Treatment of FIP

FIP remains a challenging disease to treat and in many cases incurable and fatal. In most cases supportive care (fluid therapy, anti-inflammatory drugs) only relieve signs for a short time.

Prevention of FIP

A commercial vaccine is available in some countries to help protect against FIP. However, this vaccine (while showing some efficacy) can only be given to kittens over 16 weeks of age. The major indication for using such a vaccine would be in breeding households, especially with a history of FIP, but by the time a kitten can be vaccinated (at 16 weeks) they would almost invariably have already been exposed to FCoV infection and so the vaccine probably has little or no value...

Hence, growing awareness of FIP among pet owners and promoting screening of FCoV became extremely important!