A New Idea on FIP

FIP (feline infectious peritonitis) is a horrible disease in cats.  Most cats are exposed to a simple corona-virus and recover.  Some go on to be carriers.  A few of the carriers have the virus mutate so that it becomes deadly.  This deadly form, actual FIP, comes in two forms -- wet and dry.  With wet, the internal organs turn to liquid.  With dry, organs cease to function.  The wet kills in days to weeks, the dry in weeks to months.  The prognosis is 100% fatal.

So, when I was ready in Pets at Risk by Alfred J. Pelchner, DVM with Martin Zucker, I was stunned when I came across this quote:

All the FIP cats I test have the adrenal defect and the deregulated immune systems that cannot distinguish between the virus and the host. So the immune system attacks the body as well as the virus... The antibiotics are involved for the short term, the cortisone and thyroid for the long term. Using this approach I have been able to save about 70 percent of the sick FIP cats I treat. pg. 47

Now, Pelchner is a western-medicine, UC-Davis trained vet, and not some website vet trying to sell you something.  His explanations are reasonable. While there doesn't seem to be other vets confirming this, it is something to think about since the only option offered by vets is a quick death by injection.

This is one of those disease I do dread.  There aren't many diseases or conditions that scare me, but this one does because it is considered fatal.  If he is right, there is hope.  I just wonder if it's true and how long before his methods become well known by vets.