I just took a cat from a lady who was too poor to get the cat help. She is only 3 lbs and is supposed to be @ 4 months old and you can see every bone in her body. I immediately took her to my vet. He has made up his mind that she has FIP. I made him X-ray her to ensure she was not pregnant ( I am skeptical about the diagnosis) and he saw a fecal mass in her intestine. He gave me antibiotics, dewormed her and sent me home with her. She strained for like 5 minutes in the litterbox with no result. She has not defecated in over 48 hours, so I took her back today and asked them to clear her colon by whatever means. Am I crazy to not take his advise about her being an FIP cat? The x-rays showed a massive amount to gas buildup and he got virtually no liquid when sticking a needle in her belly. She is also Felv. FIV negative. How much pressure should I put on my Vet to get rid of the mass in her colon? I do have quite a number of cats and they have not had contact with her. I do understand how devastating FIP can be here in the south especially because I have numerous friends who are rescuers and have had FIP go through their houses. Any help or support would be greatly appreciated.:)

Are you able to try another vet and see what they say? Maybe this site will help answers your question or confirm what your vet has told you.http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/fip.html I hope everything turns out OK for you and your cats. I wish I could be more help, but the only thing I can really offer is sympathy.

Thanks so much for the sympathy. It really is all I needed. I trust my vet, but he does more dogs than cats, so I have to challenge him on this one. I really have to just wait until the blockage is corrected before I make my decision on what is best for little kitty and my household. If the belly resolves then I was correct. If not then I was wrong and I hate making the decision to euthanize. It is never fun, but at least little kitty gets special pampering while I have her.

Hey just an update... Called my vet @3:30pm this afternoon and he is actually stumped LOL! They did a few enemas and finally got the cat to start using the potty. Now he is puzzled as to why she has so much gas in her belly not fluid. He kept her overnight to see how she does, so there may be hope yet for the cat they are calling Banana.