Tara from Florida adopted a Siamese cat named Clara into a home with fluffy ‘Brofur’ Elliot and calico ‘Sisfur’ Missy in July 2021. Like Missy, Clara’s name came from the Doctor Who series. And Elliot comes from the Mr. Robot series.
Clara when she first arrived at home with new siblings Missy and Elliot. Images and media via Instagram/missy_n_elliot
After getting to know one another, the three kitties were doing wonderfully. But then, in January of 2023, Clara’s health suddenly deteriorated.
Calico Missy, Floofy Elliot, and Clara the Siamese on the bed at home in Florida.
The Siamese beauty developed an autoimmune disease called Pemphigus, which caused crusts (scabs) and ulcers around her eyes, ears, footpads, bridge of her nose, mouth, and even at the toenail beds!
The vet put her on an immune-suppressing drug therapy and a steroid to keep it in remission. A little over two weeks later, and the crusts were all but gone. But unfortunately, her health struggles were just beginning.
Clara developed Pemphigus, an autoimmune disease, but responded to treatment.
Clara Also Had Feline Infectious Peritonitis or FIP
It looked like everything would be alright. But after many trips to the vet, they found that Clara also had FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis). It’s long been considered an incurable disease caused by a mutation of the common and generally harmless feline coronavirus. Yet on rare occasions, it can become dangerous FIP.
Please note: FIP doesn’t affect people and is not related to FIV+ cats (Which is what Marmalade has. See the facts here.)
This mutated form of the feline coronavirus used to be a death sentence for felines. But new hope has arrived! As we shared before, clinical trials for treating feline FIP have been underway since 2022.
For Clara, a chance for recovery thanks to new treatments, which Tara learned could even cure her kitty. And thanks to help from FIP Global CATS, Clara became a ‘Cured FIP Legend!’
Clara the Cured FIP Legend
It was a long road, and Clara’s experience with FIP was ‘hellish.’ But thankfully, after 168 days, she was fully cured. To celebrate, Clara got a mountain of sparkly cat toys.
“After 168 days of Hell. 1 sparkly ball for every day of Treatment and 1 sparkly ball for every day of Observation. Clara is CURED!” shared missy_n_elliot.
Followers of the kitties on Instagram were thrilled to see her doing so great, and one even made the adorable artwork below!
Artwork of Clara by Ashli: @aerokki
Clara recently enjoyed a wonderful, healthy holiday season at home.
“Clara’s 3rd Christmas, but her first healthy! Thank you @fipglobalcats ! We are so grateful! FIP is no longer a death sentence! There is a cure! 💕🎄💕”
You can learn more about FIP and the medication that saved Clara at FIP Global CATS, which also has a Facebook group. Cole and Marmalade are not affiliated and just want to pass along the information for those who have a cat diagnosed with FIP. We’re thrilled to see there is a potential cure!
Joy to the world for Clara, who is offering so much hope for cats diagnosed with FIP!
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Congratulations to Another FIP Survivor!
We previously shared the story of Ralphie, a kitten from Denver who also beat FIP with a new treatment protocol. Ralphie was recently adopted with his best friend Trixie and is living a happy life. Congratulations to Forgotten Felines Rescue in Denver and to the family who adopted these two ‘Honeymooners!’
