FIP New Drug Trial Update: Four Weeks and Thriving (2017)

I can't believe I'm writing an update nearly four weeks from the first day we attended the UC Davis FIP drug trial! Luna acts like a normal kitten, finally living up to her breed's antics! Our little trailblazer is wilder and crazier than ever.

Luna is a busy girl; mischievous, fast, flippy/floppy, sneaky, and even a tad destructive--in a good way. She's also very loving and enjoys cuddling. However, Luna has a built-in alarm clock at 6:00 a.m. There's no sleeping in--ever. She will go and get her little mouse and drop it on our faces. That's a clue it's time to play "go fetch."

She takes her daily injections like a boss (sometimes she nips at me and tells me off), but she's a super trooper. The rectal temps are the most significant challenge, and Dr. Pedersen has us doing them every 3-4 days. Eight more weeks to go with the injections; we're 1/3 of the way home. Luna's temperature has remained stable; she is up to 4 1/2 lbs at 19 weeks.

The optimism is hard to contain, but I'm a realist and know we're simply a trial, not a treatment or cure--at least not yet! I keep asking myself how she is still with us. Not just alive and holding her own but thriving and with no sign of this dreadful disease. I call it "Dr. P.'s Vet-ical Miracle ."