FIP was once a uniformly fatal disease in cats, but antiviral treatments now achieve high cure rates — transforming a welfare catastrophe into a manageable condition when diagnosed and treated appropriately.
The FIP treatment revolution represents one of the most significant welfare advances in companion animal medicine in decades — a disease that caused prolonged suffering and certain death now has an 85–90% cure rate. The welfare challenge that remains is access: treatment is expensive, and the transition from unlicensed grey-market products to licensed formulations has not uniformly improved affordability. Cats whose owners cannot afford treatment still face the suffering and death that was once universal. FIP also causes significant psychological suffering before death — effusive disease causes painful fluid accumulation; neurological disease causes seizures and loss of coordination. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment initiation are critical welfare actions.