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FIP Warrior:

Elliott

Elliott was dearest, most loving, most unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime kitten. We adopted him from a rescue, after his brother and sister were chosen and he was left behind. Originally, he had been scheduled a meet-and-greet with someone else before us, but after that person did not take him we were next in line. Looking back, HOW IN THE WORLD did someone meet Elliott and not take him home immediately??!!!! But it was our good fortune that happened, because we became so blessed to be his parents. My fiance and I fell madly in love with this little blue-eyed angel! He followed us everywhere with his cute little bowlegged walk. He wanted to be held and loved on all the time. He slept with us every night and would nurse on the blanket. He was our world. Several times I said, "How could we ever live without Elliott??" I said it out loud. And we would shudder and cringe and think that if anything ever happened to him we would just lay down and die. Then something did happen. He got FIP. Elliott was just 4 months old when he came down with a cold. A couple of our other kittens had been through it, so it was not a big deal. He saw our vet, took some medicine, felt better... then worse, back to the vet, felt better. When he felt better, he would purr so loud and give us kisses. He was WONDERFUL! Once he licked inside my ear, and really made me laugh. But then he slowed down, and slept more and more. We started to worry and planned to take him back to our vet. But before we could, he went downhill on a weekend and we had to go to the emergency vet. It was during the time of Covid-19, and they were overwhelmed with clients, as capacity was limited. We had to wait 2 hours in the car with Elliott. By that time, I could see he had turned yellow. His dazzling blue eyes were green. My heart sank, and I knew this meant something terrible. They finally came out and got him, but we were not allowed inside. Many tests later they said we should take him to be hospitalized at another hospital as they were not a 24 hour facility. They did not give a diagnosis, but said his liver was very bad, and his pancreas, and his kidneys, too. We took him to the hospital, and had to wait in the car another 4 hours to be seen. All this time in the car Elliott was purring and kissing us and giving all the love in the world, while he was so, so sick. He was just made of love. What happened next was a long series of tests and eventually the suggestion that he MAY have FIP, but that doctor wanted to keep him for a few days and do more tests to rule it out. The estimate was thousands of dollars that we didn't have, but I wanted to do whatever they thought was best for him, regardless of the cost. We went home without him, which was a mistake. I researched FIP and found Peter on Zen by Cat, who told me about FIP Warriors. I knew about FIP because I had lost 2 young kittens to it many years ago, when there was no cure. I had heard there was something-- some hope-- out there, which is why I researched it. Soon I was in touch with the wonderful people in the group, who arranged to get me medicine for Elliott. But the hospital kept saying he was doing well there, and thought it would be detrimental for me to take him home. I was anxious to start the treatment, but the doctors would not let me in to see Elliott or administer the GS. Eventually, when we finally got him home to treat him, he was too weak, and the disease had progressed too far. Elliott passed away on Day 2 of treatment. We were beyond devastated. We still are. But he is with us in our hearts, and sometimes I feel him on my shoulder, my kitty angel watching over us, and telling us it's going to be okay.