August 2013

24 Aug FIP and Polyprenyl immunostimulant (PI)

Based on the results that have been presented to date, we cannot recommend PI as a means to treat or prolong life in cats with any form of FIP.  

Polyprenyl immunostimulant (PI) is classed as a biologic by the USDA and is manufactured by Sass and Sass in Tennessee (http://www.sassandsass.com/).   PI has been given a conditional license by the USDA as therapeutic for “symptoms” of feline herpes virus infection.  According to the Sass and Sass website they are conducting research on its use for FIP and other diseases of companion animals.  Although not currently approved for the treatment of FIP by the USDA, it is being widely used off label for prolonging the life of cats with milder forms of FIP.  It has not shown any benefit for treating or prolonging life of cats with wet FIP or cats with severe disease signs at the onset of therapy.  Although touted on the web and by certain individuals as a way to prolong the life of cats with FIP, in particular the milder dry forms, it is important to review what is known about the efficacy of PI when used for this purpose. PI may cost over $400 a month if used on an average size cat and dosed accordingly and this expense can be magnified by associated veterinary expenses.

22 Aug Feline infectious peritonitis: Newer findings from around the world

Niels C. Pedersen,DVM, PhD; Director Center for Companion Animal Health, University of California, Davis, CA

Over 100 published articles have appeared in the world’s literature concerning FIP since my extensive review of FIP in 2009 (1). The following is a summary of significant findings from a portion of these published works.

Origin of FIPV (the FECV to FIPV mutation)

The debate over the origins of the FIP virus (FIPV) continues to some degree, but there is no doubt that FIPV arises as a mutant of the ubiquitous feline enteric coronavirus (FECV). Although FIPVs are virtually identical genetically to FECVs within the same environment (2-4), FIP causing mutations are nonetheless unique to each cat (2,3,5,16). The nature of the mutations that cause an FECV to change to an FIPV has been the topic of several recent publications. The 3c accessory gene mutations were the first to be implicated in FECV-to-FIPV conversion (reviewed 1) and these findings have been corroborated by additional studies (2,3). However, a group from the University of Utrecht, after sequencing the complete genomes of a large number of FIPVs and FECVs, found a second mutation that occurred only in FIPVs (5). This mutation consisted of one or more single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the fusion domain of the spike (S) gene that caused minor (synonymous) changes in single amino acids within this region.