# My poor little Finley :(



## Jamm (Mar 28, 2010)

My thoughts are with you and Finley  I hope everything is okay!


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

I'm so sorry to hear this!! 

Remember, there are compounding pharmacies that can make transdermal medications that can be rubbed on the inside of the ear. There are also liquids, which can be easier than pills. Make sure your vet pursues these avenues. You don't have to pill your cat any longer!!

I hope that the bloodwork shows something that is treatable and will provide a good prognosis. I hate the waiting. Please keep us updated.


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## Lego&Jacub (Jul 18, 2006)

I will keep my fingers crossed that it's something easily treatable!!! 

He's beautiful btw!


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## Taz Monkey (Feb 25, 2007)

My favorite kind of cat, and even though I have 10, I don't have one! If you have to give him pills, Pill Pockets are wonderful. I have 2 cats on daily medication and they weave around my legs, meowing for their "treat" when it's pill time.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

I have always wanted a ragdoll, they just seem like the golden retrievers of the cat species!

So sorry - there are many dogs and cats that have had heart problems managed for years. I hope you too are able to do that.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

I'm so sorry-fingers crossed for Finley. He is a beautiful boy!


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## Lennap (Jul 9, 2010)

My prayers can be counted on as well. Please let us know what the vet says about the blood results.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Oh I love ragdolls...so sorry to hear your little guy is sick. I'm hoping he's feeling better and it's easy to treat. He looks so handsome. Ranger and I are sending good luck your way!!


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## Sophie_Mom (Jan 21, 2009)

*My poor little Finley  Update*

Good news / bad news.... The good news is that all of Finley's bloodwork came back good and healthy. The bad news is that means they don't know what's wrong with him. I'm taking him in this afternoon for a chest xray to let them get a better picture of his heart. Hopefully, they are able to determine something and let us know if/how we can manage it.


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## amy22 (May 11, 2008)

Sending prayers and hugs, Ihope they find out that this is something treatable (and not with pills)


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## C's Mom (Dec 7, 2009)

Keeping our fingers and paws crossed for Finley.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Finley*

You and Finley are in my prayers.


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## Sophie_Mom (Jan 21, 2009)

amy22 said:


> Sending prayers and hugs, Ihope they find out that this is something treatable (and not with pills)


Knowing my luck, it will be pills! We always joked and said that we'd rather put a cat to sleep than have to pill one every day. Now that we are faced with that being a possible reality, I think we've changed our minds on that one.

Thanks all for your good thoughts and prayers.


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

Good thoughts coming Finley's way!

I can totally understand about the pilling. I actually just got a hilarious email today about pilling a cat. Have you seen it? I'll see if I can post it later.


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## West (Jul 9, 2010)

I hope the little guy turns out to be OK. In case you have to pill him, I know it's hard but it's not impossible. 
I wish you and Finley the best of lucks with the X-ray. Hope that heart is healthy!
Ragdolls are the best and Finley is really handsome.


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## janine (Aug 8, 2009)

Thinking about Finley and sending good thoughts. I hope the vets gives you good news.


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## Sophie_Mom (Jan 21, 2009)

It was bad news -- Really, really bad news. I think I'm still in shock. Finley has FIP, which means nearly a 100% chance that Cooper (my other ragdoll boy) will have it as well. They have the same father (it's carried on the paternal gene) and they have lived together since they were born. FIP is always fatal, and I'm most likely looking at less than a month or two for them. There isn't a cure. I'm heartbroken. I'm trying to contact their breeder. I checked the contract, and if they develop FIP by one year of age, there is a refund of the purchase price. My boys turned 2 in March.

It is not transmittable to people or to dogs - But the loss of both of my cats will be heartbreaking.


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## NuttinButGoldens (Jan 10, 2009)

Oh, dear. I'm so so sorry to hear that


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## brandiwine (Nov 28, 2009)

Oh no! So sorry to hear that. Sending prayers your way.


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## Abbydabbydo (Jan 31, 2007)

So sorry for the awful news.


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## amy22 (May 11, 2008)

Oh no, I am so so sorry.....my heart is breaking for you.


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

I'm so sorry


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Oh I am sooo sorry for you and your precious kitties. I'm sure you're giving them big hugs and kisses...please give them one from me too.


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## Sophie_Mom (Jan 21, 2009)

Thanks everyone for your good thoughts and wishes.


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## West (Jul 9, 2010)

Oh, no! So sorry to hear that 
But keep your hopes up for Cooper, he may not be infected. I've seen cases of cat siblings that live together and only one develops the condition.
I'm extremely sorry, FIP is a horrible disease and there's no cure. However, some cats may have an overlife of up to two years if they develop the "dry" version of the disease. Give him tons of love. And a big hug for you.


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## Sophie_Mom (Jan 21, 2009)

West said:


> Oh, no! So sorry to hear that
> But keep your hopes up for Cooper, he may not be infected. I've seen cases of cat siblings that live together and only one develops the condition.
> I'm extremely sorry, FIP is a horrible disease and there's no cure. However, some cats may have an overlife of up to two years if they develop the "dry" version of the disease. Give him tons of love. And a big hug for you.


 
Thanks, West - My husband and I have been doing tons of reading tonight and we definitely have high hopes for Cooper. Not only that, but we really believe that she may have jumped the gun on diagnosing Finley. We've compared his blood work to many, many records online and not only are his tests not similar, they actually are quite opposite (white blood cells, protein, hemoglobin, etc.). There is no way for her to definitively diagnose this condition. He does test positive for the antibodies, but that would be true for most cats if he was simply exposed to the virus that can mutate into FIP. Anyway, we are very hopeful for Cooper and even hopeful for Finley. Something is wrong with him, but we are simply not convinced that it is FIP. Thanks again for your good thoughts~


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

Sending good thoughts... I hope it's not FIP..


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

We will keep good thoughts for both kitties. Can you get a second opinion for Finley? I think I would if it was me. Especially since it is something that could be something that Cooper could get. Give both guys kisses from me, I love ragdolls. My 15 yr old kitty Samantha is laying next to me and says your boys are goodlooking. MEOW MEOW!!!


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## West (Jul 9, 2010)

Sophie_Mom said:


> Thanks, West - My husband and I have been doing tons of reading tonight and we definitely have high hopes for Cooper. Not only that, but we really believe that she may have jumped the gun on diagnosing Finley. We've compared his blood work to many, many records online and not only are his tests not similar, they actually are quite opposite (white blood cells, protein, hemoglobin, etc.). There is no way for her to definitively diagnose this condition. He does test positive for the antibodies, but that would be true for most cats if he was simply exposed to the virus that can mutate into FIP. Anyway, we are very hopeful for Cooper and even hopeful for Finley. Something is wrong with him, but we are simply not convinced that it is FIP. Thanks again for your good thoughts~


The only accurate way I know of diagnosing FIP is by -I'm not quite sure of how to explain it in English- taking a sample of the liquid that may be in his toraxic area if it's the "wet" version of the disease by putting a needle in his chest and sucking with a syringe and then having it analysed. It's a very invasive way and your vet may refuse to do it as it's often unnecessary. What I'm trying to say is that it can be misdiagnosed easily. The FIP test is not completely reliable. Get a second opinion, re-do the blood tests if necessary and keep a close eye on all his symptoms. 
I don't want to give you false hopes, but I think this really calls for a second opinion.


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## Sophie_Mom (Jan 21, 2009)

Thanks for your insight, West. That information is very similar to what we have been reading. Besides testing positive for the antibodies, he really has no symptoms of FIP. His coat is beautiful and well-groomed, he doesn't and hasn't had a fever, the rest of his bloodwork is quite normal. I'd be much more inclined to believe he has HCM, which was originally what the vet had suspected. HCM isn't good, but at least it's manageable for potentially many years.

In looking for a new vet this week, I had narrowed my choices down to two. Until I decided, I was going to take the cats to this one (based on a friend's referral), and the dogs to the one that I felt more confident about until I could decide which one I felt more comfortable with. I had a very lengthy informative conversation with the dogs' vet. Regardless, I think that decision has been made! Sophie is going to the other vet on Monday for her annual wellness check, and I'm going to take Finley's bloodwork in to see if they'll take a look at it for a second opinion. Additionally, the vet that we saw yesterday had put a call into her "cat expert" and was going to let me know what she learned from them regarding Finley. I'm having reallllllly bad luck with vets lately! Though, at this point, I'd much rather have her be wrong about this than right!


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## Sophie_Mom (Jan 21, 2009)

BeauShel said:


> We will keep good thoughts for both kitties. Can you get a second opinion for Finley? I think I would if it was me. Especially since it is something that could be something that Cooper could get. Give both guys kisses from me, I love ragdolls. My 15 yr old kitty Samantha is laying next to me and says your boys are goodlooking. MEOW MEOW!!!


My boys say thanks very much!


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*SophieMom*

SophieMom

I will be praying for good news at next vet for Finley and Cooper.


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## Sophie_Mom (Jan 21, 2009)

The vet just called - She talked to her "cat expert." She is now agreeing that there is no reason to believe that Cooper definitely has it as well, or that he will get it. She encouraged putting him on antioxidants to help him fight anything off. She's also being very vague about Finley. She thinks he may have it, but thinks it may be something else too. She wants me to bring him in to have xrays done to go back to looking at his heart, which was originally what we were going to do. Yesterday, she had told me that there was no point to doing the xrays for his heart because he was going to die anyway. 

My husband is FURIOUS with this vet because of the way this was handled. She basically said, "This cat is going to die, and even though I've never seen your other cat, he's going to die too." He doesn't want me taking Finley back to her again. NOW she is going to say maybe he has it, maybe he doesn't? He thinks that should have been her approach yesterday before she sent me home crying with the doomed news. He wants me to take Finley to the new vet that we'll be taking the dogs to. I feel like I'm burning vet bridges all over town!


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Aw, that's brutal. Vets should have to learn to talk to people. When we took our old poor border collie in to be put to sleep (after waking up to him crying and unable to walk at all), the vet was looking at him and going on about how sometimes you can do therapy and get the wheels and the dogs can still live a normal life blah blah blah. Keep in mind, she's telling us this as we're standing there with an incredibly upset dog because his legs aren't working, PLUS he's at the vets which he always hated and my dad and I were so upset since last night Jake had been fine...anyway, she's telling us this and we're both starting to think "gee, maybe we don't have to put him down...". My dad asks if there's anything we can do for Jake and the vet says, "No, he's too old and weak." ***? I don't think I've ever been madder. Why even bother telling us then?? Especially while our dog IS SO upset?? I don't take Ranger there anymore.

I agree with burning that vet bridge. Take your other kitty to the new vet and I'll keep my fingers crossed!


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## West (Jul 9, 2010)

That vet has really handled things wrongly. With something as serious as FIP you can't jump to conclusions and break people's hearts (or even convince them to put their cats to sleep) if you aren't 100% sure. You may mention there's a chance, but not more than that.

Go to the other vet or try to get a real feline expert. If it's his heart, it's usually manageable with meds and he'll get to live an almost normal life. And it can even be something less serious, if you say that his coat is fine and his bloodwork is quite normal.
Keep your hopes up and look for another vet. Cooper has no symptoms whatsoever, right?


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## NuttinButGoldens (Jan 10, 2009)

If you are not comfortable with the Vet, change. Don't feel bad about it.



Sophie_Mom said:


> The vet just called - She talked to her "cat expert." She is now agreeing that there is no reason to believe that Cooper definitely has it as well, or that he will get it. She encouraged putting him on antioxidants to help him fight anything off. She's also being very vague about Finley. She thinks he may have it, but thinks it may be something else too. She wants me to bring him in to have xrays done to go back to looking at his heart, which was originally what we were going to do. Yesterday, she had told me that there was no point to doing the xrays for his heart because he was going to die anyway.
> 
> My husband is FURIOUS with this vet because of the way this was handled. She basically said, "This cat is going to die, and even though I've never seen your other cat, he's going to die too." He doesn't want me taking Finley back to her again. NOW she is going to say maybe he has it, maybe he doesn't? He thinks that should have been her approach yesterday before she sent me home crying with the doomed news. He wants me to take Finley to the new vet that we'll be taking the dogs to. I feel like I'm burning vet bridges all over town!


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## Sophie_Mom (Jan 21, 2009)

West said:


> That vet has really handled things wrongly. With something as serious as FIP you can't jump to conclusions and break people's hearts (or even convince them to put their cats to sleep) if you aren't 100% sure. You may mention there's a chance, but not more than that.
> 
> Go to the other vet or try to get a real feline expert. If it's his heart, it's usually manageable with meds and he'll get to live an almost normal life. And it can even be something less serious, if you say that his coat is fine and his bloodwork is quite normal.
> Keep your hopes up and look for another vet. Cooper has no symptoms whatsoever, right?


I keep going over the conversation in my head from yesterday - I can't believe the "doom and gloom" she delivered to me on a hunch. Basically, she told me that he has FIP because he had a positive titer, which from what I've read means virtually nothing. His coat is beautiful, shiny, soft and all of his regular bloodwork came back perfectly normal. I'm going to take him to the other vet next week. 

Cooper doesn't show any symptoms whatsoever. He's playful, fat, beautiful and happy. He is your typical ragdoll boy. Besides Finley being skinny (though he has gained half a pound this week) and on the lethargic side, he doesn't show any symptoms either. 

I think this vet jumped WAY TOO FAST with a very scary diagnosis. I so much appreciate all of your kind thoughts, words, and advice. Keep those positive thoughts coming!!!!


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

Ugh, I'm so sorry you're going through this and from what I read last night on this (doing research for you, but obviously you did your own ) I agree, it doesn't seem as easy to come to a conclusion of FIP as your vet made it sound. I'm convinced that a good bedside manner is necessary for anyone in the medical field, including vets. We changed vets because of something less important but I still felt like if I didn't feel comfortable and trust my vet, I couldn't ever trust them completely with my pets. We're now at a different vet and I love them.


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## West (Jul 9, 2010)

Sophie_Mom said:


> I keep going over the conversation in my head from yesterday - I can't believe the "doom and gloom" she delivered to me on a hunch. Basically, she told me that he has FIP because he had a positive titer, which from what I've read means virtually nothing. His coat is beautiful, shiny, soft and all of his regular bloodwork came back perfectly normal. I'm going to take him to the other vet next week.
> 
> Cooper doesn't show any symptoms whatsoever. He's playful, fat, beautiful and happy. He is your typical ragdoll boy. Besides Finley being skinny (though he has gained half a pound this week) and on the lethargic side, he doesn't show any symptoms either.
> 
> I think this vet jumped WAY TOO FAST with a very scary diagnosis. I so much appreciate all of your kind thoughts, words, and advice. Keep those positive thoughts coming!!!!


He actually gained weight last week? Doesn't sound like FIP. Neither does the beautiful coat -cats' coats are usually one of the first signs of disease, as they get a very distinctive look. If you have the chance, take him to the other vet sooner so that you don't have to be worrying about the diagnonsense that your previous vet gave you.


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## Sophie_Mom (Jan 21, 2009)

I am taking him to the other vet on Tuesday.  You have no idea how much your advice has helped me! Thank you!!!!


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## Bogey's Mom (Dec 23, 2008)

Best of lucky to your kitty. I am so sorry to hear this news, Steph!


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## Sophie_Mom (Jan 21, 2009)

Yeah, the vet told me today that one of the best things I can do for my kitties is to try to reduce their stress. Ummm, like to have NOT gotten a puppy a week and a half ago????? Argh - the guilt!!!

I have good thoughts right now. I really don't think he has FIP. My husband has researched extensively in the past 2 days and says he is 100% positive he does not. I guess I'll know more on Tuesday!


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## Sophie_Mom (Jan 21, 2009)

We visited our brand new vet today - I realllly liked him! Sophie was given an "excellent" bill of health. I was very impressed with his bedside manner. Sophie seemed very comfortable and liked him a lot. She offered her belly up to him many times for a rub, and he obliged her every time.

I showed him the blood work that the "other" vet ran on my cat, Finley last week. He said that there was absolutely NOTHING to indicate a concern for FIP. He said there would be at least 4-5 different things he'd look for and even if 90% of them were there, he still wouldn't jump to FIP. I am, to say the least, very relieved. NONE of those panels came up abnormal for Finley.

I am taking Finley in to see this vet later this week to get an echocardiogram to see if it's cardiomyopathy - Or it could be as simple as irritable bowel disorder. Good news is that even though something is wrong with him, it's likely something that is manageable for several years. I'm so upset with everything that "other" veet told me last week. It's so irresponsible to say that both of my cats are going to die within 2 months - even though she had never even seen Cooper.

I feel better now - Thanks for all of your thoughts and support!


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## Jax's Mom (Oct 16, 2009)

I'm happy that things are looking up for your little guy. Hope more good news is to come.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Finley*

Very glad for you that the news is good for Finley!!


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

Wow, I missed the part where Finley was misdiagnosed with FIP. I honestly think that some people, vets included, need to pass a social skills class before they can graduate. I'm sorry that they made you worry and fret unnecessarily. 

I'm so happy that you've found a new vet.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

I am so glad that you took him to a new vet and got BETTER News. Once you get the right dignosis, I would take those results into the old vet's office and ask for your money back and get a book on how to talk to patients and give it to the vet. She should be ashamed of herself for scaring and breaking your hearts like that on a hunch and not getting all the information. Some vets need to be slapped up side the head and reported to the AVMA or whatever the initials are.


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## West (Jul 9, 2010)

I'm so glad you found a good vet! Keep us posted and kisses for Finley and Cooper, who are going to be alive and kicking for a lot of years!


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

CarolinaCasey said:


> ...I honestly think that some people, vets included, need to pass a social skills class before they can graduate. I'm sorry that they made you worry and fret unnecessarily...


No kidding! I agree completely!

SOO happy the news isn't as bad as first thought (or as the first vet told you...!!) Glad you found a better vet!

Care to post more pics of your kitties? They look adorable!


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## Lennap (Jul 9, 2010)

OMG I cannot believe I missed the updates on this thread. I am so sorry you've been put through this, but relieved that things may not be so dire.

Please let us know keep us apprised.


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## Sophie_Mom (Jan 21, 2009)

Her handling was only half of my problem with her - Her being completely wrong on many of the factual aspects of the disease is even more, or equally, disconcerting!


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

All the better that you've found a new veterinarian. By chance was the 'old vet' a new graduate? There are more and more people graduating from vet school as older individuals which really makes it hard to tell if they're "new" or not. Not that this is an excuse- I even know about FIP, FelV, FIV and I'm not in Vet School yet!

Let us know what happens at your next vet appointment. I'm curious to see what they do!


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Sophie Mom*

Sophie Mom

Just checking in on you and Finley.


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