats. Recent studies by researchers at the Cornell Feline Health Center, supported by the Bria Fund, demonstrate that Pedersen was correct all along.

"It's a huge advance to recognize how FIP targets cells," Thayer adds.

It's hardly a stretch to argue that more discoveries about FIP have been made in the past 10 years than in all the previous decades since the disease was first recognized in the early 1960s.

"I thank the Winn Foundation for funding two of my studies and an FIP conference, and for making a difference for all cats," says Addie.

There's no doubt that Gingrich, the Bria Fund and its army of online followers have changed the course of FIP research. To start with, today there's simply a better understanding of the disease, which makes diagnosis more accurate. Still, Gingrich says, too many cats continue to be misdiagnosed.

Thus far, there is no 'magic pill' for FIP. The laundry list of failed medications range from human cancer drugs to -- according to a blogger in New Zealand -- chicken soup.

There are two types of FIP, one called the "wet," or effusive form, and another called the "dry," or non-effusive form. It turns out that a drug with study support from the Bria Fund -- Polyprenyl Immunostimulant -- might help some cats with the dry form extend their lives. However, like all drugs for FIP, the verdict remains unclear. The same can be said for a drug called feline interferon omega, which Addie supports, although this medication is expensive and hard to get in the U.S.

Now that FIP is better understood, the hope is a sure-fire drug therapy will eventually be discovered.

Pedersen may be the closest to finding the solution to FIP. He says increased interest in the human Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) might help stir interest, since the two illnesses have corona viruses in common. It's even possible Pedersen's work may pave the way to helping people with SARS or MERS.

Pedersen is hopeful about an antiviral class of drugs called protease inhibitors, the same class of drugs widely used to treat HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C virus in humans.

"Ten years ago, when I began the Bria Fund, I had little real hope we'd find a treatment for FIP in my lifetime," say Gingrich. Today, I'm filled with hope. If by some miracle every cat owner just gave $10, a treatment would come along faster. I think we will do it!"

Learn more at www.winnfelinefoundation.org.

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