FIP: Use The Right Veterinary Laboratory Tests

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a lethal condition which can be ruled out in a sick cat using a sensitive feline coronavirus antibody test.

This is a film for veterinary professionals. Luca was a cat with histopathologically confirmed feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). The purpose of this educational film was to emphasise the importance of sensitivity of a feline coronavirus (FCoV) antibody test when ruling out FIP as a diagnosis. As a consequence of using an insensitive test from Antech Diagnostics, Luca was dragged round a series of veterinarians in search of a diagnosis; he was subjected to numerous blood samples and his guardian suffered the distress of desperately trying to help her deteriorating cat, not to mention that she ran up a bill in four figures during the process.
Key message: sensitivity is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT when using a FCoV antibody test to rule out FIP
Key message: send the CORRECT sample for the test required:
• blood for FCoV antibody test, not effusion
• effusion for FCoV RT-PCR, not blood
The second mistake Luca’s veterinary surgeon made was sending blood for FCoV RT-PCR: the result was negative. Most cats with FIP will not have FCoV RNA in their blood; a fine needle aspirate of a lesion should have been sent in Luca’s case, since he had non-effusive FIP. In effusive FIP cases, the effusion should be sent for FCoV RT-PCR testing.

The transcript of the narrative and details of references / further reading can be found in the catvirus.com veterinary newsletter at http://www.catvirus.com/downloads/LucaVetLab.pdf

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Further information

1. FCoV antibody page direct link: http://www.catvirus.com/FCoVantibody.htm
2. To obtain the FCoV Immunocomb, contact Len Small: [email protected]
3. To obtain Speed or FASTest FIP FCoV antibody test kits contact your veterinary supplier.
4. Check out my book “FIP and Coronavirus” here: https://www.amazon.com/Feline-Infectious-Peritonitis-Coronavirus-Everything/dp/1480208973/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1522678318&sr=8-1-fkmr0
5. My D Tube channel: