Peritonitis in a young cat/peritonitis en un gato joven

Abdominal ultrasound (scan)

During our OOH emergency service we receive a 1 year old, female cat whose owner reports us that, for several days, she has not been eating, and now she stopped drinking. On our clinical examination we notice that her gums, her eyes, and her skin are yellow (jaundice), her mouth is very dry, her skin seems leather, and her body is emaciated. She weighted half of a normal weight for her size. However, her abdomen was very bloated and painful (read more).

Durante nuestro servicio de emergencia recibimos a una gatita de un año cuyos dueños nos decían que no había comido en días, y ahora tampoco bebía. En nuestro examen clínico vimos que sus encías estaban amarillas (ictericia), la boca muy seca, su piel parecía cuero, y su cuerpo demacrado. Pesaba la mitad de lo que debiera. Sin embargo, su barriga estaba hinchada y le dolía.

Fluid from abdomen and smear preparation

A peritonitis was suspected, and due to her age and symptoms, her condition was very likely due to a virus that causes the "feline infectious peritonitis" or FIP.  A scan in her belly confirmed that there was fluid inside that should not be there. Was she bleeding? Was her bladder ruptured and that was urine? is it ascitis? an intestinal perforation?

We took a sample to examine, sucking some very yellow, transparent fluid, and with a quick test, a smear preparation and a microscope we knew it was no urine. In fact, it was consistent with a peritonitis, and we did not find bacteria from her intestines...

Sospechábamos una peritonitis y, por su edad y síntomas, era muy probable que fuese "peritonitis infecciosa felina" o PIF. Un escáner de su tripa confirmó que había un líquido que no debería estar ahí. ¿Se estaba desangrando? ¿se había roto la vejiga y era orina? ¿era ascitis? ¿una perforación de intestino?

It is essential to be sure that this is a case of FIP, as this disease is fatal in over 90% of the cases. Unfortunately, the only way to confirm our suspicion is through a biopsy, which was too risky to perform in such a weak state.

Era fundamental estar seguros que era un caso de PIF, pues tiene un mal final en el 90% de los casos. Por desgracia, sólo se puede hacer con una biopsia, y era muy arriesgado con lo débil que estaba.

As an option, we kept her overnight, on a drip, and all the medication she needed to make her fell better, expecting the peritonitis were due to something else. Nonetheless, there was not much improvement by the time she had to leave us to be transferred to her vet practice. On following the case, her vet informed us that she was not improving, and had to stay deeply sedated. She would not recover, and we do not need to keep pets suffering...

Como intento, la mantuvimos esa noche con suero y toda la medicación necesaria para que estuviese mejor, esperando que la peritonitis fuera por otra causa. Aún así, no hubo apenas mejoría para cuando nos dejó para ser trasladada a su veterinario. Siguiendo el caso, su veterinaria nos informó que no mejoraba, y tenían que mantenerla sedada. No se iba a recuperar, y no tenemos porqué hacer sufrir a nuestras mascotas...