Providing hope and a ‘lifesaving’ medication for patients afflicted with feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is the driving force behind an ongoing collaboration.
Austin Pets Alive! (APA!), a nonprofit organization that has treated more than 250 FIP-infected cats since 2019, has been working with the University of Florida (UF) Shelter Medicine program to conduct further research on an innovative treatment for the disease. Particularly, the collaborators have been investigating the response of FIP treatment to shelter cats with and without feline leukemia virus (FeLV) co-infection. FeLV cats were previously considered untreatable for FIP.
The UF Shelter Medicine and APA! report 75 percent of the shelter cats in their program have survived the six-month treatment and observation period.
“Our mission has always been to save as many lives as possible, especially the most vulnerable populations of pets,” says Alexis Bardzinski DVM, medical director at Austin Pets Alive!. “This breakthrough treatment is a testament to the power of collaboration and innovation in the field of animal welfare.”
Until recently, there were no viable or publicly available treatments for the disease, which commonly affects cats younger than three years. The compounded medication, GS-441524, is available in a quad-scored, 50-mg tuna-flavored tablet, with dosages that address FIP diagnoses, including:
- With effusions but without any ocular or neurological involvement (wet FIP)
- No effusion and without ocular or neurological signs (dry FIP)
- With ocular signs (no neurological involvement)
- With neurological signs
Prior to the availability of this medication, U.S. veterinarians did not have access to oral FIP treatment and resorted to treat the virus with prednisolone, interferon, and polyprenyl immunostimulant.