How do cats get infected with FIP?
• From other cats with FIP • From a mutation during FECV infection. • It is very uncommon for cats to contract FIP from other cats. Most cats with FIP do not shed the FIP virus, but they can shed a benign FECV. This benign FECV sometimes develops a genetic mutation while in the gut of a healthy cat and effectively becomes an FIP virus (5% of kittens). Not all FECV mutations induce the FIP disease and cause the cat to die. Some families of cats appear to be genetically predisposed to contract the disease.
