Kuska is the soul of the house. She is a kitten with FIP who cannot survive without support to acquire medication.
Kuska came to our home in October 2023, when she was only 2 months old. Little did we know that she would win us over so instantly.
We are a home that counts with the love of multiple cats (and a dog), so adopting another kitten was not in our plans. But one morning, after work, we heard a feline cry coming from under a car, near our neighborhood. After asking all the neighbors if the cat had escaped from their homes, and receiving a negative response from all of them, we made the decision to adopt Kuska, as we refused to leave her on the street, considering how tiny she was.
Kuska is the personification of energy in a feline body, she runs around the house and is passionate about food, watching her eat is a delight. A beautiful wannabe Siamese, she has those truly pink pads, the kind you only see in movies, and a lot of love to give. Of all our cats, we can say that she has a fascination with Macho (a very elegant black cat), now inseparable.
Being Kuska a food enthusiast, we noticed something was off when she lost interest and excitement in eating. She no longer ran when she heard the food can opening and would sit on the stairs watching the others eat. With heavy hearts, we took Kuska to the vet and the initial diagnosis we received was FeLV. OWe were heartbroken, but we wanted to stay positive that she was going to be okay. It was the second FeLV diagnosis in our family, and we wanted to stay positive that she would recover well, just like Toquinho did.
However, the fever didn't stabilize. She had daily fever spikes that only resolved with cortisone. Thank God, she continued to eat and gain weight, but the fever wouldn't let us rest.
Then, on February 27th, we were faced with the diagnosis of FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis), a mutation of the Feline Enteric Coronavirus that occurs in 5 to 10% of infected cats. This diagnosis is usually a death sentence if it were not for the existence of an antiretroviral drug, not licensed in Portugal but with a very high success rate in curing FIP.
After a one-week hospitalization for stabilization and daily visits to the veterinarian for fever surveillance and control, Kuska is currently on supportive treatment, with daily cortisone doses. We made the decision to start treatment, which lasts a minimum of 84 days, with daily injections and monthly monitoring tests.
Why do we need your help? Each bottle of the medicine GS-441524 (a nucleoside of Remdesivir) costs us €80 and provides only 6 doses, which puts the estimated cost of the drug alone for the entire treatment at a minimum of €1120, not including the transport of the medication to Portugal, blood tests, other medication, needles, syringes and subcutaneous serum.
Kuska is stable but still experiences daily fever spikes caused by the virus. If this medication starts to take effect, Kuska has a good chance of full recovering without any sequelae.
It is essential, for us to be successful, that the treatment is not interrupted, and for that, we need all the help we can get.
If the amount is exceeded, our commitment is to donate the remainder to an animal aid association in the Paços de Ferreira region.
ePIFania: let's save Kuska!
