Feline infectious peritonitis.

Feline infectious peritonitis is a noncurable viral disease affecting cats worldwide. Recent evidence suggests that the FIPV has evolved as a deletion mutation of FECV. Immune complex deposition and vasculitis with pyogranulomatous lesions are the hallmark of FIP. The only definitive antemortem diagnostic test for FIP is histopathologic examination of tissue. Ocular manifestations occur commonly with noneffusive FIP. The most common clinical sign is a bilateral granulomatous anterior uveitis often accompanied by chorioretinitis. Treatment of ocular FIP is symptomatic, and the mainstay of palliative therapy is topical or systemic corticosteroids or both.     

Feline infectious peritonitis.

The article discusses feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), an important disease frequently seen in veterinary practice. FIP causes many problems to the veterinarian as it can be difficult to definitively diagnose the disease, as there is no effective treatment, and as prophylactic interventions are not very successful. Although intense research has created a lot of new knowledge about this disease in the last years, there are still many unanswered questions. The objective of this article is to review recent knowledge and to increase understanding of the complex pathogenesis of FIP.     

Feline infectious peritonitis and its differential diagnosis

A condition comparable in all respects to feline infectious peritonitis has been recognized in England for the past year or more. The symptoms and course of the disease as it has been encountered in this country, together with the macroscopic post-mortem lesions, are described; the diagnosis and differential diagnosis are discussed. Résumé. Depuis un peu plus d'un an, on observe, en Angleterre, une condition comparable à tous égards à la péritonite infectieuse féline. L'auteur décrit les symptômes et l'évolution de la maladie, telle qu'on la recontre dans ce pays, ainsi que les lésions macroscopiques, examinées à l'autopsie; il présente le diagnostic et le diagnostic différentiel. Zusammenfassung. Ein Zustand, der in jeder Hinsicht der infektiösen Katzenperitonitis vergleichbar ist, wurde in England während des vergangenen Jahres oder länger beobachtet. Die Symptome und der Verlauf der Krankheit, wie sie in diesem Lande aufgetreten ist, werden zusammen mit den bei der Autopsie festgestellten makroskopischen Läsionen beschrieben und die Diagnose und die Differentialdiagnose werden besprochen.     

Feline infectious peritonitis: Present knowledge

The purpose of this paper is to take stock of the knowledge gained over the last few years on Feline Infectious Peritonitis in a synthetic way.Apart from the bibliographical study regarding the works of numerous authors, we state our results concerning the study of the experimental reproduction of the disease.From all the cat infectious diseases, Feline Infectious Peritonitis is the clinical entity the most recently evidenced. In this paper we shall state the elements now clearly established on this disease but numerous points are still to be made clear. Contagious disease of viral origin, it affects domestic and wild Felidae. Clinically, in its most typical form, it is characterised by the progressive development of an exudative sero-fibrinous peritonitis and a febrile and gradual weakness of the general condition. It slowly and regularly develops into death.     

Epigenetic transmission of feline infectious peritonitis

Feline Infectious Peritonitis (F.I.P.) was diagnosed in the kittens of two successive litters born to a female presumed also infected.At the same time, the two fathers and the other subjects of the cattery remained asymptomatic of F.I.P.The clinical observations, supported by electrophoretic data, suggest the possibility of a direct transmission of the disease by the mother to her offspring, either by the transplacentary pathway (epigenetic transmission) or via the milk.     

Prevalence of feline coronavirus types I and II in cats with histopathologically verified feline infectious peritonitis

Feline coronaviruses (FCoV) vary widely in virulence causing a spectrum of clinical manifestations reaching from subclinical course to fatal feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). Independent of virulence variations they are separated into two different types, type I, the original FCoV, and type II, which is closely related to canine coronavirus (CCV). The prevalence of FCoV types in Austrian cat populations without FIP has been surveyed recently indicating that type I infections predominate. The distribution of FCoV types in cats, which had succumbed to FIP, however, was fairly unknown. PCR assays have been developed amplifying parts of the spike protein gene. Type-specific primer pairs were designed, generating PCR products of different sizes. A total of 94 organ pools of cats with histopathologically verified FIP was tested. A clear differentiation was achieved in 74 cats, 86% of them were type I positive, 7% type II positive, and 7% were positive for both types. These findings demonstrate that in FIP cases FCoV type I predominates, too, nonetheless, in 14% of the cases FCoV type II was detected, suggesting its causative involvement in cases of FIP.