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How long does it take for a cat's belly to expand with feline infectious peritonitis?

Feline infectious peritonitis usually causes a cat's belly to expand within one or two months. The wet type of peritonitis mainly depends on the amount of abdominal fluid. If there is a lot of abdominal fluid, it may compress the abdomen and cause a swollen and hard sensation. However, this is not common. The dry type of feline infectious peritonitis usually does not cause the belly to become hard but remains soft.

What is feline infectious peritonitis?

Feline infectious peritonitis, also known as feline coronavirus infection, is a disease caused by a variation of the coronavirus that infects cats. It is mainly transmitted through the respiratory and digestive tracts. Cats under the age of four are more susceptible to infection, and pedigree cats and those raised in colonies are even more prone to contracting the disease. The mortality rate of cats infected with feline infectious peritonitis is very high, reaching up to 95%. Most cats infected with the disease die due to ineffective treatment, and there is currently no vaccine available to prevent feline infectious peritonitis.

Characteristics of feline infectious peritonitis:

Feline infectious peritonitis is a chronic progressive infectious disease caused by a virus. Clinically, it can be divided into two types: exudative and dry. The exudative type is mainly characterized by abdominal fluid, which can be seen as transparent or light yellow after aspiration. The dry type does not show abdominal fluid, but mainly exhibits symptoms such as corneal edema, iridocyclitis, and iris-cornea adhesion.

How to treat feline infectious peritonitis:

Infectious peritonitis is a very difficult disease to treat. It can be considered a terminal illness for cats. The current effective solution is to administer specific drugs, but there is still a certain mortality rate, and it cannot be guaranteed that the cat will recover. Therefore, when a cat is diagnosed with feline infectious peritonitis, considering administering specific drugs for treatment may be an option.