Q: We recently adopted a shelter cat, who passed away from dry FIP. Since then my 3 year old Siamese Cat, Sunny, has had high titres of over 2600, and they don't seem to be going down... With precautions, can I allow him to interact with my other cats (both less than a year old), or will my boy have to be quarantined his whole life?

Coronavirus and FIP can be confusing. For normal people. For vets. For everyone.

So let’s break it down:

Sunny has high coronavirus titres.

So, he’s probably carrying some coronavirus.

But certainly, it does not mean that he has FIP. You may know that already, but I’m just gonna say it just in case you don’t. A titre level won’t predict if a cat will get FIP or not.

So many cats, like Sunny, will have high titres, and will never develop FIP.

So theoretically, Sunny could give corona virus to other cats. Then, that coronavirus would have to mutate to cause FIP in the other cat he gave it too. Those chances are pretty low for that to happen.

And it all depends if Sunny is shedding the virus.

Still following me? Good.

But Sunny might stop shedding the virus in a few months (you can only tell by checking fecal samples, not the blood corona virus titre). And unless there is another cat around that will re-infect Sunny, he might stop shedding if for good.

So, with precautions, does Sonny have to be in solitude his whole life?

If Sunny is like other coronavirus cats, then I predict that Sunny will have some buddies in his life. He’ll grow old with them. They’ll play bridge, and go on warm sunny vacations in your bay windows. They’ll lament the passing of the shelter cat who left us way to soon.

But life will be good.

Dr. Kris