Currently he has granulomas in his lungs, elevated blood proteins, elevated liver enzymes, granulomas in both eyes, and since yesterday has developed an ulcer on his right eye.  None of the tests(blood or otherwise) have come up with a cause.  Tomorrow he will have his right eye removed, as he no longer has sight and the ulcer could erupt.  They will biopsy his eye to see if they can verify a FIP diagnosis.  Without the eye removal he would need to be put down this week.  I am not ready to let him go, and inspite of his infections, he still eats, drinks, uses the litter and plays with my other cat. 

The vet assured that he will feel better with the bad eye gone.  I am hoping against hope it is not FIP and that we will grow old together. 

Deep down I know that he probably has it.  My question is... if you have had a cat with a FIP diagnosis how long did he/she live for?

I know that it is difficult to predict how long, as each cat is unique.  The vet said maybe 6 months.

I can't bare the thought of losing my little 'boy', how do you prepare yourself for something like this?

I am a new cat owner, never had pets before, and so have never lost a pet.  I lost my brother to suicide last August, and my little orange buddy was a kitten then and he got me through that rough time.  I just don't know if I can cope with losing him too.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Don't take another cat while you have this one. It's a very infectious illness.

Perhaps you can try helping in a shelter. Sometimes you can do nothing for your pet, but helping other ones that have no family can help you. It's like doing for them what you couldn't do for your cat.

www.catvirus.com

Yes I have viewed the catvirus.com site, and actually copied the list of tests that are recommended on this site and gave them to my vet.  In addition to the eye removal they will be doing a PCR test, based on the advice from this site.

Thanks again

I just hope you are wise enough to let him go  if he starts to suffer.

My cats own my house they just permit me to live there.

Only cat lovers know the luxury of fur-coated, musical hot water bottles that never go cold."
- Susanne Millen

My other kitty is a grey tabby too, I call my two boys Yin and Yang because they are so different(orange cat and grey cat).

My cats own my house they just permit me to live there.

Only cat lovers know the luxury of fur-coated, musical hot water bottles that never go cold."
- Susanne Millen