Mariah is suffering

Mariah's symptoms have worsened. We picked her up at the Emergency Vet hospital this morning and her fever was back. We took her to the regular vet and he ran more blood tests. She is at home but she is unable to walk or even sit up without falling.

All the vets have said she probably has FIP--the "dry" kind--that is her belly isn't swollen. If she is that sick at least she isn't dealing with the discomfort of a belly filled with fluid. But she is suffering. If it is FIP she will not live.

Basically any infection or disease that causes neurological symptoms like this is almost always fatal according to what I am reading. There are treatments that we will discuss with the vets and then we will decide how to proceed. I have never believed in putting an animal through painful procedures if there is little hope of restoring it to complete health. The vet plainly states that FIP is fatal.

When we took her to the first vet yesterday he put the possibility that she would die right on the table. I guess it was good that I started to prepare right away.

The breeder--Missy Strayer of Woodland Bengals has been extremely supportive through this ordeal. She loves the Bengal kittens that she raises and is happy when they thrive and sad when they don't. She has generously offered to give us another kitten if Mariah doesn't survive.

This is not because Mariah was defective--the virus can mutate in any cat. There is no way to predict or prevent this from happening. The vet made it clear that it was no one's fault. She made that offer because she is kind. I believe this is breaking her heart too.

I am preparing myself for the worst. But I am still praying for her to be healed. If that is not to be, then my prayer is that Dean & I get through this.