Lilah's Lifesaving FIP Journey
Donation protected
Hello everyone,
Thank you so much for taking the time to read about Lilah.
Blue Eyed Girl
Lilah came into our lives in September 2019, when we adopted her from the Pussy Cat Lodge Trust as an 8 week old ball of cream loveliness. We were a little bit concerned at first as we have two other cats, one of whom was an older, very lively kitten (read complete monkey!) We were sure she would fit in to our home well, but you can never truly tell.
We needn’t have worried, she was a cheeky confident girl and settled beautifully. It quickly became obvious that she was meant to be with us.
9 months later, just a few days after her first birthday, our darling girl seemed to have developed breathing issues overnight.
After taking her to the vets things escalated quickly and before we knew it we had gone from suspected foreign body ingestion to a ruptured diaphragm, and then days later cancer, and finally to her diagnosis of FIP, and in Lilah’s case a very speedily progressing Wet FIP.
Within 5 days and 4 nights at the vets, Lilah’s lungs were drained 4 times of fluid which was putting her into respiratory distress. She was put on oxygen to help her breathe for the final two nights and she developed a wobble as the virus started progressing to its neurological form.
FIP - A cruel and Incurable virus
For those who have never come across FIP before, it was the worst possible outcome for us.
· FIP has no recognised vaccine;
· FIP has no reliable test;
· FIP has no cure; and
· Wet FIP develops at such a rate that the survival period is a couple of days to a few weeks.
Bringing our girl home
The thought of Lilah dying in ICU didn’t feel right and as we were assessing our options, and as our hearts were breaking, we came across a support group called FIP Warriors. This amazing group of people very quickly (within hours) assessed Lilah’s case and very thoroughly informed us of a currently unregulated drug which has had much success in cases of FIP. Not only did they give us all of the information we needed to assess whether we felt safe trying it, but they also miraculously found us another generous cat owner, with a huge heart, who is using it and who was willing to donate the precious drug to us to help us to try and save Lilah’s life.
The veterinary hospital were unable to give Lilah the drug as it’s unlicensed and so we had to make the tough decision to stabilise her and bring her home against their wishes. Either to die peacefully at home, or to start fighting the virus with the aid of the drug.
Lilah’s treatment
The overnight stays in the emergency veterinary hospital, the multiple tests, cultures, second opinions, lung drains etc ended up at a crippling figure of nearly £7,000. On top of this, in order to give Lilah the trial medicine to hopefully cure her from FIP, the drug is around £100 per vial, with each vial lasting 3 days (providing none leaks!) and the length of her treatment being 84 days.
To say that the finances have not been on our mind would be a lie, the sheer cost is overwhelming. However nothing would prevent us from giving Lilah every chance possible at surviving, and every chance possible of us having our darling girl with us, healthy and happy for many years to come.
Each injection we administer to Lilah (ourselves) builds our hope that we may get another day with her. Watching her eat her food, or walk up the stairs is so gratifying and we long for the day where we can look at her without worrying we’re going to lose her any precious second.
Any funds we raise will help us to continue Lilah’s treatment along with ensuring that we can raise awareness of this heartbreaking virus.
Our mission is to ensure we work with our local vet, local charities and within social media to make sure that other cat owners are aware of the options out there, rather than just palliative care or euthanasia. What we have found so far is that most vets have either not worked with FIP at all as it is rare, or have no knowledge of any potential treatment. We have been lucky that our vet has had experience, and is supporting us and Lilah in any way she can.
Lilah is the sweetest little soul we’ve ever met. Every time we contemplate losing her it takes our breath away. We adore her, and she absolutely adores us, despite the painful injections we give her every day. She is just so forgiving, and loving, and strong, she’s so bloody strong.
If you cannot donate then we would please ask that you keep Lilah and her success with this drug in your heart and prayers which means just as much to us.
We have set Lilah up an instagram account as she already has lots of lovely supporters and the Pussy Cat Lodge Trust in particular, have been an excellent pillar of support for our family. If you would like to follow our darling’s progress we are now logging this on Instagram @darling_lilah_xx
Thank you so much for any donation, no matter how small it may seem, it really means everything to us.
To help with our mission in raising awareness please also share this with your friends and timelines if you can.
Thank you, thank you and blessings to all of you.
Love
Amy-Louise, Bobby, Henry, Minnie, Oscar and of course our darling Lilah x
Thank you so much for taking the time to read about Lilah.
Blue Eyed Girl
Lilah came into our lives in September 2019, when we adopted her from the Pussy Cat Lodge Trust as an 8 week old ball of cream loveliness. We were a little bit concerned at first as we have two other cats, one of whom was an older, very lively kitten (read complete monkey!) We were sure she would fit in to our home well, but you can never truly tell.
We needn’t have worried, she was a cheeky confident girl and settled beautifully. It quickly became obvious that she was meant to be with us.
9 months later, just a few days after her first birthday, our darling girl seemed to have developed breathing issues overnight.
After taking her to the vets things escalated quickly and before we knew it we had gone from suspected foreign body ingestion to a ruptured diaphragm, and then days later cancer, and finally to her diagnosis of FIP, and in Lilah’s case a very speedily progressing Wet FIP.
Within 5 days and 4 nights at the vets, Lilah’s lungs were drained 4 times of fluid which was putting her into respiratory distress. She was put on oxygen to help her breathe for the final two nights and she developed a wobble as the virus started progressing to its neurological form.
FIP - A cruel and Incurable virus
For those who have never come across FIP before, it was the worst possible outcome for us.
· FIP has no recognised vaccine;
· FIP has no reliable test;
· FIP has no cure; and
· Wet FIP develops at such a rate that the survival period is a couple of days to a few weeks.
Bringing our girl home
The thought of Lilah dying in ICU didn’t feel right and as we were assessing our options, and as our hearts were breaking, we came across a support group called FIP Warriors. This amazing group of people very quickly (within hours) assessed Lilah’s case and very thoroughly informed us of a currently unregulated drug which has had much success in cases of FIP. Not only did they give us all of the information we needed to assess whether we felt safe trying it, but they also miraculously found us another generous cat owner, with a huge heart, who is using it and who was willing to donate the precious drug to us to help us to try and save Lilah’s life.
The veterinary hospital were unable to give Lilah the drug as it’s unlicensed and so we had to make the tough decision to stabilise her and bring her home against their wishes. Either to die peacefully at home, or to start fighting the virus with the aid of the drug.
Lilah’s treatment
The overnight stays in the emergency veterinary hospital, the multiple tests, cultures, second opinions, lung drains etc ended up at a crippling figure of nearly £7,000. On top of this, in order to give Lilah the trial medicine to hopefully cure her from FIP, the drug is around £100 per vial, with each vial lasting 3 days (providing none leaks!) and the length of her treatment being 84 days.
To say that the finances have not been on our mind would be a lie, the sheer cost is overwhelming. However nothing would prevent us from giving Lilah every chance possible at surviving, and every chance possible of us having our darling girl with us, healthy and happy for many years to come.
Each injection we administer to Lilah (ourselves) builds our hope that we may get another day with her. Watching her eat her food, or walk up the stairs is so gratifying and we long for the day where we can look at her without worrying we’re going to lose her any precious second.
Any funds we raise will help us to continue Lilah’s treatment along with ensuring that we can raise awareness of this heartbreaking virus.
Our mission is to ensure we work with our local vet, local charities and within social media to make sure that other cat owners are aware of the options out there, rather than just palliative care or euthanasia. What we have found so far is that most vets have either not worked with FIP at all as it is rare, or have no knowledge of any potential treatment. We have been lucky that our vet has had experience, and is supporting us and Lilah in any way she can.
Lilah is the sweetest little soul we’ve ever met. Every time we contemplate losing her it takes our breath away. We adore her, and she absolutely adores us, despite the painful injections we give her every day. She is just so forgiving, and loving, and strong, she’s so bloody strong.
If you cannot donate then we would please ask that you keep Lilah and her success with this drug in your heart and prayers which means just as much to us.
We have set Lilah up an instagram account as she already has lots of lovely supporters and the Pussy Cat Lodge Trust in particular, have been an excellent pillar of support for our family. If you would like to follow our darling’s progress we are now logging this on Instagram @darling_lilah_xx
Thank you so much for any donation, no matter how small it may seem, it really means everything to us.
To help with our mission in raising awareness please also share this with your friends and timelines if you can.
Thank you, thank you and blessings to all of you.
Love
Amy-Louise, Bobby, Henry, Minnie, Oscar and of course our darling Lilah x
Organiser
Amy-Louise Budd
Organiser
