Close Contact Between Cats Is Very Important For Transmission Of The Disease.
Fip is caused by a mutant form of a nearly ubiquitous pathogen called the feline coronavirus. No one knows exactly why some cats develop the mutation and others do not. However in the vast majority of cats the virus does not cause disease at all.
When A Cat Gets Fip It Is Progressive And Almost Always Fatal.
The only clear feature of this disease is that it affects cats. We can also just keep up good hygiene. The mutation allows the otherwise insignificant virus to enter to escape the gastrointestinal tract lining by entering the gut macrophage cells (an immune system cell) and hitching a ride to other parts.
Although The I In Fip Stands For Infectious, The Syndrome Usually Does Not Spread From One Cat To Another.
Fip is caused by specific mutations of feline coronavirus. The coronavirus that causes fip is extremely contagious and in fact just about all cats that are or have been in multicat households, including breeding catteries and shelters, have serological evidence that they have been exposed to the virus. My experience tells me unrelated adult cats rarely pass the fatal form of the virus between each other.
Although Fip Is Not Highly Contagious, Infected Cats Can Transmit The Virus Through Body Fluids (Respiratory And Oral Secretions) And Feces.
It is a contagious virus, with the majority of its cases observed in multifeline households, catteries, and shelters. As a precaution, many veterinarians recommend that you wait about a month after an infected cat dies before introducing a new cat into the house, to minimize the chance of exposure to the virus. How does a cat catch fcov?
Feline Infectious Peritonitis Is Caused By A Coronavirus That Is Unique To Cats—It Is Not Contagious To People, Dogs, Or Other Species Of Animal.
It’s spread through contact with feces in most cases, as infected cats shed the virus into litter boxes. The feline coronavirus affects cats and is not contagious to humans. Feline infectious peritonitis (fip) is a viral disease caused by a feline coronavirus that affects wild and domestic cats.
