Feline Infectious Peritonitis

Feline coronavirus (FCoV) infection is common in domestic cat populations worldwide, with antibodies present in 80-90% of cats in catteries and in 10-50% of cats in single-cat households. Most infections are subclinical or manifested by a mild, self-limiting gastroenteritis that usually produces diarrhea.

In a small number of cases, FCoV infection can lead to the development of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a pyogranulomatous vasculitis.

At this time, FIP is one of the leading infectious causes of death among the cat population worldwide.

FIP is a major challenge to every veterinarian, mainly because it can be very difficult to diagnose, almost impossible to prevent and almost always fatal within a short period of time.

This review article provides practical, current information about pathogenesis, clinical symptoms, diagnostics, treatment and prevention of FIP and will therefore be very useful for every small animal practitioner.

This review article also includes a downloadable diagnostic flowchart!

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Etiopathogenesis
• Clinical signs
• Diagnostic tests
  • Physical examination
  • Haematology & biochemistry
  • Effusion fluid examination
  • Diagnostic imaging
  • Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination
  • Measurement of antibodies
  • FCoV reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)
  • Immunostaining of FCoV antigen in macrophages
  • Histopathology
• Disease management
• Prognosis
• Prevention and control
• Conclusion
• References