Does FIP cause a cat's fever to fluctuate or stay consistently high?

Ongoing chronic viral infections seldom present with a fever unless there is an additional infection due to poor immune system. Fever is an early response by the body to fight off a new infection - if this fails such as with FIP/FELV/FIV and the immune system fails to clear the infection long term there will not be a fever as a result of these infections. I strongly recommend testing given the ongoing, vague signs of debility which is common with all of these diseases

Fevers in cats are really frustrating. They can have many causes, and sometimes we can’t find any cause at all (Fever of Unknown Origin - FUO). Sometimes IV fluids can help with the fever, and sometimes it will go away in a few days with or without treatment. As long as he is comfortable and eating, I wouldn’t be so concerned. It sounds like your vet has a good plan for treatment.

I understand you are concerned about FIP. The reality is, if you don't have money for a veterinary visit (and in many cases even if you did), FIP is typically fatal and untreatable. The best thing you can do is separate your sick cat from your healthy one and see how things transpire over the course of the next few days. Typically, cats with FIP, regardless of the form, will be inappetant and not wanting to eat anything at all. The worst form of it will cause massive fluid buiid up in the chest / abdomen and result in difficulty breathing. The other form typically produce clinical signs that are both ophthalmic and/or neurologic, plus several other non specific clinical signs (a couple of which include what you are descrbing). Overall, FIP would not be near the top of my list. I would definitely make sure all three cats have been tested for leukemia and AIDS however in order to rule both of these life-threatening conditions. While not as rapidly fatal as FIP, both conditions can carry poor long term prognosis. It sounds like the one cat with a fever and swollen belly might benefit from pain management and a recheck for the presence of worms. While dietary indiscretion could be an issue, it is not likely to cause a fever unless an infectious organism was present in the food. Hope this is more helpful than my previous response.

Has he been tested for FeLV/FIV viruses? Sounds like he has what is called a FUO - fever of unknown origin. Many things can cause this. You need to start doing some testing to figure out what is going on. That being said, I have treated many cases where owners could not afford diagnostics and the cats eventually ended up getting better with supportive care......don't know why. Some relapsed later on, others not. We really do usually only consider a temp higher than 103.5F as a fever in cat. Are you taking rectal temps as that is the most accurate. Other ways (like ear, armpit, etc are not very accurate). Maybe this article will help clarify for you. ( https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/fever-of-unknown-origin-for-cats ) Hope this helps. If you have more questions you can always opt for a private consultation where we can chat back and forth. That way you can ask as many questions as you'd like. Best wishes.

While Bills certainly could be positive for FeLV or FIV it would be pretty unsusal for him to be symptomatic for the diseases at his age. Parasites don’t typically cause a fever either. If he still has a fever I’d recommend having your vet examine him - some other kind of infection is possible and it is concerning he isn’t responding to antibiotics.

Cats infected with a feline coronavirus generally do not show any symptoms during the initial viral infection, and an immune response occurs with the development of antiviral antibodies. In a small percent of infected cats (5 to 10 percent), either by a mutation of the virus or by an aberration of the immune response, the infection progresses into clinical FIP. Cats can become persistently infected and continuously or intermittently shed virus with the feces. One of the most difficult aspects of FIP is that there is no simple diagnostic test. The ELISA, IFA, and virus-neutralization tests detect the presence of coronavirus antibodies in a cat, but these tests cannot differentiate between the various strains of feline coronavirus. A positive result means only that the cat has had a prior exposure to coronavirus, but not necessarily one that causes FIP.

I am very concerned about your cat. Did your veterinarian give you a reason for the fever? Also do you know what the shot was? My concern is with a younger cat and a fever that there is always the possibility of a cat with FIP (Feline Infectious Peritionitis). There is no real test for this and is more a diagnosis of exclusion. I would discuss this with your veterinarian tomorrow to see if with what is going on with your cat this may be a possibility. It sounds like if this were the case he could have the dry form. http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2134&aid=212 Thank you for using PetCoach.